It was lunch break time and I took a three o'clock walk around Casa Marina, the high end neighborhood in the southwest corner of Key West. 
It's hard for me to say if walking Key West at night is a dangerous occupation, though I find it to be an entirely enjoyable place to be at three in the morning. The newspaper reports one of last year's notorious teen muggers has turned snitch and is putting his equally appalling young colleagues in the frame for a couple of publicized muggings in the middle of the night last year. Be that as it may no one has ever bothered me walking, riding, photographing in the middle of my night shift.
Indeed as I balanced my camera on my topcase and set the timer for these four second exposures a dude on a heavily loaded bicycle, likely a man of no fixed abode swooped round the corner and took the time to ask if I was okay and if i need to make a call on his cell phone as I stood next to my immobilized motor bike. I reassured him and he took off to find shelter somewhere. I'd rather not know where.
Generally speaking, staying sober and not being annoying or flashy will keep one safe enough anywhere on the streets of Key West. Buying drugs is a quick way to get into trouble and being blitzed and falling down drunk won't help either.
I really enjoy the nights on the streets of Key West with no one around, just me and my Bonneville. A colleague of mine showed me pictures she had taken with some of her friends in "haunted" places in Key West, murder sites and known haunts of the dead. She saw shadows and showed me remarkable outlines of shadowy people in the pictures. I have never seen any myself, yet I look in the picture above and on top of the "Stop" painted on the asphalt of Washington Street one sees the ghostly outline of a cyclist riding parallel to the live cyclist to the left, the one with the glowing headlight. Is it a ghost? I doubt it, but what fun if it were... 
The El Patio Motel, a landmark and surely haunted by all the visitors who come and go and dream of life in Key West as an exotic tropical haunt. For the living, not the dead I hope.
It's hard for me to say if walking Key West at night is a dangerous occupation, though I find it to be an entirely enjoyable place to be at three in the morning. The newspaper reports one of last year's notorious teen muggers has turned snitch and is putting his equally appalling young colleagues in the frame for a couple of publicized muggings in the middle of the night last year. Be that as it may no one has ever bothered me walking, riding, photographing in the middle of my night shift.Indeed as I balanced my camera on my topcase and set the timer for these four second exposures a dude on a heavily loaded bicycle, likely a man of no fixed abode swooped round the corner and took the time to ask if I was okay and if i need to make a call on his cell phone as I stood next to my immobilized motor bike. I reassured him and he took off to find shelter somewhere. I'd rather not know where.Generally speaking, staying sober and not being annoying or flashy will keep one safe enough anywhere on the streets of Key West. Buying drugs is a quick way to get into trouble and being blitzed and falling down drunk won't help either.I really enjoy the nights on the streets of Key West with no one around, just me and my Bonneville. A colleague of mine showed me pictures she had taken with some of her friends in "haunted" places in Key West, murder sites and known haunts of the dead. She saw shadows and showed me remarkable outlines of shadowy people in the pictures. I have never seen any myself, yet I look in the picture above and on top of the "Stop" painted on the asphalt of Washington Street one sees the ghostly outline of a cyclist riding parallel to the live cyclist to the left, the one with the glowing headlight. Is it a ghost? I doubt it, but what fun if it were... The El Patio Motel, a landmark and surely haunted by all the visitors who come and go and dream of life in Key West as an exotic tropical haunt. For the living, not the dead I hope.
6 comments:
I was wondering about the safety of walking the streets of KW late at night. Thanks for the clarification.
And damn, Conch, I could barely keep up with the blog when you posted once a day.
Now if I miss a day or two, it's like reading a novel... ;-)
jbfla
aDon't worry about missing stuff just start where you are and read or look at the pictures as long as you feel.
I miss writing one a day too but I think I will get the hang of this given a little time.
Change is good. I felt like i was getting stale.Now I sure as shit don't.
I've never wanted to look for drugs (never have done them)at 3 am or look for trouble and I've had no problems in KW. Once a cabbie on the way from the airport to the Casa told me where I could score the best dope in KW and I looked at him as if he were nuts. Glad it wasn't my first trip to KW or I would have thought the locals were all druggies.
It's going to snow af few inches tonight. Can't wait to get back to Key West this November!
Bob
from Livingston Montana
I've always felt safe walking the streets of Key West at night. My brother, on the otherhand, has been less fortunate. Years ago, back in '96, he was attacked on Caroline Steet from behind by somebody with a brick. They took his wallet, which only contained a few dollars and his driver's license.
My brother received a broken jaw bone and some steep medical expenses for that late night transaction.
If someone came up to me and said " go here and get the best dope in KW", and if I wouldn't get caught, and if it really was the best dope, and if I could live to see the next day without encountering a brick to the head from behind, and could have some good company while indulging, I'd grab it in a heartbeat. Just kidding, i'd only do it if a scantily clad female were involved and my wife said it was ok. Most likely I wouldn't bother. Like most places life is usually safer if we aren't hammered out of our minds and walking around an unpredictable population. You must get some pretty interesting calls at work in KW, people must find all kinds of ways to get in trouble while visiting down there.
You have to take a lot of calls from angry or drunk people to get the odd gem. We do get some good ones from time to time, but the sad calls outweigh the funny ones. As you might expect.
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