This is the quintessential Key West view, palms, sun and people enjoying the alternative lifestyle of scooting through Paradise. 
Hold on a moment and Paradise may come a step closer behind the mural if certain people get their way. I overhead one man, ostensibly a resident tell his out of town visitors in a confident tone of voice that a brew pub is going to be built here, in the former Waterfront Market, the much missed organic grocery store and smoothie bar.
The brew pub idea is the plan, led by the owners of the very charming and (I hope) successful Porch beer and wine bar at Caroline and Duval. The idea is to create a brewery of craft beers, a restaurant and an adult music space where old farts like me can have an evening out, drink alcohol and not fall down drunk on the way home. I am a big fan of the plan.
I look forward to taking a table overlooking Key West Bight and drinking a beer (not too hoppy and bitter please) while watching the sun set over the water. However before that can happen there are a few hoops ( and hops) to leap through. However like the guy said, essentially, this is a development that should happen, if only to encourage the notion that Key West's clientele is graying. Honestly I would love to see a master plan in the works for the city's future. I have to acknowledge that any plan put forward would be torn to pieces by competing interests whose first task to tear down such that building up never happens, but it seems to me tourism income is going to be shrinking in a shrinking economy, as befits a shrinking Empire. Now might be a good time to figure if Key West can offer more or less of: filthy t-shirts? Cheap eats sold pricey? or chain outlets?
Southernmost Brewery. Please. Business comes and goes in this demanding town and sometimes a store you've always seen in one spot seems destined to be there forever and it isn't suddenly one day. On Ramrod Key a rather cool welding operation set up shop, and he helped me with my utility trailer once. He's gone and the building's up for lease. The old Paradise Cafe on Eaton Street is another such fixture that was there and then it wasn't. And nothing has stepped in tot take it's place.
I remember it fondly, the sandwiches were huge and it was on my way to and from work at the time, always a plus, and besides all that when I took Emma by she got cold cut scraps and a bowl of water. Emma was my Santa Cruz rescue yellow lab who made her retirement in Key West after sailing Central America with me. And that's the end of that as Emma and Paradise Cafe are both gone.
The Steam Plant has been around for a while and now that is luxury condos (50% off if you've got 1.6 mill to spare) it looks likely to remain around for a while. And the greenery is filling in and looking well settled so pretty soon we'll all be forgetting it was a disused power plant for ages and before that a power plant that spewed chemicals into the eponymous toxic triangle across the street. Change can be good sometimes, and the brew pub may be one of those changes.
Hold on a moment and Paradise may come a step closer behind the mural if certain people get their way. I overhead one man, ostensibly a resident tell his out of town visitors in a confident tone of voice that a brew pub is going to be built here, in the former Waterfront Market, the much missed organic grocery store and smoothie bar.
The brew pub idea is the plan, led by the owners of the very charming and (I hope) successful Porch beer and wine bar at Caroline and Duval. The idea is to create a brewery of craft beers, a restaurant and an adult music space where old farts like me can have an evening out, drink alcohol and not fall down drunk on the way home. I am a big fan of the plan.I look forward to taking a table overlooking Key West Bight and drinking a beer (not too hoppy and bitter please) while watching the sun set over the water. However before that can happen there are a few hoops ( and hops) to leap through. However like the guy said, essentially, this is a development that should happen, if only to encourage the notion that Key West's clientele is graying. Honestly I would love to see a master plan in the works for the city's future. I have to acknowledge that any plan put forward would be torn to pieces by competing interests whose first task to tear down such that building up never happens, but it seems to me tourism income is going to be shrinking in a shrinking economy, as befits a shrinking Empire. Now might be a good time to figure if Key West can offer more or less of: filthy t-shirts? Cheap eats sold pricey? or chain outlets?Southernmost Brewery. Please. Business comes and goes in this demanding town and sometimes a store you've always seen in one spot seems destined to be there forever and it isn't suddenly one day. On Ramrod Key a rather cool welding operation set up shop, and he helped me with my utility trailer once. He's gone and the building's up for lease. The old Paradise Cafe on Eaton Street is another such fixture that was there and then it wasn't. And nothing has stepped in tot take it's place.I remember it fondly, the sandwiches were huge and it was on my way to and from work at the time, always a plus, and besides all that when I took Emma by she got cold cut scraps and a bowl of water. Emma was my Santa Cruz rescue yellow lab who made her retirement in Key West after sailing Central America with me. And that's the end of that as Emma and Paradise Cafe are both gone.The Steam Plant has been around for a while and now that is luxury condos (50% off if you've got 1.6 mill to spare) it looks likely to remain around for a while. And the greenery is filling in and looking well settled so pretty soon we'll all be forgetting it was a disused power plant for ages and before that a power plant that spewed chemicals into the eponymous toxic triangle across the street. Change can be good sometimes, and the brew pub may be one of those changes.
2 comments:
That was the MOST convenient market for touristy-types like me. You could grab some snacks, beer, water, etc. before getting on the boat located 50 feet behind it.
Yes, it was pricey, but such is the way of life on the water in Key West.
I think it should be an indoor snow skiing slope (think Dubai), but then again, I'm waaaay out there.
Greg P. in WV, where we ski in March and cook in May.
It's a shame that Paradise Cafe closed. When I was in high school, I would stop there regularly after school on my way to Duval to loaf around. I had my last Cuban mix from PC in May '07.
The Dolphin Deli on Stock Island is a good replacement though. For what ever reason I never tried Kim's Kuban.
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