Wong Song Alley. An evocative name no? So evocative drunken louts keep stealing the street sign that marks this downtown backwater. Actually Wong Song is downtown only if you have the fortitude to tear yourself away from Duval Street for long enough to trudge up Truman almost to the Japanese restaurant that I thought my wife liked and which she says may or may not be the case because she's never actually eaten there. Every time I mention my wife in connection with Kyushu I mean somewhere else ( I am not overly fond of raw fish so she tends to eat it with friends which is doubtless what friends are for)..jpg)
Somewhere opposite Kyushu and the Azur guesthouse there is a narrow opening next to a large building that has been converted to apartments:.jpg)
A super deal indeed. You can either buy half of Vallejo California, recently gone bankrupt, or a two bedroom manky little condo on one of the noisiest streets in Key West. Economic crisis means something different in the southernmost city, a place of different realities. However this is also the town where people balls up everything by being inconsiderate, like this Navy brat using his out sized penis substitute to block the alley entrance:.jpg)
So the obligatory Trumpet picture looks a bit skewed. (Squealing off camera Omigod I can't work like this!).jpg)
Beyond it's irresistible allure as a place to dump large vehicles Wong Song is delightfully rural and unmaintained, a walk in the woods as it were:.jpg)
Lo and behold more coral rock, or is it limestone:.jpg)
Being blessed with a shorter stature I wanted to hold my camera on top of the wall and find out what was inside but I feared that doing so would end up being so fascinating i couldn't resist publishing the results here. Either that or it would so boring and bourgeois behind the secret wall I would fade away from disappointment. So I photographed the horse's head instead:.jpg)
They write children's books about places like this. these days instead I discovered young 'uns have to wear protective head gear and walk around looking a tad unbalanced instead of flying with their imaginations:.jpg)
They were on Virginia Street at the other end of the alley and this one was getting into the spirit of the secret garden:.jpg)
They were playing near the landmark that can be found at the Virginia street end of the unmarked alley:
Back in the alley I found not much architecturally to capture my imagination after the rock wall got me lost in flights of fantasy:.jpg)
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And the immensely practical wooden fence which is what I'd like around my own home to keep hoi-polloi out. Which as my wife points out frequently, isn't really a problem for us:.jpg)
But this being Key west there are intruders everywhere:.jpg)
He didn't take kindly to having his picture taken so he ran off, squeezing past the giant vehicle and he disappeared down Truman Avenue. It was a splendid example so I promptly followed suit.
Somewhere opposite Kyushu and the Azur guesthouse there is a narrow opening next to a large building that has been converted to apartments:A super deal indeed. You can either buy half of Vallejo California, recently gone bankrupt, or a two bedroom manky little condo on one of the noisiest streets in Key West. Economic crisis means something different in the southernmost city, a place of different realities. However this is also the town where people balls up everything by being inconsiderate, like this Navy brat using his out sized penis substitute to block the alley entrance:So the obligatory Trumpet picture looks a bit skewed. (Squealing off camera Omigod I can't work like this!)Beyond it's irresistible allure as a place to dump large vehicles Wong Song is delightfully rural and unmaintained, a walk in the woods as it were:Lo and behold more coral rock, or is it limestone:Being blessed with a shorter stature I wanted to hold my camera on top of the wall and find out what was inside but I feared that doing so would end up being so fascinating i couldn't resist publishing the results here. Either that or it would so boring and bourgeois behind the secret wall I would fade away from disappointment. So I photographed the horse's head instead:They write children's books about places like this. these days instead I discovered young 'uns have to wear protective head gear and walk around looking a tad unbalanced instead of flying with their imaginations:They were on Virginia Street at the other end of the alley and this one was getting into the spirit of the secret garden:They were playing near the landmark that can be found at the Virginia street end of the unmarked alley:Back in the alley I found not much architecturally to capture my imagination after the rock wall got me lost in flights of fantasy:And the immensely practical wooden fence which is what I'd like around my own home to keep hoi-polloi out. Which as my wife points out frequently, isn't really a problem for us:But this being Key west there are intruders everywhere:He didn't take kindly to having his picture taken so he ran off, squeezing past the giant vehicle and he disappeared down Truman Avenue. It was a splendid example so I promptly followed suit.
The announcement of the selection of a Conch to participate in the first manned flight to another planet was viewed as just another step for the Conch Republic, taking it's place in the world of science and discovery.
"This is a great day for Key West, and a huge loss for this Department," said Chief Donie Lee as Noel announced his departure from KWPD on April 1st 2009 for the Mars training station on Culebra near Puerto Rico.
"Sorry to see you going" was his friend and colleague, Diggy's sentiment (Noel's partner Matt is seen at the rear in the photo above) when he presented Noel with a token of our appreciation in the form of the Flag. "Culebra is part of the US, just as the corner of Mars you step on will be," he said, handing over the April First cake. Noel himself was unable to contain his excitement at the announcement of his selection as part of the Mars Explorer Team, "I'm sorry I'll be leaving Matt behind," he said, "but our separation is for a good cause." Matt was unavailable for comment.
Noel is already on his way to Culebra to practice space walking and learning how to remain unconscious in zero gravity in preparation for the three year trip to Mars. "April First," he said, " a great day for Key West and America, a great tradition refreshed." And with that- poof!-he was gone.
Laurel Avenue on Stock Island is notable in my life because it happens to be where my motorbike shop is located, so it might come as no surprise that I decided to wander round and take a few pictures while I waited for Jiri to replace my tires on the Bonneville.
Laurel Avenue is not, with the best will in the world, terribly scenic, even seen under Florida's magnificent Spring Big Sky. It's a street that parallels Highway One, to the very left edge in the picture above, and if while driving towards Key West you pass Burger King, you've gone too far. If, when leaving Key West you pass Murray Marine you've missed Laurel Avenue. For some people though this collection of light industry, small business and trailers is home. Trailers are the preferred residence on Stock island these days as trailers are somewhat affordable and at Mile Marker Five they are within a bus or bicycle ride of the jobs in Key West. The trailers aren't luxury residences even if they rent for at least $1200 a month:
The businesses along Laurel Avenue come in all shapes and sizes, including construction, vehicle repair and so forth:
That last one is an outboard repair shop in back of Murray Marine, which is a marina at the end of Laurel Avenue with access to Boca Chica Bay: 
They also rent center console boats at Murray's which could be something that one might want to consider if there is a burning desire to explore waters different than those of Key West harbor. Even though this isn't a wealthy neighborhood there is pride of residence with a very Caribbean flavor:
And because Stock Island used to be the place where Key West kept it's cattle stocks farmyard animals can still be found wandering around. Key West has it's chickens while Stock Island has it's Muscovy ducks, much quieter and more dignified they are too.
Stock Island has it's issues too of course. Lots of cars everywhere, even though parking is a good deal easier to find here and it's free:
There were rumors that the previous Navy commander agreed to re-route fighter jets in training over poor Stock Island to spare the sensibilities of the wealthy residents of neighboring Key Haven. People in power are shocked, shocked by such scurrilous suggestions but there they are the jets zipping low overhead:
The arguments over jet noise rage in the paper, but the fact is the Navy was here first, and supporters say the sounds of fighters overhead are the sounds of freedom, opponents want to Navy to go away, which would be an economic disaster so those of us spared the sounds of freedom hope they stay. Pretty soon the snowbirds will be heading north and the debate will peter out thankfully. There are some wealthier homes on Stock Island. Years ago, this development at the western end of laurel Avenue used to be just another run down trailer park. there was a bar facing Highway One and it had a hand painted sign on the wall reading "Free Beer Tomorrow." The end came and "Tomorrow' was erased and replaced by "Today" for one glorious twenty four hour period, then came the bulldozers and the new Coral Hammocks grew out of the wreckage of the trailer park:
It's one of those gated communities where people paid more than half a million to buy a townhouse right next to Highway One and paid that much to park their BMWs under the blazing sun:
For now, until development picks up again in a distant future there are "permanent" travel trailers to call home if you have the money:
Live here and you could be on Duval getting shit faced within fifteen minutes on your scooter. A cab ride home might cost twenty bucks so you might want to figure out your budget ahead of moving on down..jpg)
There is one bridge in and out of Key West and it crosses a span of water known as Cow Key Channel, which is not surprising as that river of salt water separates Key west from Stock Island, which as I have noted elsewhere was the place where cows were raised to feed Key West. The channel itself isn't so terribly wide, and looking south the key west bank is home to one of the more scenic Veteran's administration clinics in the US:
Indeed the entire span of the channel towards Hawk Channel is actually pretty narrow when you realise the navigable portion hugs the left hand side of the waterway looking south:
There are some live aboard boats anchored off the old houseboat row on South Roosevelt, but to the north the channel is entirely empty out towards the Gulf of Mexico. The white building to the right is the Headquarters of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department and the jail known to some as the Stock Island Hilton..jpg)
As far as I can tell the two islands have been connected by bridge for a very long time. I've seen early pictures of Stock Island (keyshistory.org) which show a blasted heath of white pea rock and tufts of grass and a few despondent cows, but the age of the automobile required bridges, and make no mistake, Key West got cars as soon as they were available. It may seem odd these days but long before the road bridge to the mainland was completed in 1938 people were driving cars and parking them on Duval Street. I got this picture from the book Charlotte's Story which I highly recommend. It's labeled Boca Chica but if it's not the Stock island bridge it must have looked very much like this:
After World War One it was possible to drive a very circuitous route from Key West to No Name Key where there was a car ferry to haul one to Knights Key (Marathon) where the journey continued to somewhere around the Matecumbe Keys where there was another ferry and so on. It was an all day job getting to Homestead. Nowadays it's rather simpler, and Cow Key Bridge is four lanes of busyness:.jpg)
And alongside the very modern bridge is the very modern hose pipe feeding the city drinking water from the South Florida Aquifer in Dade County. The Navy built the original pipe in World war Two, ending the city's dependence on rainwater and cisterns, and then a newer and bigger pipe was built alongside the new, wider roadway which opened in 1982:.jpg)
The bridge itself is massive enough there are ample paths on either side of the traffic lanes, protected from the traffic by cement barriers, for pedestrians and cyclists of which there are tons crossing the bridge at all hours:.jpg)
On the water there is always some traffic too, especially as Hurricane hole marina on the Stock Island side rents center console boats and kayaks like this one:
It was a warm day but not toasty and I was forced to wonder how the poor dears would be getting along if it were really hot. Summer hot... Other boaters just abandon their rides and there they sit, not rotting because fiberglass doesn't rot, in the mangroves:
As I leaned on the parapet of the bridge enjoying the afternoon sun I saw a couple of boaters doing something weird in the water. He seemed to be towing her across the current as she hung on for dear life. But as the perspective changed it looked more like she was pushing him:
I never did see the end of it so I expect they made it home, wherever that is. Home used to be under the bridge itself to a group of homeless people who flew the flag from the bridge, a sign of patriotism perhaps but it didn't do them any good. Old Glory is gone as is their encampment under the bridge:.jpg)
Other people complained about the people living there and several agencies intervened and now the space is empty. Weirdly enough they've left the trash can down by the water and there is of course plenty of trash still lying around but of regular upstanding citizens not a one, even though the area has been cleared of undesirables in an attempt to render it park-like...and I have to say the prospect out under the bridge is fairly gloomy even on a bright sunny day:.jpg)
The only other thing the social deviants left behind from their life under the bridge was bumper stickers glued on the water pipe, another slice of keys history:.jpg)
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And then, once across the bridge and in Key West one reaches the triangle, written about elsewhere. A right turn (don't stop at the yield PLEASE!!) on North Roosevelt and the "business district" or take a left on A1A, South Roosevelt to Smathers Beach. The choice is yours when you are approaching Key West.