Falling Out Of The Sky

It may happen that if you are around Mile Marker 17 on the Overseas Highway and you look up, you might see this.My wife and I were heading into Key West and we stopped, as we frequently do to walk the dog at the Bat Tower on Sugarloaf. To get there you turn north on an unmarked road next to the aircraft parked near the lodge. It's an old single engined plane, decommissioned and used to advertise the Sugarloaf Airport, a single runway airfield that also offers one the opportunity to jump out of a plane far above the earth. Simple aircraft have the ability to enchant us as we stand anchored to the ground, but people dangling and floating have the capacity to make us stand and stare slack jawed. I have no desire to try parachuting myself though when one looks at the website advertising Sky Dive Key West: http://www.skydivekeywest.com/ it is possible for even someone as firmly grounded in the dirt as myself to see why people do this craziness: There are many more such pictures at their website, where a mere $250 can get you doing the same thing. Rather them than me, thanks:I have watched people indulge themselves in this form of flight and for whatever reason one seems to feel the need to dangle with one's legs wide apart.It just seems so unprotected.

And so it goes whirling and twirling silently to the ground, like an autumnal leaf.
There is an ample meadow for landing nearby, the casuarina trees are just foreshortened by the camera. This is the headquarters of the operation, fully equipped with a splendid hammock, possibly to rest up after the exertions of flight. It is hard to imagine but just a few hundred years ago the thought of being to fly, literally as free as a bird was an impossible dream. And here they are reduced once again to mere mortals like the rest of us.Last year I wrote an essay about the airfield here, a place I find charming and evocative: http://conchscooter.blogspot.com/2009/06/sugarloaf-airport.html and I also wrote an essay about the Bat Tower mentioned earlier. http://conchscooter.blogspot.com/2009/05/sugarloaf-bat-tower.html a place that crops up from time to time in these essays as I like to walk Cheyenne around there.

Random Sunday

There is a certain silliness in photographing it but because I missed noticing the passing of the 40,000 mile (60,000 kilometer) mark on my 2007 Bonneville, when this almost symmetrical measure came up on one recent night ride, I took the time to stop and note it. And I still enjoy it every time I climb aboard for one more commute to work. I recommend daily riding as a great way to enjoy the mundane but there aren't many of us that do.

My theme today if there is one at all is a reminder that not all Key West is picturesque...Poinciana Housing used to provide homes for the Navy then they handed them over to the city which uses them to help people live affordably in this most expensive city. A gated community for the workers. I have mentioned how plans have been shelved to build a convention center at the entrance to Key West and I noticed the Florida Blogger had a pithy comment to the effect that Key West hardly needs one more hotel. True enough, but as I recently left the city on the Boulevard (North Roosevelt Boulevard) I took three pictures of the mess that currently exists at this place, this first encounter with Key West that drivers get as they arrive on the last island in the Florida Keys.Too the left, the north, are the waters of the Gulf of Mexico lined with palm trees along the bike path which does double duty as a pedestrian sidewalk. The street itself is five lanes wide with a turn lane in the middle, a turn lane whose actual purpose seems to baffle many drivers who manage to use it and still block traffic in the travel lanes.
Up ahead we see the sky riding signs for US Highway One north (left turn) and Florida Highway A1A (straight ahead) which curves around the south shore of Key West. The building underneath the aerial signs is the Beachside Marriott. Too the right we see a continuation of the urban mess that currently lines the Boulevard.And here is the triangle, turn left for US One north, go straight for Smather's Beach. To the right, flying the rainbow flag is another anonymous chain hotel, in this case the Holiday Inn, I think, which used to sit where the Beachside sits today. While it's true a full blown convention center offering the "Key West experience" minus the panhandlers and the day old smell of beer on Lower Duval might be an odd sort of improvement it seems like anything could be better than this series of architectural disasters currently lining the Boulevard. Probably any replacement would have to show off the delights of tall mud brown walls just like the Beachside, designed apparently by someone other than Pritam Singh's architect who uses the "key West style" to good effect in Tranquility Bay ion Marathon and the old stand by, Truman Annex, itself a walled pale reflection of the truer and messier Key West tourists seem to crave.
Next year Key West will be stimulated for two years in a row when the Boulevard is torn up and redesigned and will be designated for outbound traffic only during construction. Already complaints and suggestions for improvements are bombarding the Citizen's Voice. That sort of road work will give people endless subjects to bitch about.

Oil in the Gulf? Key West commercial fishermen say they hope for high prices and less competition according to a recent newspaper interview. The fishing around here is oil free.

For now.The weather has been hot, as it should be in August, up around 95 degrees but recently we have enjoyed a spate of southerly breezes that cooled things off significantly. Cheyenne has been quite active considering the time of year. Short frequent walks and lots of resting, here on the bridle path. No matter what the temperature she is not one to let a good garbage can go to waste. In this case at Smather's Beach. The economy may be depressed but cruise ships keep coming and people keep bitching about the money they bring to town.

Like the sign says I live where others vacation. Keep bringing the cash down, please.

Key West Random

I got back from vacation and with bated breath I was told this Key West icon on White Street had reached the end of the road. Yes indeed, the for rent sign is real. It was a family business of long standing and perhaps exhaustion took it's toll. To me, running a restaurant is one of those thankless tasks that must wear a person down so I am not surprised when change happens in this industry. Stuck in traffic waiting to cross Duval Street it occurred to me that the Fusion needs window tinting.The cool cave on the truck looked inviting in the August heat. The air conditioning sign at Kelly's Caribbean Grill struck me as rather old fashioned. Isn't everywhere air conditioned and damned the energy requirements?I have never been inside this place so perhaps the sign refers to outdoor air conditioning or something truly spectacular. City trash cans (public recycling at all street corners is still a pipe dream in this determinedly backward eco city) display a sense of humor if you know where to look:She of restaurant fame and once upon a time, up and coming movie star used to live in Key West. And had the restaurant mentioned above. I think her ghost still rates a mention in the Conch Train tours.

I am trying to teach Cheyenne to read. TAMPOA doesn't like dogs. Boo hiss. There again the Truman Annex Master Property Owners Association isn't my favorite group either so we can agree to steer our separate routes through life, they in the sterility of their walled compound, me and my dog out here. Among the tandem riders.Looking over the top of the wall along Whitehead Street I could see this long lost park area out of reach and abandoned. A worm's eye view:In foul weather this resident could lift up the campaign sign and use it to keep the rain off the modest little cottage behind the fence.I'm voting for the other guy (who uses equally large signs). Demetrios Efstratiou works for the State Attorney and when his name comes up as the duty rotation state attorney contact we have to spell his name out on the board at work, so his number is handy in case an officer needs to call for legal advice. If he gets elected judge we won't have to scratch our heads to remember how to spell his name once a month. In guess that's as good a reason as any to vote for a judge, a judicial election I believe to be fundamentally flawed. On what criteria does one base a vote for a job as removed from daily life as a judge? City commissioner is a job that causes all kinds of strong feelings when elections for that position come around. This lot decided to change the traffic pattern at Clinton Square, not least because rental vehicles were parking all day in front of the old Customs house to tout for cruise ship business.
The easiest way to end the storm in a teacup was to close the stretch of street to all vehicles. Perhaps the pedestrian concept will catch on and more of Old Town will try the same. Now that would be a throat slitting controversy!Cheyenne decided she need to plonk herself down for a pause to catch her breath. So I caught this view of the old customs house all red and impressive in the sub tropical sun. They say it was a standard federal design more suited to the Canadian border than down here. Which maybe true but I've never seen customs houses like this anywhere along the border with Mexico. I guess we are just lucky this one survived years of neglect intact and is now a rather nice history museum for all to enjoy.

Eliza At Florida

Another Mid Town street on a hot August afternoon in Key West.By hot I mean mid nineties with high humidity and no breeze. For those of us in fur coats summer is a bit of a trial.For whatever reason the airport runway aims directly over this part of town, instead of out to sea.

Key West is charming but no ever said that it isn't noisy.These old cement foundations raise the house just enough hopefully to keep flods and termites out of the wooden structure. With the added advantage of being able to paint it whatever extroverted color you like. Construction work is going on all round the city. Perhaps it is easier and more affordable to get a contractor now the boom has slumped.

This Dade pine porch has caught may attention before on Eliza Street.

I am suitably warned, and cowed.

Check out this lovely home made sign. Perosnally I would find it a pleasure to keep clear of such a nicely arranged sign compared to the modern plastic red and black horrors that are scattered around this lovely city.

A palm tree, a Bahama shutter, a lemon colored cottage.

Cheyenne on the trail of something foul in front of this eyebrow house. The overhanging roof was designed to allow upper windows to remain open during inclement weather but the roof overhang had the unfortunate effect of keeping in the heat.

Green and blue, Key West colors.

Also, as we have already seen, yellow is popular. My home is painted two shades of gray on the outside, which is rather lower key.

This palm is fake. Perhaps it was place doutdoors as it had served it's purpose.

Well, it was rather mangy. And on that note we end. One more block of one more typical Key West street.

Mel Fisher Theft

From CBS4, Miami.

Wednesday afternoon, at 5:18 p.m., video security cameras recorded two suspects removing the bar from a case that had enabled museum visitors to touch and lift it, while keeping it secure.

Key West police and the FBI are working to identify the suspects who stole the bar, recovered from a wrecked 1622 Spanish galleon off the Florida Keys.

According to Alyson Crean, Key West Police spokeswoman, one suspect is described as a white male, about six feet tall with dark hair and a medium build. The second suspect is about five feet, six inches tall.The 74.85-ounce bar had been on display at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum for more than 20 years and is worth about $550,000, according to museum officials.

It was recovered from the Santa Margarita shipwreck in 1980 by the late Key West shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher and his crew, while searching for the Margarita and Nuestra Senora de Atocha galleons.

The exhibit was a highlight of the museum tour because of the unique experience of holding gold worth so much, and for the historical value.

The gold bar is one of the most iconic and best known objects in the museum, according to Melissa Kendrick, the museum's executive director. She said said the museum's insurance company is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the return of the bar.

Fisher is best known for finding over 40 tons of silver and gold were located including over 100,000 Spanish silver coins known as "Pieces of Eight", gold coins, Columbian emeralds, silver and gold artifacts and over 1000 silver bars, from the sunken ship Atocha in 1985.

The find eventually totaled almost half a billion dollars.

Georgia And Catherine

It's a corner of Key West some people like to call Mid Town, between White Street and First Street, a chunk of the city located between Old and New towns.It is an area of the southernmost city that is close to the shops and businesses of the White Street corridor but not restricted (or enhanced) by the Historic regulations of Old Town.Cheyenne alerted a small dog inside this home to our presence and got a kick from a hairy leg for his prompt response to intruders. I find people who keep dogs and ignore them when they bark to be stupid beyond beleif. Might as well ignore your alarm when it goes off. And there's no need to be unkind to a dog doing his job.

Bicycles and palms, all Key West, all the time.

All bluff and bluster no doubt this bumper sticker. Better to speak quietly and carry a big stick as the saying goes.

I have always liked this cement walled Catherine Street home, doubtless owing to my anti-social nature, as an accidental extrovert or wayward misanthrope or even as an ironic humanitarian. Whatever it is I like my peace and quiet.This is a normal sized picket fence in Key West, for well adjusted people i guess.

Stairway to heaven. Possibly, or just an outdoor entrance to a high priced apartment.The (male) voice came through the foliage: "I didn't put it there." Which changes nothing as far as I am concerned.

Home made fence suppport. My idea of sensible do-it-yourself.

There is pleasure to be had in admiring the profusion of greenery in this urban environment.

If there were any doubt, parking isn't allowed here.That too is very Key West, every inch jealously guarded.