Lazy Way Lane palms in Key West
A few last Christmas lights. The last for a year or so.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Key West Bight Night
The recent cold front was cool enough to make the waterfront at Key West Bight worth walking on my lunch break in the middle of the night. I stopped by the turtle museum and photographed the turtle outline...reminiscent of a chalk body silhouette at a murder scene!
It was only midnight but there was no one around, the bars closed, the water reflecting the night spotlights only.
I liked this trawler, a Krogen, over dressed with lights to be actually used except as a home.
I like wandering around here and I recommend it as an occasional alternative to all the noise and hustle downtown.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Doug Bennett's Old Key West
I read this essay on This Week On the Island and I have been going back and enjoying the pictures since Doug published it two weeks ago. I never asked Doug for permission because he has no contact info on his page but I know he reads this page from time to time...so Doug, when you are reading this let me know if I don't have retro active permission. The pictures are fabulous and you have the link to his blog so read it here, unabridged or read it on Doug's own page. They are well worth the look:
It is kind of in between things here in Key West, so I thought some old pictures may be nice.
Pepe’s when it was at 202 Duval Street.
208 Duval was ‘The 208 Bar’, then ‘The Old Anchor Inn’ and is now The Red Garter and part of the Durty Harry Complex.
B.O.’s Fish Wagon when it was a wagon on Duval.
The Duval Club long before it was Captain Tony’s.
The Gulf of Mexico end of Duval Street before ‘Zero Duval’ and the current Pier House and Sun Set Pier.
The old Fishermans Café where Harpoon Harry’s is now.
Before ‘The Bull and Whistle’.
Tank Island now called Sunset Key
The Charcoal Hut is now ‘Willie T’s’.
We leave you with the opening of Margaritaville at Lands’ End near Turtle Kraals’.
Key West you have got to love it
'Close to Perfect, far from Normal’
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.5591N, Long 81.8016W
'Close to Perfect, far from Normal’
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.5591N, Long 81.8016W
You may join this group by going tohttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/
Monday, December 21, 2015
Christmas On Duval
Christmas is closing in so I took a stroll on Duval Street to see what's what. And it turns out there's not much going on on Lower Duval so middle to upper Duval is where the Christmas spirit is flourishing.
Even the tattoo parlor got into the mercantile spirit of the season. Not enough to hide the ATM but still, pretty festive...
Check out Mangoes, the ice palace:
I can't imagine the amount of work it will take to tar all this stuff down after the party's over:
Wicker's guest house:
And that state of mind thing. If anyone thinks living in the Lower Keys is like living in Florida they aren't too well informed.
"A Tropical Hotel" with wreaths and fir decorations in best northern style. Weird.
The wretched excess of the season of consumption:
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Rest Beach
From February 2009, eight months before Cheyenne, I took these pictures of Rest Beach. in December that year this was where I brought her, only to discover I had rescued a Labrador never taught to swim or enjoy the water. Despite my best efforts, to this day, she only cares to drink water not paddle in it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On The Beach
I am very fond of the book, On The Beach, by Neville Shute that describes the end of the world at the hands of an expanding cloud of nuclear dust. On the other hand I am also fond of just pausing by the beach, sneaking a pause between appointments.
Rest Beach is one of my preferred spots for a quick break because it's right there, it's got parking next to Atlantic Boulevard, it has beachfront seating in the form of rather insalubrious tiki huts and from the comfort of the hard wooden benches one can sit and ponder the meaning of life:
The nice thing is that there is also stuff to see out on the water, in winter sailboats are traveling Hawk Channel to and from Marathon, cyclists and walkers are enjoying the White Street Pier and the sun sparkles on the water giving it a festive tinsel-like sheen.
I feel the need to remind people who don't know, that magnificent beaches are not part of what makes the Keys attractive. Unlike mainland Florida which is a gigantic sandpit that produces incredible arcs of beach, the Keys are more like the Bahamas, lumps of hard limestone rock that don't produce much in the way of sandy beaches. But what there is people do try to enjoy:
My wife and I very much enjoy spending our summer afternoons,when she gets home from work and before I leave for my night job, going swimming. Because I live 25 miles out of town I get to keep our little 14 foot skiff on the canal behind our house and its a matter of no effort at all to get out into Newfound Harbor, a wide expanse of protected water, drop the anchor and go for a refreshing swim. However I have to admit I am not fond of swimming in waters cooler than 80 degrees (27C), so the boat comes out of the water in late October usually and goes back in around mid April. Visitors to the islands are less fussy and they go swimming even in February, and some of them manage to get some sunburn on their delicate northern epidermis:
Not everyone is so informal. I spotted one gent, nattily dressed, out for an afternoon constitutional, quietly resting at the tiki hut nearest the condos by the beach:
That's the great pleasure of the beach, and Key West in general, the whole philosophy of come as you are. I am not really a great fan of beach vacations, all that suntan oiled indolence, the uncomfortable posture for reading, the sand in the crevices, the immobility. However the beach is the place where you can wear a cardigan, or a diaper; the beach is the great leveller:
And one has to reflect that I took these pictures on an average afternoon in February, amidst reports of snow ice rain and cold almost everywhere north of here. I can sense winter is crawling towards a gradual close, but in conditions like these winter is no real hardship, even if it is too cold for a swim.
I like having the opportunity to ride to work the "long way" round the island, taking South Roosevelt, stopping at Rest Beach on Atlantic Boulevard, and perhaps getting a cafe con leche at Sandys on White Street before reporting for work at the Police Station. It's good to take the time to enjoy the sun, smell the sea air and watch the water for a while.
Rest Beach is one of my preferred spots for a quick break because it's right there, it's got parking next to Atlantic Boulevard, it has beachfront seating in the form of rather insalubrious tiki huts and from the comfort of the hard wooden benches one can sit and ponder the meaning of life:The nice thing is that there is also stuff to see out on the water, in winter sailboats are traveling Hawk Channel to and from Marathon, cyclists and walkers are enjoying the White Street Pier and the sun sparkles on the water giving it a festive tinsel-like sheen.I feel the need to remind people who don't know, that magnificent beaches are not part of what makes the Keys attractive. Unlike mainland Florida which is a gigantic sandpit that produces incredible arcs of beach, the Keys are more like the Bahamas, lumps of hard limestone rock that don't produce much in the way of sandy beaches. But what there is people do try to enjoy:My wife and I very much enjoy spending our summer afternoons,when she gets home from work and before I leave for my night job, going swimming. Because I live 25 miles out of town I get to keep our little 14 foot skiff on the canal behind our house and its a matter of no effort at all to get out into Newfound Harbor, a wide expanse of protected water, drop the anchor and go for a refreshing swim. However I have to admit I am not fond of swimming in waters cooler than 80 degrees (27C), so the boat comes out of the water in late October usually and goes back in around mid April. Visitors to the islands are less fussy and they go swimming even in February, and some of them manage to get some sunburn on their delicate northern epidermis:Not everyone is so informal. I spotted one gent, nattily dressed, out for an afternoon constitutional, quietly resting at the tiki hut nearest the condos by the beach:That's the great pleasure of the beach, and Key West in general, the whole philosophy of come as you are. I am not really a great fan of beach vacations, all that suntan oiled indolence, the uncomfortable posture for reading, the sand in the crevices, the immobility. However the beach is the place where you can wear a cardigan, or a diaper; the beach is the great leveller:And one has to reflect that I took these pictures on an average afternoon in February, amidst reports of snow ice rain and cold almost everywhere north of here. I can sense winter is crawling towards a gradual close, but in conditions like these winter is no real hardship, even if it is too cold for a swim.I like having the opportunity to ride to work the "long way" round the island, taking South Roosevelt, stopping at Rest Beach on Atlantic Boulevard, and perhaps getting a cafe con leche at Sandys on White Street before reporting for work at the Police Station. It's good to take the time to enjoy the sun, smell the sea air and watch the water for a while.
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