Casa Marina Court by night is quite tropical and lush, even more so than by day, and wandering this street at two in the morning on a lunch break is a healthy reminder of that:
Talk to a Key West realtor and they will tell you in reverent tones that Casa Marina is Key West's most upscale neighborhood. They aren't completely wrong:
Casa Marina's boundaries are a bit vague, but like pornography which is said to be equally hard to define, you'll know it when you see it:
Casa Marina Court is just a couple of blocks long from White Street to Reynolds:
To the south of Casa Marina Court lies Higgs Beach and Dog Park and the public tennis courts, whose open space mitigates the excess of walls and gates elsewhere:
The ends of the street are marked by these curious little columns, so one knows when one is here, when passing on White or Reynolds:
Amongst all the gateways in this neighborhood there is one which is worth the price of admission:
A pretty fancy doorway solely for the use of a housekeeper and her non-U friends...There are modern homes of Casa Marina as well,looking more California than Florida Keys:
And so, time to stop playing tourist with the camera and get back to work.
Because we had to go to Miami my wife decided we should spend a little extra time in and around the metropolis so she booked us a room at the Redland Hotel in Homestead. Homestead is a sprawling suburban city surrounded by farms and nurseries in the rich soil that used to grow oranges where Miami sprawl currently lurks. Indeed the Redland Hotel owes it's name to the color of the soil in that part of the world- at least according to the Historical Marker plunked down in the hotel parking lot:
We had driven by the Redland Hotel many times on our way to our favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, Los Nopalitos at Mowry at Krome in downtown Homestead, and every time we passed the old hotel I mentioned how much fun it might be to stay there...so she called my bluff and reserved us a ninety dollar room. I mean, look at the facade at wouldn't you want to stay there?
...an entirely adequate room complete with television and wi-fi Internet connection and the all-important adjoining bathroom...
...with adjoining expansive balcony, even though the view is only that of industrial roofs:
The view of the surrounding streets is no great shakes either:
But the front door has a nice way of separating the interior from the wasteland outside:
Which is advertised as an Argentine Steak House. We took the sampler grill at $29 for two and it was enough meat for a small army:
Steaks of various cuts, three kinds of sausage (including blood pudding) chicken and pork all piled up and sizzling. It was overwhelming and delicious as were the entirely unnecessary mashed potatoes, but fortunately for us the hotel provides a to-go box:
The only other occupants of the weeknight restaurant was a party of four English birdwatchers, I think, rather odious people making snide remarks about the colonial lifestyle on this side of the pond and laughing, or rather braying like loud horses as they tried to sort out in their avian brains the differences between England and America. They reminded me of people I'd rather forget from my childhood. You'd have been proud of me: I said not a word but chewed my Argentine steak, forcefully but silently, exhibiting better manners than they.
My wife, who tends to be critical about these things, found the bed to be entirely comfortable and I slept the sleep of the just. The next morning the repulsive bird watchers were infesting the parking lot with nary a polite word between them but it was a fine day to be out and about. We waved to the old Homestead jail as we drove by after loading up on cereal and fruit in the dining room:
And made a pact to drag Lisa and Josh out here for a night of meat and alcohol at the Redland Hotel, in Homestead. Who would've thunk?
According to J Wills Burke's book Streets of Key West the Catholic portion of the city cemetery was added in 1861...
...and just over the fence lies a little stub of a lane called by the same name:
Catholic Lane has but a few houses off Angela Street which runs alongside the cemetery fence,in a one way direction out of town, towards White Street:
The view from the lane is one of fencing and the most peaceful of neighbors, the dead. And coincidentally, scooters:
The lane itself is typical of the Old Town half block dead ends that litter Key West. Most passersby probably only ever catch a glimpse of the lane as there is a stop sign on Angela Street across the entrance, which has to be annoying to residents with sensitive ears, as the cars stop noisily and start up again in succession at that same spot. My wife says I am overly sensitive to noise so I am probably exaggerating the effect for normal people. The rest of the lane is delightfully peaceful:
Not forgetting snowbirds parking their bicycles:
The lane itself dead ends into a white picket fence and a bunch of bougainvillea:
Off to one side a giant tree overpowers the houses underneath:
While on the other side of the lane was a charming wooden cottage:
With a mailbox that looked equally charming if less useful:
And in the front yard a plant I don't see much of in Key West, a geranium, which in Italy where I grew up was said to be off-putting to snakes:
