Smathers Beach

It looks like nowhere much like Key West, yet this strip of sand and palms is in fact what the undeveloped south shore of the island looks like to the east


Looking east toward the airport the beach curves round and the sand fades away yielding to a cement seawall. In the picture below the seawall is masked by the pile of drying seaweed bunched ashore by the currents.


It's hot and bright and shade free along the seawall yet they bike walk and jog out there, most in the cooler dawn and dusk periods.


There are still some uninformed people who come to the Keys for sandy beaches but sand beaches are the exception around here. The Keys are formed of rock, not sand like mainland Florida, so beaches here are more like gravel than soft sand. This stuff was imported by barge to keep users happy.


The waters off the beach are shallow for a long way out so swimming is more akin to paddling close inshore.


The old Navy officers' barracks are now the pink Key West By The Sea condos reportedly built of solid cement and tougher than any hurricane that has blown in so far.


Speed traps are common out here so beware. Florida has a rather weird law that does not allow for tickets within five miles of the speed limit which is worth knowing. Driving recklessly around the crowds of pedestrians along the beach is another matter entirely.


The red number eleven marks the ramp entrance to the beach. It's worth knowing in case you have to call for help. The cops refer to the ramp numbers on the radio all the time when they patrol the beach.


Given it's limitations it is quite the idyllic spot for people seeking exotic palms on sand.


Smathers used to be lined with parking meters that irritated some residents beyond belief. They are gone now, and comments in the paper thank City Commissioner Wardlow for following through on his campaign promise. Free parking for beach goers!


Some residentially challenged people occasionally gather at the tiki huts on the beach though their preferred venue is Higgs Beach. I happened to notice a new fence being installed along the beach at Higgs which will bear investigation.


The beach was named for Florida US Senator George Smathers, a friend and confidante of President Kennedy. They were handsome young playboys together in the nation's capital at a time when the press was rather less intrusive than today.


Smathers Beach was also a front line defense equipped with missile batteries during the Cuban Crisis of 1962, far removed from today's diversions.


Rent a chair, lie on a beach towel, rent a boat or swim in the ocean


Smathers Beach smothered during spring break, sought out by crowds in winter and summer, currently enjoying a little down time before school gets out and families swarm.



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500 Thomas Street

There's a funny old parking lot hidden behind the county court house complex.


Most people don't get to see it unless they live behind the fence that surrounds the lot and keeps Truman Annex safe from hoi polloi.


The courthouse complex is a complex place with all sorts of odd industrial stuff behind fencing for safe keeping.


I am always enamored of shade producing trees.


The fencing beneath the fencing is I think an effort to keep the Annex chicken free. Only so much Key West can be tolerated inside the community at any one time.


Nice shade.


The parking lot is a permit only county employee lot. Within tha select group there is a hierarchy.


The reserved lots keep walking to a minimum. Walking is enthusiastically portrayed as ideal exercise. But not for everyone.


More shade.


The new Freeman Building of Justice shines bright in the lowering sun. The bridge in the foreground is an anomaly. It is a bridge that crosses not too much of anything.


And there peeking over the roofline is the sleeping spire of the county courthouse.


The clock even seems to work, marking the inexorable passage of time.


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300 Block Fleming

There is a little rump of Fleming Street wedged between Truman Annex, the gated community, and Whitehead Street at Mile Marker Zero on Highway One.


This little corner of downtown Key West is county property, with the court house and some county administrative buildings and the old jail, shown above.


This odd little structure appears to be either a private dwelling or an unmarked office. Either way I don't much care, I just like the curves on the outdoor staircase.


Around the back there's the main post office, that much maligned institution that suddenly means everything when threatened with closure.


Of course nobody is threatening to close the main post office of a city of 23,000 people but our leaders keep telling us we can't even afford a fully fledged postal service anymore. I wonder how it is that civilization is supposed to keep going in the face of all this cutting and slashing.


Stop. What a good idea. Do nothing for a bit. Just sit and be. Human being not human doing.


In the event that doesn't work for you look no further than a law firm to get you justice, or at least compensation.


And that requires a bank account. Luckily my local bank can afford this prime piece of real estate to install an automated teller machine machine.


ATM machine.


Up the road, Fleming Street actually, lies Duval and all the fleshpots. Also requiring mucho ATM machine.


Here it is, the end of the road. Or the beginning.


This used to be the end of the road for quite a few people.


It got over crowded and they built a new jail on Stock Island. Unlike the postal service that's a facility never threatened with closure. That service unfortunately we cannot afford to be without.



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St Paul's Cathedral

It occurs to me it's time I took a few pictures inside the big white wedding cake at Eaton and Duval.


It's a really cool thing that this church in the middle of tourist town's crazy nexus is kept wide open.


The church has an air of permanence untouched by the passing of the ages yet St Paul's has been knocked down by hurricanes in it's history.


It's an Episcopal church yet it appears to my formerly Catholic eyes as being about as gussied up as the churches I knew in my youth.


The Wendy's across the street is a gathering place for the helpless and hopeless who come to Key West to sit on the sidewalk and beg. Hence my continuing surprise that the people in charge of St Pauls's hew so sturdily to the principle of openness that churches traditionally adhered before the advent of over arching fear of liability, desire for self preservation and the dominance of insurance requirements.


I love checking the plaques that line these churches, the old practice of buying salvation much decried and here preserved.


Organ recitals are a lunch time feature at St Paul's and when I worked downtown during the day I greatly enjoyed taking a break here.


Restoration is in full swing.


Of course this huge space is not climate controlled by artificial means.


Curry is a familiar name of long standing on this island.


Lovely isn't it?


I mean, where else would you go to find this art on daily view if not here?


The history geeks in town have recognized the value of this church and the efforts to maintain it.


In the Bible it says, as I recall, that those who give in secret get their reward in the kingdom of heaven. But buying indulgences publicly have their own reward I guess.


Coming out of the serenity of the church we find ourselves abruptly back in the world.


Time to go shopping, and eating and drinking.


I heard one tourist remark to his companion, as they passed me in the crush of sidewalk walkers that there sire are a lot of goddamned churches on this island. Yup, and bars too.



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Chicken Mania

Key West chickens roam the streets and are a constant source of wonderment to everyone who comes across them.


This rooster had worked out a splendid party piece, perching high above the crowds.


He sucked me in along with a few others strolling by...


I stood at the back of the line and clicked away.


Later I spotted the cock-of-the-walk down amongst us mere mortals.


As always the performers have to come back to Earth after their strutting is done.

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