Poker Run, Key West

I like the classics among all the many versions of Harley Davidsons parked on Lower Duval Street for he weekend of festivities.

A 1975 Yamaha RD350 two stroke with a mere 2500 miles on it. And a nearly naked babe recline nearby, not  exactly a classic but its  what people expect  from a gathering of  bikers.

Key West brings its own sense of humor to a gathering of badass bikers.

And the serious looking hardcore women just look out of place in a town devoted to old fashioned fun.

All the gear all the ime. As long as they are flags.

Rum Barrel a couple of blocks off Duval looked a better spot to hang out.

A tad more crowded on the main drag.

the most popular BMW ever looked out of place to me. But she liked it.

An old BSA turned into something unrideable but interesting to look at.

Some wacko warmed the Ickes of my heart by bringing an MV Agusta 675 triple to this event. I wished I was twenty again!

Another Beeza made unrideable, chopped this time but with sensible soft panniers. Perhaps this one was ridden here? Lovely!

Another vintage two stroke, a perfect, unaltered screaming Kawasaki 500 triple. Check out those sticky-outy cylinders!

Selling something I think.

Street scenes.

I have no idea what to say. This is not really my cup of tea.

Saw these guys wobbling their way up the beach as I left town to go home. Cheyenne was waiting for me. We're friends again. Phew!

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Walking The Village

You'd think every dog ever walked on the streets of Key West was wild and vicious. Either that my wild and vicious Labrador installs fear, because they walk by determined not to allow their dogs to sniff. Not that Cheyenne is terribly interested in other hounds.

Getting stuck in traffic tales on a different kind of stickiness in Key West. Traffic jams elsewhere usually involve multiple lanes and too many cars for a given space. In Key West a garbage truck constitutes a jam. On a one way street like Petronia you may have to wait a while and learn to be patient if you enter the block with the garbage truck working its way down ahead of you.

.a brush with kindness" the sign read, a master of double entendre as Habitat had a hand in rehabbing the structure. I remember when Habitat wanted to put up afew houses on Bog Coppitt along Highway One. Habitat Landing got built in the end over the protests of neighbors who were apparently worried about the content of the characters of the residents of the homes. Which puts me in mind of BANANA -Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.

In some cases not building anything comes easily. Check out this empty lot.

In other cases buildings are well worth looking at.

Key West offsets, which always put me in mind of the question: how easy is it to live European style, very close to our neighbor?

The "No Dredging" flag is out everywhere, and the referendum is set for October 1st.

This sort of yard can make up for the lack of privacy seen above:

No privacy and nowhere to park. Two wheelers rule in this small town.

Public housing in Key West is scattered all over the city but what there is tends to be rather old fashioned looking too. I find it hard to imagine but some of these boxy apartments don't have air conditioning in the summer.

Robert Gabriel was Monroe County's state representative in the late 19th century which seems inconceivable in light of the failure of Reconstruction so I suppose naming something after such a pioneer is appropriate and this is what they came up with.

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Shrimp Docks

A still warm summer morning in Key West and the waters inside Stock Islands Safe Harbor are flat.

I had taken the car in to have the check engine light checked and while Mike did his thing Cheyenne and wandered across the street to see what we could smell.

You know how they say the early bird catches the worm and how farmers get up before the dawn's early light and all that stuff. I guess that doesn't apply to commercial fishing, for I was alone at that early hour. Mind you I do know that the best crustacean hunting goes on at night when the her imp are out and about so maybe that explains it. Perhaps I'm just too used o office hours!

Cheyenne scavenged while I enjoy the several and various views. A fishing harbor is an odd mixture of serenity and grunge, picturesque boats and hard core muck. As a recreational sailor I was never viewed with anything much better than contempt by people who made their living from the sea. Why I would waste time and money putting around instead of earning an honest living seemed to be beyond their ken. Meeting a fishing boat in some of the lonely parts of California's rugged coast always had an air of biker gang menace to me. I think I had an over active imagination after a few days of battling fog, headwinds and enormous oily clean swells on my "vacation fun."

Of humans there might have been none but we were not alone. I wasn't sure but I think my old dog is still a hot property among bored chained dogs. This one was clearly anxious to make her acquaintance and I couldn't fault him. As usual Cheyenne wanted no part of the encounter. Good girl.

I don't know if this is picturesque but it is I suppose as Key West Bight was in the glory days.Timeline Photos I am quite convinced most people walking the boardwalk who think romantic thoughts of the Key West history of the place would recoil in horror if they had to actually haul their fashionable backsides through this little lot. For this is what that I antique past looked like!

Nostalgia is a devil disguised as a romantic.

Key West Diary: Stock Island

Key West on Dwellable

 

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Boca Chica Without Words

I have written plenty about Boca Chica Beach, place used by people who live in their cars and dog walkers both, especially in winter. I took these pictures before I went to Italy and offer them here as something worth looking at, and as a reminder of the beauty of home.

 

 

 

 

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