World Vespa Days, Croatia

I am not a clubby kind of rider, but my hat is off to a whole group of English riders of scooters who have made a not inconsiderable effort to cross much of Europe, most of them on two wheels, to attend World Vespa Days on the Adriatic Coast of Croatia. While the idea of riding in a group, drinking in a group and camping in a group doesn't suit my loner temperament at all, the idea of a 1300 mile ride across Europe using a patently "unsuitable" touring machine certainly tickles my taste for adventure. It turns out some scooters broke down but so did vans hauling some of the scooters to the event! This guy rode on a Vespa newer than but similar to mine:

The parent company of Vespa scooters, Piaggio is not known for its collegial support of owners of it's vehicles but from early on the factory organized clubs and rallies to promote its scooters. Now, sixty years on they are still doing it. The pictures I have reproduced here come from the webpage of the Vespa Club of Britain Journey to Croatia which has photos and comments from members on the road and in the peanut gallery back home.

The thing to realize about these riders is not only their dedication to their low powered scooters but also to their willingness to step outside their cultural comfort zones. These are not necessarily people who criss cross Europe on a whim and my hat is off to them for taking on a journey that may not involve customs and borders anymore (Croatia is in the European Union) but retains a great deal of foreignness for people who live on an island, drive on the other side of the road and drink beer unlike any other nation's. They do the best they can and make do:

Yet these intrepid riders took their machines and headed out and if you read the comments they are having the time of their lives, the ones that aren't breaking down.

Croatia was one of the countries that made up the former Yugoslavia and that inherited a fabulous chunk of coastline that everyone should enjoy. My wife and I drove it in a car (boo hiss!) a few years ago and really want to go back. 

The rally is a town called Biograd na moru whereever that is but it looks like fun riding.

I don't know what engines are powering these lovely old Vespas in the photo below but if they are original they have a top speed around 50 mph so I would not be surprised if they went to the rally by trailer or van. Not all vans did so well either. We call this a  wrecker, the English call it "recovery" and either way it costs money.

However a lot of Vespa riders in Britain refuse to go to these events at home or abroad except under their own scooter power, so this dude putting on sunscreen may have ridden all the way for all I know. The English are martyrs to the heat of southern Europe. 

I drew a rough Google map to give an idea of a possible route, 1300 miles over  24 hours in a car...Imagine that on a ten horsepower ride chugging up over the Alps to get to...the other side! Intrepid riders.

Because they are Vespa World Days you can imagine there are scooters from all over the place heading to this jamboree but I went with the British website for the lack of barriers to communication. Of course the British riders start with the over-the-water problem of living on a real island. In this case we see a scooter and an unrelated "proper" motorcycle using the train that takes the Channel Tunnel to go underneath the water complete with cell phone service apparently:

Lots of pictures of Vespas and mountains as the riders made their way south, a mixture of modern and ancient scooters all being ridden:

Yeah. I saw this picture of the Passo Stelvio in June and I shuddered. When I was riding the Dolomites a couple of years ago I got snowed on in July. Nice country! Not exactly tropical though. 

2005 meters in Old Money stands at 6600 feet, not a huge mountain pass by western US standards but high in Europe. And conquered by simple two stroke scooters:

This scooter flying the flag of the Isle of Man, with no visible luggage, spent two days riding up and down the infamous Stelvio Pass whose hairpins can be seen in the background in both pictures.

Some scooter riders skipped some of the mountains and rode down Italy to catch a ferry across the Adriatic.

 

There are blurry pictures of night time fun at the rally, but my interest here is in the journey not the embarrassment of alcohol. Well earned though considering the effort to get there. And by the time you read this the scooters will be starting their treks home. 

It's not always obvious from this side of the Atlantic but it turns out there is a substitute for cubic capacity! It's called riding what you've got, no excuses!

Ducati Scrambler

Thanks For Reading Key West Diary Starting 9th Year Today.

       One A Day Since 13th June 2007

3979 Photo Essays So Far

I did the geek thing and while I was leaving Salute on the Beach I crossed paths with a brand new model of a brand new motorcycle, a Ducati designed to take a slice of the market so ably created by the Triumph Bonneville. The Ducati Scrambler 800 is both more powerful and lighter than my Bonneville and it is a pretty machine.

Ducati built a range of single cylinder motorcycles in the 1970's which were quite popular at the time. I never owned one because they had a tremendous reputation for vibrating and being an uncomfortable ride. I, even then, had my sights set on touring by motorcycle and my machines might have been equally uncomfortable but they didn't vibrate like these machines, which now look to my elderly eye quite lovely and desirable!. 

But, just like my Bonneville which is a picture of an elderly Triumph but not a real one these modern Ducatis are said to be fast and easy to ride and great fun.

I was hoping for some low down on these very new machines but the owner, from Czech originally could only tell me it was his second ever motorcycle and he liked it. Being the nerd I am I think I knew more about his ride than he did! Nice guy he even incautiously offered me a ride but I declined because...that isn't done! The last time I loaned someone my bike they crashed it so don't even ask.

I was on my way to work so I had to book on my old Vespa. I had been at Salute saying good bye to a dear friend whose mother is not well and who unfortunately lives in Illinois. It happens a lot in Key West, people who are permanent fixtures have family or other obligations Up North and off they go.

Nan, dressed in white, was quite tearful as this was not an easy departure. Her friends crowded round as one does and I expect each of us was secretly glad it wasn't our turn to slip off the island and go north.

This was the view from her front yard and she won't be replicating it in Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi. She told me she spent every waking moment she could sitting out here taking it all in one more time. "I wish I canceled my cable long ago, not last week." It gave me renewed appreciation for my deck, that conversation. I went out last night and stood in the breeze watching the thunderheads crackle, thinking of Nan.

I hope her departure will be temporary, I know she misses this place already. We keep hanging on. 

Happy Birthday Key West Diary!

Conchscooter As Businessman.

I confess, I have been very busy and not touring downtown Key West. My wife and I are starting a business which I hope will be ready for actual live sales in a month or so, long overdue from our initial start up date last winter but these things take time and we are trying to get it right along with our partner the hard working engineer. In addition to our day jobs much waking time is spent contemplating the numerous details that go into preparing for a launch. I cannot be more specific until our lawyer clears our patent and says its okay, because we live in a world dominated by laws (what a pain!) and the people who maintain them (thank God for them). My partner initially was questioning the value of a patent but after a year of grinding at the engineering wheel on my idea he has come around to the belief that supporting intellectual property  rights is good - in a big way. Trade mark- check, patent- check. Anyway I apologize for being a bit mysterious but I feel I have not been as on the ball with my blog, now 8 years old, as I should have been. Last year I was worried that the demands on my time might have impaired my ability to keep rolling out daily posts but so far, partly because the business start was delayed my blog hasn't suffered too much. Tomorrow is the eighth anniversary of my First Blog Post and I wish I had had more time to mark the occasion. So for the time being rest assured nothing much will change here and I shall do my best to bring my idea to market soon while keeping up daily posts about nothing very much except life in Key West. Much of which at the moment must continue to be obscured until my product is ready for nationwide roll out. Which will be a huge relief, as I am not patient by nature. You might even want to buy it if your extended family lives far apart. Indeed I rather suspect you will want to buy it.

Anyway this essay owes it's existence to photographs found elsewhere and attributed in the text. I was prompted to write this rather confessional post when I noticed Doug Bennett's post a couple of weeks ago about the new Starbucks in town, a store I hadn't noticed even as I have scooted by and that realization confirmed to me my head has been elsewhere lately. At first glance I find its presence rather annoying but discussing it with a friend I came to the conclusion that this chain coffee shop, if such we must  have in this deteriorating downtown, may actually prove to be useful. 

I used to enjoy sitting in the window at Starbucks under the La Concha hotel on Duval but a recent renovation has moved the Starbucks to the side of the hotel so the only people watching available now is at the dingy side of Fleming Street. This place offers greater potential. Don't get me wrong, I do like my con leche  and colada from Sandy's and Jeana's and elsewhere but sometimes a seat and a table and air conditioning are nice even if you don't want alcohol. This might do:

Both pictures are from Doug Bennett's blog: " This Week On The Island" and I am very glad he took the time to get them! This next one has gone, no more Burger Fi which is too bad. I got here just once and I liked it but something must have gone wrong because it's gone.

And now the new place, not so new as it's been open a month I believe, and it's thanks to the  Lost Souls blog that I noticed the Facebook Page whose photos I reproduce Here Below:

Joe's Place is open on Caroline Street at the spot previously occupied by JDL's Big Ten and previously JT's, both sports bars so I suppose televisions can only be expected in this new incarnation. The food menu seems okay, pretty standard stuff rendered I hope in above average form and the place seems to be doing well for which I am grateful. I too mourn the loss of Finnegan's Wake, and McConnell's on Duval is a sort-of substitute but I wouldn't mind a totally non Irish Pub replacement for my modest drinking needs if one were available. The Porch worked for a while but it's notoriety got the better of it and I am not nearly hip enough to darken it's doors again. Plus it's bloody noisy and has no food at all. Joe's Place might possibly be quirky and enjoyable even for a curmudgeon like me, with pleasant outside seating (dogs..?).

I shall have to give it a try at some point. However they aren't pushing their beer list so I am skeptical so far. I have managed to glean that Guiness and some craft beers are on tap so that's better than nothing but McConnell's has draft Smithwicks which is an attraction.

Perhaps before too long my business will be in the ether, my sales manager currently very enthusiastic will be even more so when he has a product to sell and I shall get to sneak away to see what is happening downtown in Key West. That would be nice. Here's to entrepreneurship and whoever told you it was easy told you a big fat lie.

Boca Chica Beach

I took Cheyenne and the iPhone to the beach. I guess I was thinking mostly about what I would write tomorrow, so today is pictures without words. 

Night Shopping In Key West

Supposing you were out and about in Key West one night, admiring public Art as you do, and you came over all funny and needed refreshment. What to do?

Sometimes it is more pleasant to enjoy public monuments in the early hours when the crowds are slack and you can gain a proper appreciation of otherwise unremarkable places thrust by chance into the lists of desirable places. If for instance admiring Mile Zero of the Overseas Highway you were overcome by a need for beer, or soda, or chocolate or Funyuns what would you do?

Key Lime Pie at three in the morning? Oh no! What to do?

Sometimes people feel like they might get lucky long after the sun has gone down and that would be the perfect time to buy a lottery ticket, what the more skeptical among us view as a tax on the mathematically impaired. However hope springs eternal and this being America when  you gotta go, you gotta go and there are 24 hour places to shop in this strange small town.

Locals used to call this the Arab Store (as in Aay-Rabb) for the very good reason that the owners were from Bangladesh; I know, I used to chat with them from time to time. The fact that Bangladesh is only about one third the distance from Saudi Arabia as the US would no doubt explain this misplaced nickname for Far Eastern operators of this shop...that or pure ignorance. Someone else owns it but I expect it will be the Aay-rab store for a long time to come!

This next one, further up Caroline from Duval Street used to be known as Maun's ("mor-n's") because the Maun family, well placed in the hierarchy of St Mary's Catholic Church, used to operate it. Now it's known rather blandly as The New Market. It is across the street from Harpoon Harry's and is equipped with a bum magnet for some reason.

Charlie's Grocery on William Street is a funny old place, not open 24 hours as you can see but interesting in its own way if you aren't in desperate need of junk food at an ungodly hour of the night. Come by during the day to catch up on your Bollywood soap operas inside the cement block building. I don't know how these people make a living but they do and quite well it seems, for this lot sell nothing spectacularly interesting as far as I can tell but they plug along.

Similarly here, not far up Windsor from Charlie's at the corner of the cemetery, another  almost identical inconvenience store, wrapped in brick this time. I have no idea why people walk, jog and trot around this town clutching bottles of excessively heavy, rapidly warming bottled water as they go. If drinking water carefully packaged in a throw away plastic bottle is essential for you, then you can find fresh icy cold ones everywhere in Key West. 

The nexus of all convenience stores is here at Truman and White Streets, with regular gasoline sold at nearly $2.90 a gallon, and Citgo sells Dion's Fried Chicken Done Right (Link) all night long. Connoisseurs tell me the coffee at the Chevron is better but here you have the makings of a hot time in the old town at night. By the way alcohol sales stop at four am and cannot resume before 7 am according to some arcane accounting of the law which I suppose wants to give your liver a brief rest in the 24 hours of the day. Makes no sense to me but there we are.

The Lime Tree Food Store on Flagler wedged between Bertha and Josephine Streets, it's much smaller than it looks outside though it is equipped with a vast parking lot. I don't know why but it strikes me as rather seedy and I'd rather get my soda at the Gas station on North Roosevelt a couple of minutes away on First Street.

Further up Flagler we have Habana Plaza wrecked by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and restored into a vaguely Art Deco style of building with the rather picturesque portico which these days mostly serves a temporary city hall filled with city workers waiting for the White Street school renewal project to be finished. In the middle of all the city offices there is a convenience store, Atlantic Grocery, so named for no visible reason that I can think of. There's a Cuban coffee shop next door operated not for tourists necessarily so if you get your bottled water and your  con leche here you are a bit off the beaten track. A bit.

On your way out of town on Flagler Avenue the Mobil Station has Dion's chicken (the chicken is available all the way up to and into Homestead on the mainland). Not open 24 hours, not on my usual path, but here and useful nonetheless.

The main road into Key West, North Roosevelt Boulevard, "the Boulevard" as it's known informally, is stacked with mainstream America neon, chain stores, large parking lots and all the paraphernalia of multi- lane traffic. There are Circle K stores and Shell gas stations aplenty and they are what you'd expect. This one is a 24 hour place at Kennedy Drive:

The only 24 hour bona fide grocery in Key West is Winn Dixie in Overseas Market, as Fausto's and the two Publix markets close each evening. Across from Winn Dixie one of the many national chain pharmacies has all night neon:

Here's a thing, my Cuban acquaintances swear by the coffee and food in the little Cuban kitchen in the Shell gas station at First Street, but it's not  24 hours. I frequently stop at the Circle K across the street on my way to work or during my lunch break if I want a Coke Zero to drink at the waterfront. Or if my gas guzzling two stroke Vespa needs a refill in its  tiny tank.

I hope this incomplete tour dispels the notion still fondly held by some visitors that visiting Key West rates in the adventure stakes with driving across the Gobi Desert or hiking the Karakorum Mountains. Just to complete the picture there are 24 hour gas stations all the way up the Keys very dozen or two miles, Stock Island, Big Coppitt, Big Pine, Marathon and on and on. Stock Island has a Tom Thumb in addition to the Chevron gas station.

 It's a speck of light in a very dark world at three in the morning and people were still out shopping.

In the Florida Keys you need never run out of ice cold expensive tap water in a bottle or your choice of gas, ethanol free gas or diesel. These islands are really very civilized, at all hours of the day or night.