Key West Details

Walking Rusty along Duval Street I pulled out of the bustle and noise, I think I was near Aqua and stepped into an alleyway to conduct a more peaceful phone call. My roving eye spotted the pattern. I just like the straight lines...my confessional.

Another day I parked the Vespa on Petronia Street next to the Bourbon, the epicenter of what is left of gay Key West. I was  struck by the windows and their grilles. I took off walking but I felt weird walking around with a camera and no dog. It seemed pointless so I went home to my over walked dog who had not felt like coming into town with me.

I never fail to be surprised by how small cars from youth seem to be no I am entering my dotage. I remember when MG sports cars seemed too cool for words. Now it looks rather quaint and small and ineffective.

When I lived in St Petersburg in the 80s I had an Oldsmobile Delta 88 similar in all respects to this which I think is a Cadillac. It was a huge car and very comfortable and i;m glad I've experienced owning such a huge boat. However using one in Key West must require the patience of a saint. I do recall the Oldsmobile had very powerful air conditioning and a huge back seat for those hot still nights in Central Florida.

I posted this photo on Instagram asking myself how necessary cars are in this small town. As vital as anywhere else I dare say:

Latitudes

We had reservations on the 12:45 boat to Sunset Key.  I watched them eat in silence and text in silence and I was glad to be making a production out of lunch.

 As we pulled away we left Key West behind, the chickens, the crowds the noise and all that. 

And five minutes later we were at Sunset Key with it's own crowds and clean perfectly manicured lanes and its golf carts and ... it's own tourists.

Latitudes is the sole restaurant on the island and it is as far as you can walk when you come here to eat. The rest of Sunset Key is private so unless you rent a place there or get a beach pass all you get to see is the restaurant which is on the water:

 The path to the beach with the rental cottages behind:

Have no fear  Sunset Key is blanketed by the same wireless connections that cover Key West just across the water and distracted pedestrians can be found here too:

The sort of public beach with the usual imported Bahamian sand:

The main drag leading to the interior. I have traveled around Sunset Key, in a previous life I delivered furniture and what a caper it was. We had to load the truck onto a landing craft at Trumbo Road and chug across the harbor to the vehicle landing dock on Sunset Key, where the garbage truck comes as well. 

Driving the box truck was actually quite simple as the streets are quite wide. The houses are in the Key West style made famous by Truman Annex. The big difference here is the absence of life and color and commotion. Come to Key West and drain the life out of it.  

 Latitudes at night is eye-wateringly expensive but lunch isn't so bad. Prices have risen since I was last here, no surprise, so you can figure about  15-20  dollars  for a sandwich and up to 30 for one of the three main dishes on offer. So if you consider the boat ride is free it's not a bad deal for good food in lovely surroundings in place that takes you out of yourself. 

Elly our visitor from hip Asheville was delighted and she really enjoyed her fashionable vegan dish of tomato sauce, hummus and pita.

I laid into my Latitudes favorite of  fried fish tacos and I have to say the food is good. It would be easy to rely on the ambiance but this place offers truly friendly service, efficient and attentive but not intimidating, and the food is good value. If eighteen bucks for three tacos seems like a lot remember Key West prices are absurd compared to much of the rest of the country anyway.  It was tons of food.

The outdoor tables are set on wooden platforms in the sand and at night you may pay a hundred bucks a head but for a special date this is the place to be, tiki torches and all under the stars...

We caught the 2:30 ferry home back to the city and with our validated parking ticket we left the car for free at the Margaritaville parking structure. All very simple and efficient.

 The interior is a nice as you might expect,

 With tributes inevitably to Papa Hemingway, of whom everyone wants a piece:

We passed a group of  freshly arrived renters looking forward to their slice of paradise in the forbidden zone:

 And so back to the dock.

 How people get in the water when it's below 80 degrees baffles me but they seemed to have fun:

We passed under a cruise ship at Mallory Square and were dropped off back at the Margaritaville dock to drive home and sleep it all off.

Sandy's Not Sandy's

Cuban coffee just got complicated in Key West on White Street. So I stopped by when I saw the old Sandy's Cafe was open once again.

The Facebook page didn't lie apparently and Sandy's did move up the street one block south from the famous laundry location. The place has the same red and white awning and is now open for business.

So imagine the surprise when the old location, buttoned up for a day or two suddenly sprouted activity and coffee and everything. What....?  So when I came by and asked how come the confusion the guy at the counter said no confusion the Mexicans are down the street and this place is all Cuban, 5 am to 11 pm.  Okay then.

Indeed the fact that Key West's most well known cuban coffee location was run by Mexicans was always a source of amusement to me. I wasn't particularly fond of their few Mexican dishes and I stuck with basic Cuban sandwiches. Now those Mexican plates are gone on the new temporary menu:

I suppose I shall have to wander down to the "other Sandy's" or perhaps the original Sandy's or even the Mexican Sandy's and see how that place measures up with it's seating and everything. In fact while I was waiting a  woman came by to pick up her "to go order" and wasn't she confused when they didn't have it and they directed her down the street to the other Sandy's...I don' think this situation is tenable especially as the other lot has a second store on Fleming Street plus a brand new Food Truck driving around.

My cheese bread was quite good with lots of molten cheese and properly pressed bread (not crisped) while the coffee was not bitter like it used to be so my spontaneous lunch was better than I expected.  On that brief experiment the old old Sandy's gets a thumbs up.

Somewhere in this mess there is a messed up business contract or agreement or something but I can't  see how Key West can go on for very long without all these Sandy's ending up in front of the law which will have to decide who is called what. Until then I aim to enjoy the absurdity of the confusion.

Rotting In Port

In my opinion it is one of the great ironies of the Florida Keys that Key West, the destination for boats has an abysmal  harbor. In reality for most small personal boats you could say there really is no harbor at all.

The only saving grace of this so-called harbor is that most of the time winds blow from the east or southeast (from the right in the picture below).  However from all other directions the harbor is basically wide open and because the waterfront has been dredged to make deep channels for Navy vessels, and lately cruise ships, the deep water, over 30 feet much of it, anchoring can be rigorous. Add to that a poor seafloor for anchor, rubble and strong north-south currents aided or foiled by strong winds and you wonder why anybody anchors here at all. By comparison Boot Key Harbor in Marathon is an ideal place to park your boat in perfect safety and comfort.

Nowadays the waters of this historic harbor are home to tourists and their boats. Below we see one of the giant catamarans, known as "head boats" or  rather uncharitably as "cattle boats" owing to the many passengers they carry. Then they act as floating platforms while the passengers enjoy water sports in the relatively flat waters of the harbor as you can see:  

 There are boats at anchor all over the place, some are homes others are being stored, some are tidy others are abandoned. It's easy for a boat to become a burden.

The busiest boats are the working craft. This one below often known as a "tall ship" which is a term that sets my teeth on edge had been sailing in an event associated with Civil War days that involved as always a sea battle. Much powder and smoke and sailing in close quarters...much fun had by all.

Then there are the more conventional sail boats hauling people around:

 Commercial fishing boats also known as head boats a some of them take dozens of anglers out to deep waters,

Wisteria Island is the undeveloped island in the harbor, so called as  a ship called Wisteria sank nearby. A local landowner thought he owned it until the Blue Paper investigated an discovered it is owned by the Federal Government and it's fate is up in the air. There is no development plan for the island though there has been talk of turning it into a formal park, the fate of most wild land around here. So far it still seems to serve as a space for people living on their boats despite much debate about "trespassing."

There are boats as far as the eye can see. I guess one has to acknowledge the reason for all these anchored homes is the attraction that is Key West. For many outsiders the Florida Keys are Key West, much to the irritation of the 50,000 people who don't live in the city. However it cannot be denied that the bohemian lifestyle that used to be enjoyed in the city remains a draw, and the cost of housing ashore is such that living for free at anchor has enormous appeal, especially in a  town where freezing temperatures are unknown. By that I mean it never drops below 40 degrees in Key West even if wind chill temperatures especially on he water can make it feel much colder. The cold snaps never last either so why not live the dram on the water?

The say Admiral Nelson is responsible for the saying; "Men and ships rot in port," and as far as I can tell whoever did say it, they were right. It's worth pointing out that you will find many mock heroes who come ashore from their boats at anchor swaggering as though the fact of living on  boat accords them mythic status. Actually it's a matter of logistics and patience that is required to live permanently "on the hook" (at anchor). Just because they live on the boat doesn't mean they move it, or sail it, or enjoy moving across the water. Many lay claim to sailing to Key West when what they actually did was motor down the intracoastal waterway, known to many as The Ditch because that is what it is. Then they park the boat and turn it into a condo. And call themselves sailors.

Others send their paid crew ahead and the owners fly down later and helicopter out to their floating palaces. It's the opposite extreme and equally unappealing to me:

Knowing how to anchor is a good skill. Being tough enough to brave all weathers to come ashore to work is another good skill. Remembering to bring your trash and to take back potable water is also good. And if you forget something on the boat it is a long dinghy ride away to go back and pick it up. And then you live in a  small space, pointy at one end and never quite still as you move about the narrow cabin.

Or you could just buy a ticket on a cruise ship and blot Key West out altogether: