Sloppy Seconds

Look carefully at the picture below, one I took before my Valentine's Day break and you can see a long standing and thus successful liquor outlet with trash piled high ready for pickup before the city's tourists wake from the night before. By the time they come out to frolic all this will be gone. For now the Garden of Eden high atop the Bull bar will be there and yes you can sit nekkid on a towel at the bar and be served by a naked employee. And no, I can assure you, if I've never bothered to have a drink at Sloppy Joe's or the Bull I have never gone north to the Whistle or to the titillating Garden of Eden. I've sent ambulances up there when it all got too much for a customer or two over the years. Luckily it's clothing optional so first responders retain their dignity.

The Porter House on the other side of Caroline Street has a couple of bars on the ground floor and I did visit that one at first until it got too youthful and filled with bitter craft beer for me but drinking in a  Victorian mansion is not always unpleasant. There's a theme here. Drinking on Duval is a popular pastime and now they tell us the summer of 2021 could be approaching normal in our first world country filled with vaccine and hope that the wretched virus will wander off to hurt poorer people around the world. 

So the question then becomes how much do you like Duval the way it is? Do you care that the city commission has hired KCI to spout platitudes about revitalization and public input while they figure out how to create a wildly exciting "experience" on the new Duval Street? Or do you prefer the current version, shabby down at heel smelling of beer and urine occupied by people shuffling up and down in the heat trying to figure where the famous non conformist Key West of legend has vanished to? Check out Mandy Miles' article in Keys Weekly if you haven't already:  Keys Weekly on Duval.

This sort of trendy developer-speak makes my toes curl:

“The goal of the project is to renovate and revitalize Duval Street,” the city’s RFQ states, “to increase opportunities for public use as an iconic civic space for leisure, commerce and tourism; address the infrastructure which will allow for reasonable maintenance frequency and reduce costs to businesses and taxpayers; improve safety for pedestrians and vehicles; and maintain mobility for desired transit operations for all users.”

But on the other hand their preliminary illustrations seem to indicate a move toward a pedestrian Duval with they say, shade and "hanging art" (the mind boggles slightly) and of course lots of lovely public input in a  town where five people gathered have six opinions on any subject. You can tell this is going to go well especially as Facebook already has naysayers attaching themselves to the notion of a redesign of Duval Street. I understand negativity for the sake of it but I doubt many people who will suddenly form opinions on the design process will actually spend any time voluntarily on the much derided Duval Street.

My own feeling is the time is long since overdue for Key West to lurch into modern urban planning and create a downtown attractive to residents with a flourishing local scene attractive to tourists and once again I will quote my favorite such example in Church Street of Burlington Vermont fame. The trouble is I don't see how that kind of third space (My "third space" explanation Here from 2008!) can develop in a town with massively high rents, out of control cost of housing which are two prime factors that kill off creativity and the artistic impulse. You can't be an artist on a  wing and a prayer when you can't pay rent on your rabbit hutch home or your sliver of street front for your selling space. You can beautify Duval all you want but at this rate all you will have is a shady walkway with hanging art surrounded by dreary chain stores of no interest to anyone not needing sugar or a t-shirt.

The mayor got a huge mandate to go ahead and clean up downtown Key West, to attract upscale tourism on a more modest scale and of higher net worth and I will be curious to come back and see how it went after I run the wheels off my van. Key West has the capacity to surprise the skeptical and there is a chance the beery droopy,  stupid t-shirt of present day Duval Street can be transformed into a vibrant attraction for a wide spectrum of people. I'd guess they need to draw in the vibrant people too but maybe there is a secret weapon the city will deploy to make Key West weird and quirky once again. I'd like that.

Imagine, Duval a pedestrian zone, sidewalk coffee shops and restaurants, one way streets with parking and bike lanes on Whitehead and Simonton and locals making plans to go downtown for a pleasant summer evening out, year round in the tropics. It will be nice if you can afford to live here.

Prayer And Reading

My two favorite buildings are on Fleming Street, or perhaps I should say among my favorites are two on Fleming Street. Though I count myself an atheist I find the churches in Key West are among the most varied and interesting buildings in town, and dare I say beautiful. 

I amused myself by tucking my little Jetson scooter, the lunch break runabout, against the vast edifice of the newly renovated church. It runs about 9 mph, a stately bicycle pace for up to maybe two hours. Once it got to me Stock island and back to the police station for a car drop off. It has no chain or grease and is easy to fold and car and rides on the back seat of the Fiat 500.  It has no pedals so range anxiety is an issue but I am coming to terms with watching the charge indicator drop as I ride.

I am very fond of this cream colored building that looks like a fort and has now received some attention and plenty of exterior paint. 

I did once find the doors open and I managed a quick visit inside and took the obligatory phone pictures in October 2010, just yesterday more or less. Link to 2010 .A decade ago. I was 53, a mere stripling.

The name has changed since the recent renovation and it has been turned into a non profit doing some form of God's work training young people to provide companionship to the elderly if I scanned their website correctly. 

This isn't the first renovation this venerable church has undergone and it's old name is preserved though I believe originally it was simply the Methodist Church.

I rather like the new logo and let's face it Williams Hall is much easier to remember than the old name.

The other cool building on Fleming isn't Fausto's though that qualified, as in this case I scooted over  to the library a block away, frequently used as a home base by the residentially challenged:

It is the oldest public library in Florida and offers all the amenities you might expect in a full service facility, books magazines, videos and computer internet access. 

The roofline is particular and puts me in mind of Boer homesteads I have seen in photos from South Africa.

The garden in back is most often closed when I happen by and I suppose abuse of the modest shady facilities is to be expected one supposes if adults are allowed in here unsupervised. Hence my picture composed through the bars at the main gate.

I have to say the scooter seat though actually quite well made rides up with use and taking frequent breaks for photography and contemplation helps make the ride more comfortable. It gets me back to work not too sweaty and is unobtrusive fun to use.  

Duval Street As Was

I happened upon this essay and thought to myself that looks like Duval Street as it used to be, quite the archival document. Actually no, it was just six months before the pandemic lockdowns started...but what a  difference! I thought it might be worth a look back in the hope we might see a return to normal this next winter..? Please note businesses have changed since I posted this essay almost 18 momentous months ago...And also note that  the city has now hired a consulting company to modernize Duval Street to predictable howls of protest. Apparently not everyone noticed the platform the Mayor ran on when she got re-elected recently with 60% of the vote. The changes will undoubtedly follow in the fullness of time.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Duval Street

Let's be honest this is not my usual habitat and furthermore allow me to point out I know several people who live in Key West and who actively avoid Duval Street. I don't go that far as I enjoy wandering the street from time to time but hanging in the famous bars downtown is not my bag.

 But I do understand these are the haunts that inspire many people to come to Key West. Sloppy Joe's and Ricks across from each other propel the dreams of many visitors.

The Bull and Whistle is close by with the clothing optional Garden of Eden on the roof. And apparently scofflaws skate boarding in the street. Mind you there was no traffic in that moment so I think a skateboard was a pretty effective way to get around.

Shorty's Market is the phenomenon that astonishes me. Its just a  basic convenience store with some souvenir stuff for sale and survives and thrives in the midst of the wandering crowds and the bars. 

I confess that seeing an electric powered delivery scooter surprised me. These electric Zapp scooters have been available for rent though the rental companies got up in arms when the newly arrived green electric tricycles started to get some business. I haven't seen so many Zapps around since then.

The Abbey is a new bar opened at the site of the former Porch in the Porter Building on Caroline. I liked the combination of the private property sign and the welcoming board behind it...Key West and its mixed messages!

 I believe the Abbey is part of the Fogarty's and Caroline's group.

 Always busy:

 Lucy's has migrated successfully from the old Finnegan's Wake location on James Street to tourist central on Duval:

 And Captain Tony's soldiers on just off Duval on Greene Street:

Greene Street named for Pardon Greene one of the four Americans who bought Key West from Juan Salas who got the land grant from the King of Spain.

John Whitehead, John Fleeming and John Simonton where the other three partners none of whom ever visited the island as far as is known. But they did get streets named for them. Salas tried to double sell Key West but his sale to John Strong was invalidated by the US courts later. All these johns must have been confusing even back then. Key West was chartered on November 18th 1828. And now anonymous bike riders use their phones while riding and put their own bones at risk.

I stopped on my way out of Old Town on Fleming Street ( the modern spelling of John Fleeming) to take a picture of the Southernmost Prayer and Faith Church with my  scooter, now sold. The Suzuki  Burgman 200 has gone to a good home!

Bennett Field Primitive Camp

I have mentioned previously that I am a planner, and what seems like sudden, chaotic changes of direction in my life are actually worked out ahead of time. For the first time in my 63 years of life I am doing this quite openly for anyone who wishes to watch though I don't flatter myself that anyone would want to follow my example. I do recommend that if you can plan you should, and if you can't thanks to unemployment a death or some other unforeseen catastrophe brace yourself as change is very hard.

I mention all that by way of explanation that our desire to spend a night in a Florida Forest Service campground was one more step in the planning process. This was the first time in a year of van ownership we spent actual cash money to spend the night. The charge online was $8 per night with a one time administrative fee to pay the company managing the reservations, and that was another $8. Even for a single night fees were nothing compared to commercial campgrounds of course.

Bennett Field has half a dozen spots so we knew mingling and virus spreading wasn't going to be on the cards but the size of each space was astonishing. Our 21 foot Promaster van was lost in the acreage. We had a fire pit with left over wood, a grill and a sturdy picnic table set in our private patch of deep woods. It was as serene as being alone and we very nearly were. 

The reservation system said this spot was occupied Saturday night so we showed up for one night on Sunday but all we could see through the woods was a giant fifth wheel trailer and some blue tarps giving added protection to a tent camp, protection they were going to need as the night ramped up.

Warning, Toilet Talk, skip the paragraph as needed.

The single toilet and the wildlife proof green trash cans took care of everything we needed and our ability to pour out our porta potty makes a night in a  place like this extra useful on longer trips. I like the versatility of the glorified bucket as I can empty it everywhere and don't have to seek out specific holes in the ground to drain a  fixed tank through a hose. I am not bothered by the contents and we keep it clean and smell-free in its own shower compartment in the van.  I pursue simplicity as much as I can which is why we went all electric with no propane and  a massive 35 gallon water tank so we can live off grid without hook ups with the greatest of  ease and comfort. I hate to say it out loud but we planned the exact right van for us.

We based our retirement vehicle on our boat experiences traveling from California to key West in Gemini catamaran another long trip together that took six months to plan, but had us buy the boat two years before the trip. By the time we left the boat was bedded down and we had a vague idea how to sail it as San Francisco Bay is full of challenges for unwary sailors with currents, winds, lack of wind and untested anchorages. Consequently sailing down the coast of Baja Mexico was exciting not terrifying.

Having given ourselves two years to come to terms with living and traveling in a van which is a very small space we are happy to note that it is getting easier. I actually look forward to our trips and I know my wife does and she loves cooking in the van and surprising me with her versatility. Van travel exhausts Rusty but he has learned to cope and now when we arrive I throw open the door, he finds a patch of shady grass and sits there, and given time topples over and sleeps there. Practice makes perfect as they used to tell me.

This idea of paying to camp in a "primitive" site seemed rather overwhelming to me, requiring me to go online and create one more sign on name and password and select dates and make a commitment etc... etc...but I got through it. I am not keen to sit in a campground plugged in to water sewer and electricity and cable TV cheek by jowl with other campers but this was very different. They may not all be as expansive as this but we got a taste for primitive camping here.

We organized ourselves at the picnic table, my wife with her watercolors and me with my paperback and predictably when the gods realized I was off duty they heavens opened and it rained. And thundered and rained hard and though we the humans enjoyed the sound of water and the elements outside as accompaniment to our indoor recreation Rusty hated the sound of thunder and demanded some attention.

My dreams of sunset hikes in big trees, long shadows and sitting outdoors to the sound of a proper mainland forest settling down for the night evaporated, or rather drowned.

Bennett Field lies about five miles from the paved road that connects the forest to Highway 92 which is the main road from  DeLand to Daytona Beach. Bennett Field is the camping symbol middle right of the free map we picked up. We entered from the paved Indian Lake Road at the bottom of the map.

As we left the campground to take the van for an electrical adjustment at Custom Coach Creations in DeLand I snapped a few pictures through the campground:

Our neighbors barely visible from our van in the fifth wheel and beyond them a tent covered in a  blue tarp for the hard core campers:

After we visited the factory and they spent the morning improving air circulation for our 3000 watt inverter before we  drove eight hours home. The inverter is the brains of the van, monitoring electricity whether it comes from a 110 volt line or from the solar panels or the engine as we drive. It had been overheating and shutting off when we plugged the van into a power outlet and also if we ran the air conditioning constantly which is our heaviest load by far for our 600 amp lithium batteries. Apparently it needed better air circulation to stop overheating and the factory made the adjustment for free as part of our year long warranty. Custom Coach has been brilliant to deal with and we highly recommend them.

Getting out of Bennett Field down Rima Ridge was a slippery sandy affair but we did fine with careful steady driving. Next month I am taking the van to Jacksonville to get a front winch installed from FreedomVanGo, a dealer installing $3,000 Van Compass option that should give me the confidence to take my front wheel drive van into lonely sandy beaches in Mexico and points south. I am not a fan of four wheel drive as I much prefer paved roads to dirt but the winch is a Hail Mary addition designed to prevent us being stranded if deflating tires or sand planks (already onboard) don't work to get us out of mud or sand. Like I said I spend a lot of time figuring what makes sense to me and what doesn't. Rock hopping doesn't, soft sand  en route to a lonely isolated beach does. 

Practice makes perfect and we are well aware Alaska next year will look like this much of the time. Being bummed out about rain or 60 degree temperatures will be an unaffordable luxury. I still prefer palms and sunshine but most of the world isn't like that so here goes...we go where it sometimes snows. I shall complain a little I can promise you that. 

Driving the sandy roads covered our running boards which is actually pretty cool for a van that some people think is not overland material. I know it was hardly a test of it's capabilities driving wet sand, but for me the idea that I can take the van places where it is not expected to go will be part of the fun of retirement. I remember we anchored of an island on Panama's Caribbean coast having negotiated the infamous canal and a sailor in a heavy traditional looking boat rowed over to say hello and when he found out we had sailed our flimsy catamaran from San Francisco he looked astonished  and blurted:  "They aren't supposed to be able to do that are they?" A lightweight catamaran has since been proved to be a very capable voyager. Perhaps the humble Promaster can do the same.

It was a fun weekend and we practiced a couple of new skills, spending a discreet night in a  bank parking lot after our planned stop in a freeway rest area was nixxed by construction and then dealing with rain and wind in Flagler Beach and practicing converting our bed into two couches to use as a day sitting area in the rain. 

The factory workers saw the sand caked in the van and they approved because the comfortable interior they built for us nether creaks nor breaks, at least not so far and we are testing everything.

The van as kennel, fridge/freezer on the right with toilet compartment behind it, sink with drain tank, and electrical induction stove on the left next to it. The bed in the back occupied by Rusty converts electrically into a settee (couch) on either side with a table that can be set up between them. We store the bedding in a compression bag when it isn't deployed as a very comfortable queen sized bed across the back of the van. Only the Promaster van is wide enough to accommodate a 6'2" sideways across the van. That saves a ton of space. 

At 70 square feet it has everything except a ton of room. So far so good.