The Meadows

I took my little electric Jetson scooter on my lunch break and went to make some pictures. Not just any pictures: I was trying to carry our an experiment suggested in a book I was reading.

The book is "Perspectives on Place" by J.A.P. Alexander and I bought the e-text book version which as far as I am concerned is indistinguishable from a regular Kindle edition.

The idea was to set some limitations and take a series of pictures to illustrate a neighborhood. What strikes me as a bit odd is that I have been doing that for years in Key West  and apparently I was ahead of the curve. 

So I followed instructions and set myself a square format for the pictures in black and white and limited myself to not using the telephoto lens on my LX100ii. Usually I zoom up to 150mm but here I stuck rigidly to 24 mm, the widest possible angle.

 With about 40 minutes at my disposal I scooted up and down some of my favorite streets in Key West which were, in the middle of the day, devoid of humans except for one agitated terrier on a very long leash and a distracted human at the other end of it. I think the dog was surprised to see a circus bear come rolling silently by on a tiny scooter. 

Shadows and light is how I see Key West, especially in the bright white sunlight of winter so here it is:

The scooter started to run down after a while, I hadn't charged it since my last excursion earlier in the week so I aimed for the police station as the speed slowed down. I found myself walking the last 100 yards which was fine  especially as my Apple watch  liked the locomotion and gave me an "attaboy."

The book says one has to create a narrative which is pretty much what I do all the time...

At this point I was walking the scooter so I stopped to make a picture of the surfboards all up on end. And the apartment complex all up on end against the same dark sky. A commentary on the vapid nature of modern seaside vacations. Or something like that.

This last picture is out of sequence but I liked it quite a lot so I thought it was a good place to end this little photographic experiment. Next time I'll try to connect geography, autobiography and metaphor. That doesn't sound at all easy.

Unconsidered Trifles

Tropic Ocean Airways Cessna Grand Caravan flying overhead.  I thought it looked good but I know nothing about planes so I had to ask a friend for an identification of this strange bulbous looking plane. He said they are workhorses and fly people and stuff everywhere.  

And then I saw another plane overhead and I put it next to a tree for contrast. You can do that with a camera even if you can't sensibly afford a private plane to charter for yourself.

I like the contrast of shadows and light in the perennially sunny keys.

Gnarly mahogany. 

Gentle plaster cast at George Allen public housing:

Some days when I take a walk at lunch I want to go out and see the Key West not usually expressed in the millions of selfies and bright over saturated beach scenes.

Key West always has been a place of shadows and light and odd corners and funny little finds where people express their personalities or fail to follow the accepted paths of decoration and plant growing.

I would cover my house in bamboo (wife permitting) especially the type that doesn't walk everywhere and take over everything. I find the stuff fascinating.

There's a massive cement wall on Duncan Street just off  White Street. I drive by as often as I can. 

It's my kind of privacy fence. And offers some picture possibilities not found everywhere in a  town filled with wood and picket fences.  

Seek and ye shall find somewhere ion Key West. The pandemic gives me time to look. 

Simonton Beach

Walking down Greene Street thinking about looking at the water from Simonton Beach I tested the camera settings at the picturesque 90 miles to Cuba store, closed tight. Light and dark looked good, nothing of interest there...

...until there was.  A rooster popped up to check me out and I broke the bad news that officially feeding him would be unlawful. I was wearing my mask so I don't think he got the message. I couldn't be sure if he was defending his fence or asking for a hand out.

Officially the city manager is looking for work. While officially acknowledging the rumor he admitted he was looking for work elsewhere as he feels short changed by his $180,000 salary, second only in the city to the attorney who makes $215,000 according to the newspaper. Big numbers for those of us described by Senator Rick Scott as "little people with little jobs" but apparently the number two position at the Aqueduct pays $20,000 more according to the paper. The other rumor is that the city manager, who got the job by acclaim and no hiring process, is angling for a pay increase and when that urge is satisfied he will stay on and stay in charge of the city. What a weird way to ask for a raise I thought to myself, union member that I am. However it is a glimmer of non conformity in a  town where being normal is more highly prized than ever. Keep Key West Weird.

No dogs allowed. On Simonton Beach. I'm not sure who where when or what brought that sign into existence but I wonder what Captain Tony Tarracino the legendary non conformist would think of it. Especially as his daughter owns the beach bar that probably created the demand for it. 

Simonton Beach wasn't much of a place if you weren't residentially challenged and some people called it Bum Beach for that reason. Now there are beach facilities for rent, beer not out of paper bags and a menu of sandwiches to allow all day lounging on a rented chair under a rented umbrella. 

The sand boat ramp is still there offering free beach access to anyone that cares to swim in the ocean in February. I start swimming when the time changes in the Spring and I stop swimming when we revert to winter time in November. Broadly speaking because I like waters to be at least 80 degrees. Right now they are in the mid 70s which is too cold for my delicate extremities.

Activity, business, tourism. Jolly good. Luckily I have lots of other places to take Rusty but I expect them all to be shut down and restricted as time goes by. The trend seems unstoppable. Progress: I must learn to love it.

As Webb Chiles points out the southern hemisphere has far fewer people living on it than our overcrowded northern half.

 

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!