Sandra's Key West

In my ongoing effort to live up to the title of Ironic Humanitarian my wife and I had an early evening get together at my wife's current favorite spot, Salute on the beach. Sandra has been reading this blog and commenting almost from the very beginning. She really likes Key West as her preferred vacation spot.We took patio seating enjoying the sea breeze and Cheyenne joined us, served with her own bowl of iced water.Happy hour invovled half priced wines among others so we talked properly lubricated. It seems the great State of Virginia has an adherent in this native daughter. She described a land of four seasopns, which are apparently very important , even the cold and snowy ones, for proper human happiness.And such is the desire to see Virginia's modest snowfalls in Roanoke, Sandra apparently prefers to spend vacations in Key West in the summer. Or perhaps it is the uncrowded pace in the Southernmost City at this time of year.We split an appetizer tray which was a crafty move on my wife's part as Sandra doesn't eat dead pig. So we got the prosciutto and salami and only had to share the cheese and vegetables. After an extended bout of eating and drinking and talking we got up and stretched our legs and camera lenses. Results to be found here: http://sandrateerunninginswva.blogspot.com/ We took Cheyenne for a walk on Truman Waterfront and dropped Sandra off at her guest house. The next day, mysteriously, Sandra showed up ready for a boat outing with a bundle of noodles under her arm. It was mysterious because noodles are just what Chuck and Wayne need for their boat.

"You're the noodle," my wife told me later, after she had given the matter some thought. "Sandra reads your blog!" And indeed I had mentioned on a previous entry how we planned to get them some noodles, and presto! here was Sandra fully equipped.Chuck, known to his intimate friends as Captain Crabmore (nice and supportive of you, Wayne) got us off the seawall with no drama and we put out to sea again. A few days ago we went to American Shoal lighthouse; this time we were going to check out Looe Key, a famed snorkelling spot south of Big Pine Key.On our journey through ther mangroves we spotted a strategically located table, which had not been there on pur previous trip, a few days earlier. Chuck and Wayne were preparing for their own road trip in a few days and they were determined to get some quality boating time in, before they headed North to New England and it's frigid waters.The day had been looking a bit iffy with a fair bit of cloudiness and a threat of rain. To my surprise the mooring buoys were remarkably busy on the reef. A fact attributable I suppose to the schools being out until August 23rd, more's the pity...The only portion of Looe Key that rises above water is a rock or two, awash at low tide, so this place really is just a reef and not an island at all.

The Sanctuary has installed mooring buoys to protect the coral from stray anchors so one frequently gets to enjoy the spectacle of inept boaters struggling to grasp the pennants as they drift helplessly by.Not this sailboat- they got it in one.They were anoisy lot in the water shouting out their finds to anyone within remotest hearing range. I think they were a bunch of youth on a field trip and I dare say it was a rip roaring success judging by their happy cries.We swam and ate sandwiches and chips and drank (mineral water) and dipped and snorkeled and swam and ate (home made brownies) and napped and swam. Wayne:

Chuck, aka Captain Crabmore (thank you Wayne):A crowded reef:

It was a happy afternoon on the water. We dropped the mooring and made our way home after a few hours and as we turned north across from American Shoal ( the lighthouse visible in the distance):We saw dark clouds on the horizon. Blog reader Sandra spacing out:Wayne looking butch below, in reality anxious to get home to his dogs, Zuzu and Tootie, who were guarding their home with an anxious Cheyenne, abandoned to their collective fate in the air conditioning.We're going to get rained on, was Chuck's prediction.

Sunny here, rainy there. The idea of getting wet sounded refreshing...

The closer we got to home the darker it got, and I was glad we were bopping along at close to 30 miles per hour than these slow pokes.

We got rained on all right, just before we reached the dock. I love the drama of thick clouds and summer rain on the water. Especially when I'm not driving the boat.The rain came down, the camera got put away. My wife made noises once again about buying a waterproof submersible camera for our boat trips. I took Sandra back to her guest house. She had been looking for a different adventure for her last day in Key West. I think this qualified.

Lowe's Lane

I thought for some reason I had photographed this particular alley but checking the search function I found it was not so. I was in the neighborhood previously and photographed Hibiscus Lane so I figured why not put Lowe's in the photographic can because it's just as pretty. I enjoy road trips but I miss enjoying summer in Key West, land of hot sun, bright contrasts and white clouds. There's lots of shrubbery too, which I am unable to name. Labels have never seemed too important to me, so I tend to forget the differences between various birds and flowers and all those other things some people love to collect.. I enjoy the light and the colors and the shapes of Key West seen from on foot.
Summer too is the time of silence, relatively speaking and that is a bonus (added bonus if you want to be ungrammatical). If will power were enough I'm thinking this cat would have been indoors already.

Colors and clouds. If I lived a more interesting life there would either be a dead body or a naked body by the pool. Or preferably a dead naked body.

I cannot reconcile myself to the fact that there are people in Key West with the strength of character sufficient to drive a non air conditioned VW in this heat. Especially after it has been toasting in the sun like this. Perhaps the letter carrier has difficulty spotting numbers?

This is Key West, not Sedona, but cactus does do its best.

Lovely summery Key West.

The promise of rain is another summer pleasure.

Reynolds Street

The Casa Marina Hotel, nowadays part of the Waldorf Astoria chain (though they don't call it a chain which is probably a very gauche term).Henry Flagler increase his oil drilling fortune (Standard Oil) by coming up with the excellent idea of building resort palaces along Florida's sunny east coast and pushing his railway line from New York to meet them. He had found that a rail line with no destination wasn't attractive so when his east Coast Railway Extension (which never turned a profit) arrived in Key West passengers had the choice of staying at the Casa, as it is now universally known in Key West, or hopping the ferry to Havana for some prossies and gambling. And fresh tropical fruit; don't forget the pineapples as they are always listed in the literature as the real reason the connection to Havana was so important. Under age prostitution came later with Meyer Lansky and now the implosion of civil society in the Socialist Paradise. This is an actual, unstaged picture of my dog sniffing a fire hydrant.In a free market paradise where mention of toilets in polite society is cause for swooning the cliché of dogs sniffing hydrants is rampant. Yet in real life I never see it. Until now. I wanted to take a quick whiz on this but if he does win he will be removed to the safety and impotence of the US Senate instead of running for governor where he could wreak severe havoc on a State that has done quite nicely under moderate Republican rule.Rubio is a 38 year old son of Cuban immigrants whose idea of social tolerance is putting leftists like me into hard labor camps and then using us as front line sacrifices on a remake of the Bay of Pigs. Florida term limits Governors so Charlie Crist, the closeted gay married Republican moderate feels obliged to seek other employment though he has been doing a good job of not tipping into radicalism. I doubt he will win as an independent this Fall though he gets my vote over the fatuous Democrat Meeks, he of the Democrat Bubba System. Where was I? Oh yes, hurricane shutters. These people are clearly away and one hopes they haven't forgotten to lock the front door as their absence is rather obvious. Even to a dog.This house in it's own forest I find rather appealing. The wall screams "Bugger Off !" Just how I like it. The Casa Marina district is the wealthy neighborhood in Key West, located roughly between Higgs Beach and the Varela Street more or less. You'll know it when you are in it. This is the intersection of Reynolds and South looking north toward United Street. Turn left here at the light and the Southernmost (More Or Less) Point is a few blocks...south.Casa Marina deals, not exclusively but a great deal in large homes, expansive lots and many trees.Because this is Key West, paying millions for a vast spacious home on several lots gives you no guarantee that your neighbors will be likewise equipped. 1960s homes survive in their more modest, though no less expensive,proportions.However planting lots of fast growing banana "trees" provides all sorts of luscious cover.

This rock home is a bit of landmark.

More privacy walls. Around here No Trespassing signs are not as necessary. Walls speak louder than cheap plastic placards.The Spottswoods will be happy to take your deposit for this slice of paradise. Act quickly before prices plunge again! Mind you, when prices plunge from several millions to a few millions it's not like most of us notice too much.My home has dropped from better than half a million to a recent appraisal of $330,000 though I doubt Wells Fargo could find a buyer at that price if I decided to seek my fortune elsewhere. An empty lot on my street (30 miles from Casa Marina) sold for $136,000 last month so there are still fools ready to be parted from their money. Welcome to the club I say, as the owner of home that will never see a half million dollar price tag on it again.