Thompson And Leon

It's an innocuous looking street in New Town, a place in the outer reaches of Key West.


Thompson Street is relatively wide and shaded.


Just because this is the part of town that was built after the 1960s, doesn't mean the buildings can't be grandiose.


Tara isn't in it.


But there again boats and trailers and low Florida bungalows also line these streets.


It's the great thing about Key West, it's all mixed up and you never know what house is next up the street.


Then there is the transformer sitting there in the residential neighborhood doing it's job.


And at the north end of the street the huge 62 foot tall slab that is the Horace O'Bryant Middle School.


Which was where I took a left and drove over one block to Leon Street which has no become a one way southbound, back toward Flagler.


There was the usual storm in a tea cup when the city got Federal funds to build sidewalks on Leon Street. That required making it one way which was inconvenient for me as I used to use it as a straight shot to the Police Station from Flagler. These days I can't.


Nevertheless I like how the street looks and sidewalks in my opinion are no bad thing.


Navigating Key West you get used to landmarks to remind you where to make your turn, everyone does it. This pink shrine marks Leon at Flagler.


Except nowadays you can't turn north, and old habits die hard.


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Smathers Beach

I don't know what the intent was in flying a giant Benjamin Franklin but symbolically it was a perfect flag for Spring Break.


Smathers Beach is the daytime epicenter of Spring Break activity despite all the prohibitions.


This time of year seems to have slipped back to the happy family mode which is more relaxing for the whole town.


If less profitable.


The keys don't have great beaches but Smathers isn't terrible even though the waters are shallow offshore.


The lines at the vendor trucks have shrunk and the beach is starting to look it's usual sleepy self.


Though there were a fair few bicycles in the rack as you can see.


I like hanging out sometimes at the beach on my way home at the end of my shift. Those are the times I like best at Smathers Beach.


Some people live for their days at the beach.


And some people in Key West miss the sights of Spring Break.


Not me. I was getting fair worn out from all the people in town. Never mind how much money they bring.

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Flowers On Olivia

The gruesome Conch Train made a splash of color between the bougainvillea.



I feel fairly certain this is a piece of Art but what it represents I'm not entirely sure. I thought perhaps a dog?



Olivia Street through The Meadows is pretty made colorful by the variety of flowers.



And cyclists.



And here is an empty lot for the enterprising. It always surprises me a city as expensive as Key West still has patches of open land with No Trespassing signs on them. It does not appear to be for sale.



I got quite carried away by the sight of the blossoms alongbthe street. Check out the pictures:



















This Vespa is identical to the GTS 250 I was riding when I started this blog in 2007. I rode it to death in ten months, this one is treated rather more gently I think.



More houses for sale.



And refurbishment.



And this one needs a fair bit of sorting out.



I liked this gate in the foliage. It reminds me of some stately mansion.



Olivia in The Meadows.



The Meadows is called that because it was a meadow before it was developed in the middle of the last century. The boundaries of the neighborhood are Truman, White, Palm and Eisenhower.


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Stephen Julius's Indian

I was taking pictures of this piece of machinery on Eisenhower Drive when a passer by, a non motorcyclist asked if I liked it. She was just being polite because she didn't wait for an answer but started fussing over my dog instead.


It's hard to say of I like the reborn Indian brand recently sold to the Canadian Polaris/Bombardier/Victory conglomerate. Indian went out of business in 1953 and came back to life decades later in Gilroy California and that failed after a while.


I was at school years ago with a child who has become a venture capitalist in adulthood reviving failed corporate "brands" and then after building it up selling it. His name trumpeted in the motorcycling press is Stephen Julius and if you have $35,000 to spare on a bone shaker you too can have one of these over priced pieces of nostalgia.


It's a pretty piece of work but the magazines report it shakes like a cement mixer and gets rather tiring.


But it is pretty. My Bonneville a nostalgia trip but at $8,000 my bike is decidedly a better value.


It is pretty though isn't it? I can't get away from it.


For those not amused by motorcycles, the philistines, here is a picture of my dog, resting from her labors.


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Dogs And Chickens On Albury

What the operators of the secret surveillance cameras didn't know was that I was out there photographing them. So there!


It was another pretty day in The Meadows one of my favorite neighborhoods.


The gruesome big apartment complex on Eisenhower Drive, easily as tall as the hated new school building at Horace O'Bryant has been painted a refreshing shade of mustard yellow. I wonder why this night on the landscape doesn't stir people up in the newspaper the same way the school building does?


Recreational vehicles are not allowed on city streets if they are over 20 feet (6.7 meters) long.


This is why people spend absurd amounts of money to live here, year round greenery and permanent blue skies.


Cheyenne was minding her own business sashaying down the street when the local canine noticed the babe in their midst.


If you walk this neighborhood shortly before dusk you will see a positive army of people walking their dogs in all directions. The Meadows seems to be full of canines, and here they are.


Key West is a city of primary colors.


Roosters add co.or to though I could do without the messy beasts. Some people really like them.


Was this a dog or a chicken? I couldn't quite tell...


These decidedly were chickens, digging and squawking and making their own mess.


These signs certainly improve the look of the town. If you are too inconsiderate to pick up after your dog reminding everyone else that dog "waste" exists isn't going to persuade you to clean it up. Notice how the sign even carries a pictogram showing how to pick up dog shit, like it's rocket science. Who dreams these things up?


A motorcycle is all you need to get around in Key West.


And to end our short tour of Albury Street we have a quick view of a rock wall. Why it's here I have no idea.


The Albury family has deep roots in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas where they are known for boat building.


In Key West the name is perpetuated by a short street in a delightfully quiet residential neighborhood.

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