500 Thomas Street

There's a funny old parking lot hidden behind the county court house complex.


Most people don't get to see it unless they live behind the fence that surrounds the lot and keeps Truman Annex safe from hoi polloi.


The courthouse complex is a complex place with all sorts of odd industrial stuff behind fencing for safe keeping.


I am always enamored of shade producing trees.


The fencing beneath the fencing is I think an effort to keep the Annex chicken free. Only so much Key West can be tolerated inside the community at any one time.


Nice shade.


The parking lot is a permit only county employee lot. Within tha select group there is a hierarchy.


The reserved lots keep walking to a minimum. Walking is enthusiastically portrayed as ideal exercise. But not for everyone.


More shade.


The new Freeman Building of Justice shines bright in the lowering sun. The bridge in the foreground is an anomaly. It is a bridge that crosses not too much of anything.


And there peeking over the roofline is the sleeping spire of the county courthouse.


The clock even seems to work, marking the inexorable passage of time.


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300 Block Fleming

There is a little rump of Fleming Street wedged between Truman Annex, the gated community, and Whitehead Street at Mile Marker Zero on Highway One.


This little corner of downtown Key West is county property, with the court house and some county administrative buildings and the old jail, shown above.


This odd little structure appears to be either a private dwelling or an unmarked office. Either way I don't much care, I just like the curves on the outdoor staircase.


Around the back there's the main post office, that much maligned institution that suddenly means everything when threatened with closure.


Of course nobody is threatening to close the main post office of a city of 23,000 people but our leaders keep telling us we can't even afford a fully fledged postal service anymore. I wonder how it is that civilization is supposed to keep going in the face of all this cutting and slashing.


Stop. What a good idea. Do nothing for a bit. Just sit and be. Human being not human doing.


In the event that doesn't work for you look no further than a law firm to get you justice, or at least compensation.


And that requires a bank account. Luckily my local bank can afford this prime piece of real estate to install an automated teller machine machine.


ATM machine.


Up the road, Fleming Street actually, lies Duval and all the fleshpots. Also requiring mucho ATM machine.


Here it is, the end of the road. Or the beginning.


This used to be the end of the road for quite a few people.


It got over crowded and they built a new jail on Stock Island. Unlike the postal service that's a facility never threatened with closure. That service unfortunately we cannot afford to be without.



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St Paul's Cathedral

It occurs to me it's time I took a few pictures inside the big white wedding cake at Eaton and Duval.


It's a really cool thing that this church in the middle of tourist town's crazy nexus is kept wide open.


The church has an air of permanence untouched by the passing of the ages yet St Paul's has been knocked down by hurricanes in it's history.


It's an Episcopal church yet it appears to my formerly Catholic eyes as being about as gussied up as the churches I knew in my youth.


The Wendy's across the street is a gathering place for the helpless and hopeless who come to Key West to sit on the sidewalk and beg. Hence my continuing surprise that the people in charge of St Pauls's hew so sturdily to the principle of openness that churches traditionally adhered before the advent of over arching fear of liability, desire for self preservation and the dominance of insurance requirements.


I love checking the plaques that line these churches, the old practice of buying salvation much decried and here preserved.


Organ recitals are a lunch time feature at St Paul's and when I worked downtown during the day I greatly enjoyed taking a break here.


Restoration is in full swing.


Of course this huge space is not climate controlled by artificial means.


Curry is a familiar name of long standing on this island.


Lovely isn't it?


I mean, where else would you go to find this art on daily view if not here?


The history geeks in town have recognized the value of this church and the efforts to maintain it.


In the Bible it says, as I recall, that those who give in secret get their reward in the kingdom of heaven. But buying indulgences publicly have their own reward I guess.


Coming out of the serenity of the church we find ourselves abruptly back in the world.


Time to go shopping, and eating and drinking.


I heard one tourist remark to his companion, as they passed me in the crush of sidewalk walkers that there sire are a lot of goddamned churches on this island. Yup, and bars too.



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Chicken Mania

Key West chickens roam the streets and are a constant source of wonderment to everyone who comes across them.


This rooster had worked out a splendid party piece, perching high above the crowds.


He sucked me in along with a few others strolling by...


I stood at the back of the line and clicked away.


Later I spotted the cock-of-the-walk down amongst us mere mortals.


As always the performers have to come back to Earth after their strutting is done.

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300 Block Duval

Evening on Duval Street though not yet late enough for the drinkers to be swarming.


I am astounded by these trinket stores that pay rent in the tens of thousands of dollars each month and sell "unique" crap to bored visitors shuffling by seeking a unique purchase to remember this unique island.


Really a strange name for an unlikely concept. Unique should be added to the list of unnecessary words in vogue.


"Personal" is my current unique favorite bugaboo. Take "personal" out of any sentence and nothing changes. My personal motorcycle. My motorcycle.


I have never been much of a shopper, though many heterosexual men make that claim. Women shop, men stand around feeling useless. In my case my wife has always made more money than me so the other stereotype about signing checks for her doesn't stand either.


Here's another "unique" store a few doors up from the last one. I cannot begin to imagine what Chinese sweatshop workers must think of us.


Somehow in the midst of this shopping frenzy an honest-to-goodness attraction showed up. The island's Oldest House. However the gate is not so terribly welcoming!


Only in Key West does a visitor attraction carry No Trespassing signs at the entrance. "No Trespassing. Use other gate." Naturally the other gate also has a No Trespassing sign. Catch-22. Personally I have no idea what it all means.


Kelly McGillis starred in Witness and Top Gun playing desirable women on the silver screen and she traded those 15 minutes into a life on this island for years and years. Though she no longer lives here her name lives on, also shouted out periodically by passing Tour Guide drivers. Fame rubs off apparently. Personally I couldn't care less.


I wonder if this sidewalk wallah is selling unique stuff. Personally...


When I see people checking the menu I wonder what they expect to find in a restaurant on the main tourist drag with a focus on one time diners?


You get food with a view where you can be seen. Personally...


This lot sell lottery tickets to win vehicles using the proceeds to help victims of drunk driving. Which wouldn't be necessary were medical bills not the issue they are. I wonder how they cover the rent on this premium spot.


Linen and a view.


Not a violation but a parking permit. Ride a scooter and treat it as though it were a car. There is in fact ample free scooter parking a short walk from everything.


Umm...


After six pm loading zones are free for two wheelers along Duval. Motorcycles rule!



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