The View From The Bordello

The house pictured below caught my attention. Located on Caroline Street at Elizabeth it used t be rather untidy yet decorated with a hanging bicycle. Now it has fresh paint and carpentry.


It looked more like this next house across the street but it was part of the property owned by the scandal plagued conch Community Land Trust which bit the distribution and reverted it's properties to the city housing authority. One hopes low income needy residents will occupy the splendid new building appearing at the corner of Caroline and Elizabeth.


This sign below caused me a chuckle. By the time I walked back twenty minutes later the scooter was gone. My advice if you are visiting is to follow the posted signs. You never know what privilege locals may enjoy that will get an out of town vehicle towed.


The Red Door building on Caroline at William used to be a whorehouse years ago. Nowadays they sell charming clothes and have a little love seat on the porch which gave me a place to pause out of the heat.


Across the Street is the Home Depot of the boat outfitting world. West Marine is ubiquitous: there are stores on Stock Island, in Marathon and Key Largo covering every single island, pretty much. "Welcome Racers" refers I think to the January sailing races which bring teams of noisy, ill mannered racing sailors and their wealthy sponsors and owners to town. Race week is the week not to eat out as they reserve every table at every restaurant and force the entire room to overhear their sailing exploits recounted in painful detail. But they do bring money to town in January.


Scooter babe.


Idiot with a hang over, I hope.


I looked the over hung photographer with that fuzzy picture so I tried again and got a rear view which didn't improve it much. Were I reduced to intercourse with a plastic doll I should like to think I would be discreet about it.


The city commission has approved the construction of a brew pub at the former Waterfront Market and construction is underway. The mural is taking a beating and I don't suppose Wyland's work will survive.


Some people find it too hot to ride for the next few weeks but I never mind the heat. Fifty degrees is far too cold for me.


Buddy Owen's restaurant isn't air conditioned but this shortcoming doesn't keep customers away even in the summer. Go nude and keep the fans swirling...


Doves don't expect the comfort of a/c so they remain cool, observing it all from up above.


It's true: you'd be surprised what you can get used to if you...get used to it! I am in no hurry to get used to no air conditioning. Been there, done that and I prefer the air!


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Casa Marina

Flowers neatly laid on stands almost as though they were for sale.

A pink house that matched my Crocs quite nicely. I don't suppose they'd have seen the joke, them and their "No Trespassing" sign.

This RV parked forever makes a useful little apartment as the weeds grow up around it.

It was painted by a well known man who styles himself the people's artist in Key West, teaching others his magical art.

Nature's magic is growing dates in a climate too cool and too damp to allow the fruit to mature. Abundant though, and I took this picture in color too.

The magic of thousands of clean sheets daily all across a city filled with beds only happens thanks to unseen hard work.

Lately too much rain has left too many scooter seats wet. Every morning I come out of work only to get a wet bum. I still prefer to ride than drive.

Rain works for Cheyenne as she finds refreshment everywhere.

Passers by find it odd that my dog drinks puddles. What do they expect her to do, put the kettle on? Which reminds me...


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Magic City, Florida

My favorite Chinese eatery at Luani Plaza on Kennedy, has been in town a while, check out the worn out delivery sign on the car:

When I lived In Santa Cruz, California, Chef Tong's was a well known restaurant, it's owner a colorful character who did time for gambling related offenses. I still tend to call Tong's Garden "Chef Tong's" when I'm not thinking, thus confusing my listeners.

August 14th is primary day in Florida, those of us who haven't been culled from the voting rolls by our over eager Republican overlord in Tallahassee. I have no strong feelings about control of mosquito control but I'd better get reading between now and then. The Bug Board used to be controversial when the district was managed by an idiotic narcissist who thought being the highest paid county official entitled him to be rude in public. He's gone. Viva democracy!

I saw that arsehole bicycle billboard at the public library on Fleming. I ride a motorcycle so I have no desire to see more drunks driving, thanks.

Magic City is the nickname usually given to Birmingham, Alabama, a city created to meet an industrial need for iron and steel. Key West has the capacity to be magical sometimes too.

I am astonished how a vacation here turns sedate homeowners into hard riding motorcyclists. They wobble, stop suddenly, get lost, hunt through they bags and make abrupt u-turns. But scooter riding is a Key West experience.

Scooters are everywhere and they are a sight to see.

My dentist's office looked magical with a palm tree growing in the lobby, clearly visible behind these lost British tourists on their bicycles.

Most realtors advertise homes for sale. This street side advert advises the passerby the house in question is actually not for sale. Weird, magical perhaps, but true. They've got others for sale though, if you're interested.

This house is for sale and there is a motorcycle in the driveway neatly covered. Perhaps it's included? Cool!

What splendidly magical place for a coat hanger. The hood of a car?




I love you Cheyenne, you patient dog.




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Cheyenne Snoring

I got up and found my dog passed out. I could spend hours watching her sleep.


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Jolly Roger Pirate Homes

I suppose my obsession with denying the rumor that pirates ever lived in the Keys is getting a bit...obsessive.

The jolly old pirate myth animates the souls of suburbanites who need glamor and a touch of terror to lend color to their couched lives.

Pirates were outcasts and they were also democrats. Yup, they voted their captains into office and threw them out if they failed to bring in enough loot. They were also socialists as they shared their money among all members of the crew. Think about that.

Besides which pirates needed secure harbors with water for their drinking casks, straight strong wood to repair their ships and a town to recreate in. Old Providence off Nicaragua was a base that covered the sailing routes out of the Panama silver route.

Port Royal in Jamaica covered similar bases until the British kicked them out.

New Providence in the Bahamas also worked after Old Providence was made untenable by angry merchants and governments. Key West was in the wrong place measured by currents and winds to intercept Spanish galleons. Plus the was no town before 1820 and no natural water or wood or any other supplies. Why then would pirates be in Key West?

That reasoning doesn't stop developers naming subdivisions like this one on Little Torch Key from give giving the place a piratical twist.

Lots of shuttered homes for the summer, because the pirates are all Up North giving their grandkids piggy back rides.

They're missing the best time of year in the Keys.


Which is nice for Cheyenne and I as we can walk in peace.



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A Quiet Sunday Morning

It was my weekend off and of course the skies were black and threatening and I had an anxious dog to walk. Not everyone was stressed by the weather.

Some birds weren't even stressed by passing speed boats.

Cheyenne and I watched the activity from a Flagler Bridge converted into a fishing pier.

We decided it wasn't worth stressing about the crappy weather.




Then we saw a bunch of people out paddling.

I'm not sure if they were being piratical or imitating pacific South Pacific paddlers.

I found a forgotten artifact from an alien culture. It was covered in blood and fish scales so I thought it might have been a cannibal implement.

I liberated and took it home to use as a pruning knife. Vegetarians rule.

I wondered I'd they were having marriages on the boat Joan above. The two birds below seemed to have gotten spliced already.

Cheyenne was hunting which I thought was unsporting on a Sunday, but she ignored my qualms.

Look at those clouds, the promise of rain.




Sure enough it drizzled a little bit but...

... We were snug back in the car when it rained. Yet again. Home to tea and Netflix and not answering my phone. If anyone at work had a hangover I wasn't up for any overtime.

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