It has been a glorious weekend, three nights off in a row for the first time in probably nine months of endless continuous overtime. Mostly I slept. I spent Saturday and Sunday getting up and going to bed with a little light eating and dog walking inbetween. And then I slept some more.
Which also meant Cheyenne, now fully recovered from what appeared to be a snake bite, decided it was time for a pre-dawn walk. The Labrador commands and I obey.
Sometimes the evocative nature of Key West streets by night gets over ridden by the weird decorating styles I come across. I am not certain why this Festivus pole was illuminated, or even why it was planted next to the leafy tree, but it was and it was brightly illuminated.
Cheyenne's impatience with my photographic meandering also leads occasionally to some light and motion studies. It was cool and breezy and the elderly, and the formerly almost deceased Labrador pulled a Lazarus on me and was dragging my by the leash such was her hurry.
Aside from the occasional car shooting past the intersections there was no sign of human activity anywhere. Someone asked on Facebook recently on one of those re-post things what would you do upon discovering you were the last human left on Earth.
Breathe a sigh of relief and walk the last domesticated dogs in the silence, I replied. I do my best to recreate those circumstances any pre-dawn walk, with more or less success.
The first sign of life was the beach clean-up machine, the closest local kids will get to seeing an agricultural tractor in action. It tows a trailer with a rake arrangement and sweeps up the dead seaweed and human trash and leaves the sand ribbed like a Japanese ornamental garden.
Higgs Beach parking lot collects debris rather in the manner in which the beach collects dead seaweed, only this lot are van residents, and car campers who drift in to the city from a night spent who knows where and they sit in their cars like hermit crabs in their shells and stare at the beach through their windshields as though afraid of getting too close to Nature.
I imitate them by observing nature through the lense of my Android camera.
As the sun rises dogs appear and if you want to know how to avoid conversing with your fellow humans, try walking a dog. People are utterly terrified of letting their dogs get anywhere close to your dog. Some look mournfully at my dog and ask if she is friendly, to which I reply not really, at which they recoil before I manage to explain that Cheyenne is indifferent to canine contact for the most part. Not friendly, not aggressive, just uncaring. By then the worry warts are long gone.
Sometimes I say actually Cheyenne is a Navy reject military dog. They were training her alongside dolphin to kill and maim large swathes of people, and they laugh with me at my carefully disguised attack Lab, mooning around sniffing sidewalks and tree trunks.
Someone had a day off and decided to spend it putting coconuts in a large peace symbol on the beach. If pressed I dare say I'd have no idea how to spend my time more fruitfully. Walking around with a metal detector is not on my list of preferred hobbies. Besides I think to be good at that you'd want to go off the beaten path and seek out something more interesting than lost dentures and stray bottle caps in the sand.
And here, in front of the fine Salute Restaurant we have a combination of birds, locals in white stepping with dignity and in silence. The two black incomers tear up dirt and spread it everywhere, they make noise and shout aggressively.
I know which insect mauling birds I'd rather have poking around my front yard:
Done, finished and ready for breakfast.
The attack Lab in stealth mode, waiting for her prey, preferably baked fried or grilled.
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I went to Blue Heaven but many people looked happy enough breakfasting at the scene of last night's debauchery while these two fine specimens of vacationing womanhood were enjoying their private terrace at La Concha, ignoring the toiling masses in the street below their hotel:
The cab driver saving gas by keeping his windows open while he waits for a fare:
The street sweeper cleaning up the debris in the gutters:
Then there is the city employee hosing down the sidewalks to prepare the street for fussy visitors who prefer not to wade through trash on their way to get toasted:
Some are already busy at the bar in Sloppy Joe's at 9:19am (I checked my watch):
And I am forced to wonder how many tourists in Key West have ever seen The Bull looking like this:
Nothing quite so forlorn as a bar all closed up. I caught this guy, an advertisement for a real living wage if ever I saw one, toiling up Rose Lane:
All those beer bottles that get thrown away empty, not recycled, arrive on Duval by human power, even in the early 21st century. And there is the vendor at Duval and Eaton who will spend the day getting toasted on his own (by the sun) selling Key West made trinkets. He starts his long day hauling his cart into position by hand:
While across the street at St Paul's relief is at hand if only one has the patience:
And don't forget the lunch time organ recitals which are delightful and free and start at 12:10pm and last about half an hour, in the cool recesses of the church.
The operator at the Hyatt booth was kind enough to help out some faceless visitors seeking directions:
Some other early birds on Caroline Street were getting last minute instructions on bicycle riding, as they wheeled off their rentals:
Bicycles are an excellent low stress way to get around town, especially if you're on vacation and it doesn't matter if you show up sweaty and hot. Mopeds are a close second and for those who rent cars I found these next two pictures, shot on Charles Street, to illustrate an obvious parking point:
Bear in mind these are likely locals vehicles and it usually doesn't pay to park like a local in Key West as parking enforcement and property owners usually know and recognize vehicles that belong in outlandish spots. Technically its not legal to lock a bike to city sign or street lamp but it would be an unlucky tourist that got her bike removed by Public Works during a brief stop. Riding the wrong way down a one way, even on a bicycle can get you a ticket, especially if you have a shitty attitude. As far as parking goes you can't beat a bicycle. And, by the way, if you have a few extra bar stools you don't need this is where you can dump them apparently:
I've remarked previously on the rather poor taste of many of the t-shirts displayed on Duval Street and some people think bongs, typically used to smoke marijuana shouldn't be on sale either. But there they are all lined up for inspection. Rather more prosaically there is a small grocery store on Duval Street and goes by the name of Shorty's, and I've never even stopped off to buy water here, but for some reason, probably because the air conditioning beckoned, I stepped in.
It was quite the revelation actually, like a real grocery store with all sorts of useful items for the forgetful tourist. I ended up spending $13 on stuff that looked pretty good to me. I got the Turkish coffee as a taste test for my wife who has a trip planned there (Turkey, not Shorty's) with some girlfriends in September, and I'm quite partial to Patak's curries so I bought a couple of meals in a box I'd never seen before. I've since eaten one and they are quite decent too, hurricane food or for a quick dinner at work: