Bardstown Photos

There is no salt water nearby, no body of water at all, no fresh water lakes, no palms, no mangroves.

There is lots of history and as I have illustrated more historic structures than you can shake a stick at.

Bardstown sells itself along with a healthy dose of liquor and in that sense it is much like Key West.

"Most Beautiful Small Town In America." Certainly it is tidiest and most civic minded in the South.

You'd think Public Accountant's would know when to use an apostrophe; theirs is a  sign that is ugly.

Rusty  waited leashed outside but all he did  was attract sympathetic women fretting over his bondage.

 Motorcycle ride capital of Kentucky? 

The House Of No

I like Florida summers. I used to be able to stand up and say that publicly, but 2020 seems to be on track to ruin that happy memory along with so many others. This summer has been so hot I was actually panting to see cooler temperatures on my driving vacation Up North. Daily "feel like" temperatures reported by the National Weather Service put the Keys this summer in the over 100 degree club, day after day. If a temperature doesn't "feel like" then what is it? I ask myself in my perpetual pursuit of the pointless question.  Weather wording confuses me but the suffocating heat is even more surprising, and not welcome and among islands where summers are supposed to be tempered by wind and water this is also confusing.

So it is then that I would normally try to get out early in the morning with the ever energetic hound but right after vacation we both were tired enough to feel the need to sleep in. so by the time we left home to look for a welcome back walk I thought of where we might find some shade. 

It was nice to be back for me and for poor Rusty who has had I am pretty sure a giant headache for three weeks waking up every day to unfamiliar surroundings and weird woods and cold temperatures such as no Miami raised dog would ever expect to feel. At last he was on familiar ground though I suspect some cool Michigan morning dew might have come as a relief for him too.

When you've been away for three weeks it can feel when you get back as though you have been gone for months, or lifetimes. That things remain familiar is slightly surprising. I was home.

Later this month the City of Key West is scheduled to go through a mayoral election that has the potential to become in hindsight a turning point. Three candidates and they are all hinging their campaigns on Key West's future. I am relieved to be a county resident with the ability to stand on the sidelines and watch what happens. The incumbent Teri Johnston is  Florida's first lesbian mayor, at least the first such acknowledged, but that happily is no longer a talking point in town though it has an interesting historical parallel as Richard Heyman broke new ground in 1983 when he was elected mayor and caused gasps of consternation which as you can tell with hindsight were vastly overblown. Hands up anyone who has heard of Heyman the pioneer gay elected official? See, it really never has  mattered despite the previous chorus of disapproval.

Johnston is suffering as all incumbents currently are, from multilateral criticism of her handling of a world wide pandemic as though she is supposed to know how to deal with a new virus when even the CDC has struggled. Aside from cheap shots Johnston has taken a cruise ship position that is coalescing into the Big Issue this summer. Early in the campaign the Spottswood development family threw out the notion of changing the way the city attracts tourists. They want to redirect tourism toward a more thoughtful, history oriented type of tourist, one with money and time and an interest in the town and its past. Which could sound alluring unless you happen to own the epicenter of the crass loud t-shirt wearing heavy beer drinking tourist economy currently powering the city's allure. Mark Rossi who owns Rick's complex on Lower Duval has stepped up to take on Mayor Johnston and his campaign calls for more of the same, full steam ahead and no changes.

It is without doubt a classic contest, the tall spare elegant mayor, understated and thoughtful against the loud sweaty angry bar owner who looks like a caricature of himself yet by virtue of longevity has proven himself to be every bit as capable of managing his life as has the mayor. Their positions are as obvious and clear and as different as their public perceptions of themselves. Which is the point at which the joker slips out of the pack and lands directly in their laps. This has become a three way race. Rick Haskins who runs a very successful property management and sales empire has entered the race making a total mess of the simplicity of the previously clearly defined two way race.

I should point out I know Rick Haskins and he was incredibly helpful and kind to me after my accident and I felt nothing but exceedingly grateful for his help and thoughtfulness. I have contributed to his campaign and could I wave a magic wand, I would make him mayor and hope to have charmed him and not cursed him To be mayor is I think, an awful thankless job in a town where gratitude and self reflection are in short supply. Having said all that I have no idea how he would do as mayor and neither does anyone else I suspect. He is the candidate of the native born and disaffected others.

Haskins grew up in Key West and I dare say he will corner the Conch vote though there must be some Conchs (native born residents) he has annoyed over his life, but I dare say his candidacy will draw off lots of votes.  Interestingly Haskins has only one official position if you can call it that: I was born here and I want to make Key West the nirvana it was when I was a child. On cruise ships and their size, he simply says he will abide by the results of the referendum which basically asks residents to limit the size of ships and numbers of passengers. Whatever might be Haskins' opinion on this divisive issue ...only Haskins knows. That could very well be a winning strategy in opinionated Key West. Nirvana cometh...vote for me and all will be explained. Vote by trust.

I am drawing to the end of my time in Key West so in the long term the outcome of this race affects me  not too much at all. My pension is managed by an outside organization and unlike many states Florida's pensions pay out relatively modest sums but they are funded to a blue chip level. Certainly compared to some state pension plans on the verge of bankruptcy. Nevertheless after I have gone walkabout for a few years I would like to come back to this city not as an employee but like so many of you as a permanent vacationer and I should like to find it in good health. Which of these candidates is the best for securing such a future I couldn't say. Who can?

I am not a fan of the Spottswood empire, an organization that from time to time appears in public and offers self serving plans in the spirit of public munificence so I am leery of the ideas proposed by the current Mayor.  Candidate Rossi presents himself as a bumbling residentially challenged mess, a facade which hides a shrewd businessman who understands the contra-conventionally inclined self image of the pirate city, and has made a solid living from pandering to it. He wants, understandably, more of the same and there is a lot to be said for not rocking the apple cart, especially at a  time when every other thing in life seems poised to tip into disaster. Rick Haskins? He has succeeded at every single thing he's done in a life that has included military service, tight family connections and a charming easy going personable manner. He could very well be the revolution that Key West doesn't yet know it wants. It's a Trumpian moment as the city sits poised to say we need change, lets go with the unknown quantity.

I was thinking these thoughts as I walked with Rusty in the thick oppressive heat of a day clearly not produced by global climate change, walking in social isolation because I enjoy it not because its mandated by a global pandemic (I am being a bit sarcastic here)...Passing this multi million dollar house which sits alone on a  side road I saw all the lovely signs proclaiming the new owner's mastery of his domain. No this, no that, no to the other. Early on they lined the public roadway with their rocks and tree limbs to keep people from parking at the end of the road. Apparently they have been educated as to the notion of a public right of way.  One day I was standing with my camera endeavoring to grasp an Edward Weston moment by turning the cactus into an abstract object when an expensive car with an older expensive woman inside pulled up angrily sounding her horn. "Why are you photographing my mailbox?" she screeched looking like Nancy Reagan with none of the grace, manners or poise. I calmed her down but that foul encounter put me in mind of the mayoral race. Just because they come down with money and an interest in history doesn't mean they are kind or generous or easy going. Some people think island time means acting slow or sleepy. Island time I have come to discover  over the decades means doing your thing and pulling over to let others do theirs. It is a concept harder and harder to grasp the more detached and paranoid we become.

I hope Key West makes the right choice for the future, and in their own way the thousands of voters in the city will be hoping the same hope whoever they vote for. I don't envy them because whoever wins the supporters of the losing candidates will stamp their feet and grumble and undermine whatever hope for civility there is in a world where local politics are infected by national dissent. We need a civics lesson: the real meaning of  1) Island Time. 2) One Human Family 3) Why The Keys Were Different.

It all hinges on a  vote. Key West I mean, Not Washington. That comes later. I hope Key West figures our how to cherish diversity, eccentricity and non conformity. A future filled with gentrified complaining retirees is not a future I would wish to participate in even if it were possible.

Duval Dawn

5:41 am and you wouldn't expect to see anyone crowding the sidewalks of Duval Street.

 The thing is I find myself unwilling these days to wander downtown in a world where mask wearing compliance is still spotty and requires constant surveillance and warnings from police officers. We have been quarantining ourselves since March 15th, avoiding  indoor locations, staying away from crowds and crowded businesses and doing all the other stuff recommended by scientists and so far it has worked. My 65 year old wife with the compromised immune system is not among Florida's 8,000 dead. And apparently I am not among the half million and more infected. 

To take a chance at this point seems extremely stupid. Even on our camper van vacation we followed the same self imposed rules which our self contained Promaster made possible if not always enjoyable, but as delighted as I am by the Russian promise of a vaccine I am not ready to let my guard down. At work I sit at my desk and listen to officers on the radio report their covid checks and advise they gained voluntary compliance as they patrol shops streets and beaches. No dispatches have yet reported being infected so as usual my office is taking care of us. Officers who meet the public haven't been so lucky and several are in quarantine and at least one that I know is infected. It is inevitable I suppose even as infection rates in Florida finally start to drop. So here I am walking around alone, masked and in the dark.

With more than three weeks away Rusty had lots of smelling time to make up leaving me to trail along pondering life and emptiness and the lack of live theater in our lives. I do miss that.

Commercial lobstering is underway and continues through the winter. I was delighted to be Up North during the hubbub of mini season. Every year the Keys offer the public two days of lobster hunting  prior to the official commercial season opening. It is an endlessly controversial practice trying to balance hospitality demands for more visitors in low season versus the noise traffic and on the water confusion of massive crowds of people who act as though they can't afford to buy lobster at Publix. Furthermore, and this may come as a surprise, some of them steal under sized lobster and a few of them leave trash behind. Just a very few of course but people who live in the keys face mini season with a sense of dread. To be climbing Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan at the time was simply a bonus.

Besides the lack of crowds it was nice being out walking Rusty before the heat. I have missed this part of the keys since well before my vacation. Maybe we haven't been here for as long as six weeks?

There is, if you need it, a mask looking for an owner at Confederate Secretary of the Navy Square.

Sloppy Joe's Revisited

13 months ago when I put this together the world was a different and lovely place, or so it seemed,  through the lens of nostalgia. Of course we were grumbling about stuff back then so I wonder if right now might not appear  to be the good old days of the future viewer.... In any event I post this now to remind us of what was and what again might be. For better or worse.

Sloppy Joe's

I found myself caught in a crowd on the sidewalk in front of the world's most iconic bar...It sounds like the opening line of a joke, and if Sloppy Joe's isn't the world's most iconic it is certainly Key West's. I know this because a woman in the knot of people watching a Conch Tour Trolley getting stuck in front of an obstinate driver afraid of backing up, said loudly in my ear:" Now I can get a Sloppy Joe's t-shirt," with the sort of excitement mixed with reverence I have heard among crowds attending a Papal Blessing in St Peter's Square. I was a bit surprised.

After the red car backed up enough to release the extremely patient professional driving the trolley the crowd started moving but not before several more people around me muttered"Sloppy Joe's" in various tones of excitement. Really? I hesitate to admit it but I have never had a drink far less food at Sloppy Joe's, nor do I really want to as I am not a fan of crowds nor am I very inspired by the sort of food offered to a transient customer base. It seems the bar has done a bang up job of advertising itself.

Sloppy Joe Russell has gone down in history as Ernest Hemingway's buddy in Key West. He ran a bar that wasn't, it was a speakeasy as during prohibition places selling alcohol were not allowed. As odd as that sounds I have wondered from time to time how life might be if the intemperate and incompetent weren't encouraged in their social stupidity by the lubrication of alcohol. I'm not complaining really as they are a form of job security for me, even as they sow discord in families and danger on the roads. Moderation is not a word one associates with Key West and alcohol unfortunately. 

Sloppy Joe created the Blind Pig  which he opened May 5th 1933 when prohibition ended and he became legitimate. That place was located where Captain Tony's is today and that's the reason they claim to be the original Sloppy Joe's... In 1937, by when he had changed the name to the Silver Slipper his landlord increased the rent from three to four dollars  a month and they say he bought the current building for twenty five hundred dollars in 1937.

One of the other legends about Sloppy Joe's involves how all the patrons of the Silver Slipper helped Joe Russell pack up the bar and hauled the entire contents up Greene Street to the current location. The Hemingway House used to tell the story, and still may for all I know that the urinal used as a flower pot in the garden was an artifact from the Silver Slipper on Greene Street taken during the move. Apocryphal but a cute story.

Then the name is anther story. Apparently there was a Jose Garcia who kept a bar called Rio Havana and it was known for being a mess with melted ice all over the floor and Hemingway suggested that place as the inspiration for the name Sloppy Joe's, not directly attributable to Joe Russell directly then. Who knew?

The funny thing to me is how durable the place is and bars around it come and go. The Lazy Gecko apparently had a landlord falling out and  a place that seemed as stable disappeared. IC Doubles claims to have entered into an extended vacation which has prompted Facebook speculation that it isn't coming back and so it goes.

I saw these pigeons keeping the Bull and Whistle (and Garden of Eden, the clothes optional bar on the roof) under observation. Rick's, Irish Kevin's Captain Tony's and Hog's Breath are part of that grouping of apparently permanent bars in downtown. 

But for some reason Sloppy Joe's is the one as Hemingway's pull is as strong as ever.  I remain astonished by the power of the writer's name not least because he only lived in Key West twelve years and claimed his home in Havana as his favorite place to be, which you can see here, Finca Vigia, from an essay I wrote in 2009.

Truman Waterfront Dawn

The moral of this story is don't leave your camera in the car. My idea was to refill Rusty's water jug at the fountain at the waterfront walk him a little around the palms as we had just finished a long walk downtown, and then bug out to Publix to walk in the doors the minute they opened, buy fruit and vegetables and head for a nap at home. Then the sun started to peek over the horizon.

The light and the colors were exceptional with a just a couple of thunderheads to add interest.

There was no wind so just to add to the atmosphere the waters were flat.

I was glad I had bothered to sling my camera around my neck. 

Rusty led me by leash but he was slow so I had time to place with the focus of my attention.

Below we see the navy basin reserved for its use by the US Navy.  After World War Two they parked submarines here which was the era before giant nuclear submarines went to see for months at a time. The National parks Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have docks here. From Time to time you'll see Navy ships, including foreign visitors tied up to the far wall, which is known as the Outer Mole where a mole is what civilians call a pier, where the street lights are.  The Inner Mole is at the bottom of the picture and that's what's known as the place where visiting boat racers used to tie u when there were events involving boats in Key West. Power Boat Races? Gone. January sailboat races? Gone. Change is good they say.

The former coastguard cutter Ingham is a museum nowadays owned by a former city commissioner and it was once open for tours.  These virus infested days attractions restaurants and public spaces open and close seemingly at random.

None of this photography and talk mattered at the moment when another dog showed up. Rusty played until a third dog joined the group and the two friends ignored their new playmate. So Rusty moved aside, the spare wheel at the playground. We left.