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Published: August 6th 2007
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The Gardens Hotel
Simply stunning -- wish we could have hung out there a bit longer. As I’m sure you can imagine from my previous entry, we had to get up and get out this morning or we would have stayed on Little Palm forever. We were on the 9:00 boat, in the car by 9:30 and in Key West by 10:30. What a place. I had heard that it is the end of the line and - boy howdy - is it. I have never seen so many odd people in one place in my life.
We checked into an absolutely gorgeous hotel - The Gardens. It is an old Key West home that was made famous in its day by the woman who owned it, one Peggy Mills. She devoted her life to her garden and it has been maintained to this day. Absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, we had our list of things we wanted to see, so we didn’t spend as much time as we would have liked in the garden or by the pool.
We started walking and ticking the things we wanted to see off our list. We stood at the Southernmost Point (it isn’t really, but it's close and it sounds good) and waited in line to have our photo
Southernmost Point
Proof that I have been there -- more or less. taken to prove we had been there.
We wandered over to Hemingway’s House to pay homage to the master. This is actually a really nice museum and the tours they give are very informative - full of anecdotes about “Papa” and the time he spent in Key West. The walls are filled with photos (what a VERY handsome man he was!) and other memorabilia, including cancelled checks that he had written. One had been written to Abercrombie & Fitch -- always knew the man had good taste! The best part was his study. Over the years, they have managed to keep it completely intact, down to the actual typewriter where he worked. It gave me chills to think of him sitting there writing A Farewell to Arms, my favourite of his novels. I actually learned something about the novel. The guide told us that it took Hemingway thirteen attempts to write the end because the real life story hadn’t ended the way he wanted it to. In the end of course, Hemingway kills Catherine off while Henry just walks away - the ultimate revenge I should imagine!
We then wandered over to the Audubon house. In actual fact,
FEMA
My political statement -- no words are necessary. Audubon never stayed at the house (it wasn’t even built when he was in Key West), but it is rumoured that he stayed near the property and painted there. He did paint nineteen species of birds while in Key West, so I thought that was kind of interesting. The house is filled with his prints and the connecting shop has hundreds of them for sale. I am not a fan - it seems a bit much to me to spend $5,000 for a print of a bird, but who am I to judge??
We had an absolutely awful lunch and then jumped on the Conch Tour Train. Again, touristy and tacky, but great fun. Our guide was hilarious - he would have fit comfortably into the rainbow society of Key West. Every time we would pass one of his friends (which was relatively frequently), he would beep the horn, call out to them and then tell us a story about them loud enough for the friend to hear. This was sometimes more interesting than the history of Key West!
Some retail therapy followed and then back to the lovely hotel for a cocktail and a bit of a
Hemingway's Study
Here's THE typewriter. Very cool. sit down. We walked back into town to Mallory Square for the sundown celebration. Oh my! Every kind of freak show you can imagine shows up. We wandered around trying to figure out which act was the craziest, finally settling on some guy who was entirely politically incorrect and an escape artist. He was so camp, he was hilarious and we spent a fabulous half hour sitting on the pier, drinking rum punch and watching his antics.
We wandered down Duval looking for food finally settling on a place that could take us in an hour. We wandered back to Sloppy Joe’s which was on my list of things to do. I mean, how does one go to Key West and not drink where Hemingway did? WHAT a disappointment. The place is like every other dive, college bar I have been to in my life. The beer is overpriced and warm, the floor is sticky and the singing act they had was abysmal. In a town famous for its gay population, these guys were singing to the worst homophobes in the group. I was quickly disgusted and we left very quickly. I was very bummed - this is one
Audubon House
These are the gardens. of those things that I had always wanted to do and it was so bad.
Colin cured my blues quickly by taking me back to the restaurant we had booked, sitting me in a very comfortable chair and ordering me a “grown-up drink” - a very cold, dry martini. By the time we were seated and served our delicious meal, I had overcome my Sloppy Joe’s grief and we had a wonderful meal sitting out on Duval watching the show go by.
After dinner, I insisted that we go to Margaritaville so that I could pay homage to my other hero, Jimmy Buffet. (I know - I have eclectic taste…) This time, we didn’t even walk in. Again, hot, dark, overpriced drinks and a horrible band (that did NOT include Jimmy). Instead, we wandered down to a bar that one of the locals had told us about called Vergilio’s. Lovely! Outside, filled with locals (always a good sign), good drinks and music soft enough that we could carry on a conversation.
I liked Key West - I did. It is, however, one of those places that once one has been and had one’s expectations not exactly met,
The Conch Train
Great fun -- and a fabulous way to see the town. one does not feel the need to return. The Keys for me will always be Little Palm Island.
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