Hemingway Getaway

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If you're a Cuban, hit the shore and swim 90 miles north. If you're a tourist, get out of Miami and drive 3.5 hours south. We belong to the latter category; the tourists who have heard of this "must" when in southern Florida, this legendary trip to Key West. Surprisingly, the road isn't all that exciting. Movies display this romantic voyage on the highway on the water. In fact, it is merely a regular highway between and through the 40 or so islands - keys - before the final destination. Key West, the southernmost point on continental USA. This key makes it all worthwhile the trip though to what seems to be the most idyllic place on earth.

Life is slow, tourists are slow, traffic is slow, even the pelicans are slow. People are friendly, people are relaxed, people are in love, people are happy. The feeling that stress never hit and never will hit this window to the Caribbean prevails. Stress is bad, stress is not in the vocabulary, stress is banned. Lose an ounce of tension for each of the 40 or so bridges passed on the way here, until you reach the final state of relaxation and obliviousness for the real world way up north. For a big city boy like myself, this is a nice escape and a perfect contrast to - well, real life. For a while. Unlike Mr. Hemingway, I would not find inspiration here in the long run, only a feeling of isolation and remoteness. But, if this is a taste of a cruise in the Caribbean, I want more...someday.

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