To really get the feel of a place, you should read the local paper. Here’s a Page 1 story: Crocodiles, an endangered species, are now nesting and breeding nicely in the cooling canals of a nuclear power plant. (Is this what is meant by a “breeder reactor”?)
Page 2. Biggest crime news of the day: “Man Allegedly Gave Illegal Tattoo.” Which “looked like a cross with the word `Mom’ written across it, according to police.”
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Illegal “Mom” tattoos. Nuclear crocs. Welcome to Key West, the Conch Republic, the real-life Margaritaville, where life is serendipitous, if not downright eccentric.
Writers flocked here (Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Robert Frost called it home). There’s also a significant artistic community. And a gay one. There are descendants of the original settlers (Conchs), relative newcomers (Freshwater Conchs) and tourists year-round. And everybody gets along just fine, thank you very much.
Key West’s name has nothing to do with a compass point. It comes from the Spanish, Cayo Hueso, “island of bones,” for the Indian skeletons Conquistadors found. In later years, Conchs made a fortune from wrecking-or more aptly, the salvaging of shipwrecks. Key West became the wealthiest city in the U.S.-and, when tough times hit, the poorest. It has survived bankruptcy, hurricanes and fires. And always it has retained its quirky style.
In 1982, the Border Patrol set up a roadblock south of Miami to search vehicles leaving the Keys for drugs and illegal aliens. Outraged Key Westers (“Since when are we outside the U.S. border?”) voted to secede and establish the Conch Republic. It immediately declared war on the U.S. It also immediately surrendered and applied for foreign aid. The Republic’s flag-a golden sun on a bright blue field-still flies proudly all over town.
To see the town, hop on the Old Town Trolley (which is not really a trolley) or the Conch Tour Train (which is not a train). These vehicles, whose pilots give a running commentary, travel hither and yon, starting with Duval Street (the main drag, full of pink taxis, bars, restaurants, galleries and probably the world’s largest collection of T-shirt shops).
The Hemingway House on Whitehead Street is a must. It was here that Papa lived from 1931 to ’39. It was here he wrote “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “A Farewell to Arms.”
Across the street is the Lighthouse (88 steps to a spectacular view) and adjacent museum. Key West has an abundance of museums: the Little White House (where Harry S. Truman stayed); the Audubon House (where Audubon did not stay); the Wreckers Museum; the Curry Mansion (Victoriana); Mel Fisher’s Maritime Heritage Society (gold from sunken galleons).
There’s also Mallory Square and the tiny Aquarium, where you can actually pet a shark. (Under supervision. Do not try this at home.) See the Southernmost Point in the U.S. (which hasn’t been southernmost since Hawaii joined the Union, but down here no one cares. Nice photo opportunity. “90 miles to Cuba.”)
You should get off the tourist track too. Rent a bike or moped, or walk. Head to the marinas. Take to the back roads. Key West is an architectural treasure.
Some streets look as if they belong in a New England village, their tropical location betrayed only by the hibiscus blooming on the white picket fences. Lots of Victorian gingerbread; New Orleans-style wrought iron; and a smattering of sun-bleached, slightly shabby structures-reminders of what the place looked like before it got all painted and pretty. After dark, when Duval Street is a crush of people, these back streets are hauntingly quiet, filled with the sound of the wind in the palm fronds and the scent of night-blooming jasmine.
Check out the non-gussied-up watering holes. At the Green Parrot on Whitehead Street the clientele is likely to be Conch and therefore interesting. The Turtle Kraals at Land’s End Marina was once a soup cannery; now, the sign outside proclaims, it is a Bar, Restaurant, Zoo. Conservationists have turned the old turtle pens into a rehab station for injured sea creatures and waterfowl.
Much of Key West life takes place on and under the water. Thanks to the warm, calm, crystalline Gulf Stream and an abundance of marine life, this is the best diving in the U.S., Hawaii included. A fleet of boats offers daily scuba/snorkel sails to the reef and smaller keys. Those who prefer to stay dry can ride a glass-bottom boat. Deep-sea fishing is a mainstay.
For landlubbers, there are walking tours of writers’ homes, of historic homes, of the cemetery-where the victims of the battleship Maine are buried (remember the Maine?).
When I first visited here 20 years ago, Key West was a sleepy little place. Sloppy Joe’s-its most famous bar, thanks to its most famous customer, Hemingway-was for locals. Today, with rock music blaring day and night and a T-shirt shop, it is the sort of place that Hemingway, were he alive, wouldn’t be caught dead in.
Still, a lot of folks love it, as evidenced by the overflow crowds.
To each his own. Which, after all, could be Key West’s motto.
For more information, call the Key West Welcome Center at 800-352-8538 or the Chamber of Commerce at 800-LASTKEY.
Sunsets are a ritual
Sunsets in Key West are a ritual. So many people gather Gulfside every evening, it’s surprising the island just doesn’t tip.
There’s a nightly celebration on Mallory Pier, with buskers, mimes, magicians, a fire-eater, the “southernmost bagpiper,” painters, vendors and a guy with housecats that jump through fiery hoops. It’s a carnival mixed with conceptual art. And it’s a must, at least once.
If you prefer your sunsets at sea, book passage on one of the scores of catamarans, cabin cruisers or sailboats that offer cruises-some more raucous than others.
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Ask about the ambience of the cruises. Those who seek silence and a genteel Champagne toast might not feel comfortable with the chug-a-lug crowd, and vice-versa. But, as with nearly everything else in Key West, there’s a place for everyone.
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Most of the sidewalks of Key West’s old town have curb ramps, and buses are equipped with lifts for the disabled. The Conch Tour Train can accommodate folding wheelchairs, and the trolley is accessible to semi-mobile travelers but doesn’t have lifts. The Hemingway House is accessible on the ground and first floors, but not the second floor or the writing studio in a separate building. For more information on access at hotels and points of interest, call the Chamber of Commerce at the number above.