Key West, Florida

     Wander as far south as you may, and you will come ashore in Key West, Florida.

     Miles away from the ordinary, the lure of the turquoise waters, mingling two seas, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, brings tidings to tourists who laze on the beaches, or walk the cobbled town streets .

     In search of history and adventure, our Floridian friends suggested a Key West sojourn, and we jumped on board the Key West Express, a three hour jet-powered boat ride from Fort Meyers.  We opted for that trip version instead of the 130 mile causeway drive on the original train route of Henry Flagler who built the overseas railroad in 1905.

     Arriving at mid day, we taxied through bougainvillea shrouded streets eclipsed by banyan, kapok, live oak, and mangrove trees to our domicile, the Duval Inn.  We anticipated a tropical island stay pursuing an interesting cast of characters from writers, to Presidents, to balladeers, even treasure hunters. 

     Through all the pleasantries of this vintage village, one immediately stops to ponder the wild poultry that potter across busy streets. Free at last from a 1970s law, the black breasted red chickens are descendants of fighting cocks brought to the island in the 1800s by Eduardo Gato, a wealthy cigar factory owner.  The gypsy roosters and hens cock their heads and study tiny gecko lizards darting across sidewalks, while the out of towners stare in amazement.

      History has left a smoking statement in Key West. In the late 1800s and early 20ieth century, hand rolled cigar manufacturers were prominent.  At one time, there were eighty factories that dotted this two-mile by four-mile island.  When Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1969, all U.S. trade was banned, snuffing out the lucrative operations. 

      Since then, tourism has become a major industry and kept this old town above ground surviving the havoc of hurricanes.  Thus it is that nature goes wild and domestic in a relaxed manner in Key West.

      Take a leisurely stroll down Whitehead Street and you can retrace the footsteps and paw prints of Ernest Hemingway’s legacy as you turn into the beautifully restored plantation house where the Nobel Prize winner wrote during his most productive years.  You will be met by Fats Waller, one of the living descendants of the Hemingway six- toed cats who roam the grounds showing up on hall tables and napping on the author’s antebellum bed.  Not minding his feline following, guide, Bob, remarked that these polydactyl cats originally came from the seaports in Europe, adding that “there are over forty of them on the property.”

     If you happen to be in Key West the first weekend of November, as we were, other novel species, like Parrot Heads show up. In town for their annual convention, the prospect of Jimmy Buffett appearing in concert sends these colorful characters to the original Margaritaville in search of libation and lyrics.  They swung out in droves on Saturday, closing Duval Street, the major thoroughfare, as several thousand were in Paradise with Jimmy singing from his specially built stage.

     As the excitement died down, the thread of our conversation turned truly patriotic and we were off to Front Street to pay respect to the Harry S. Truman Little White House.  In 1890, the U.S. Navy built an 8,700 square foot home on the waterfront to house the base commander and paymaster. It remained as such for years even becoming home to Thomas Edison while he conducted experiments and developed weapons for the U.S. Navy during World War I.  Later, in search of warm weather and fine surroundings, in 1946, President Truman turned the wooden two -story building into a retreat and functioning White House.  It was here that he enacted the Civil Rights Executive Order. Since then, the Little White House has held numerous presidential summits and peace talks.  Touring throughout the grand mansion, Dave, a Key Wester, pointed out the ever present Truman saying that remains on the past President’s desk: “the buck stops here.”

     Like the Little White House, most homes in Key West are over a century old.  Many of them were built by ships carpenters to “sway” in order to protect them from hurricanes.  Some stand on stilts as beacons to the strength of the past.  Yet, many ships navigating to Key West have not survived the tidal winds and waves and shipwrecks and salvaging has been a most profitable venture.  According to legend Key West became the richest city in the U.S. in the 1860s, rescuing shipwrecks and bringing people claim to everything on board.  American treasure hunter, Mel Fisher, is best known for finding the 1622 wreck of the Spanish galleon, Nuestra Senora de Atocha with an estimated $450 million dollar cache of gold, silver, and Columbian emeralds.  Mr. Fisher realized that the discoveries were too important not to be shared with the world, and in 1982, he founded the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and Museum which contains an extensive collection of artifacts from the Atocha and other seventeen century shipwrecks.  The 85,000 artifacts are too numerous to describe, however, of particular note, is the rare gold plate and gold cup that was used to detect poisoned wine.

     After some time of soaking up the island’s veritable valuables, along with the glowing sunset, Key Lime Pie is a delicious ending to a perfect Key West visit.  But, don’t look for it to be green.  Made from the fresh juice of Key limes, and offered in most restaurants, the very finest slice has a pale yellow filling with whipped cream or meringue topping.  We just had to have two versions: one from Kermits Key Lime Shop and one from Café Sole.

If you go: Duval Inn (B&B), 511 Angela Street; wwwduvalinn.com

                  Hemingway House, 907 Whitehead Street; www.HemingwayHome.com

                   Harry S. Truman Little White House, 111 Front Street; www.trumanlittlewhitehouse.com

                   Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, 200 Greene Street; www.melfisher.org

                   Kermit’s Key Lime Shop, 200 Elizabeth Street

                   Café Sole, 1029 Southard Street; CafeSole.com