Held hostage by the wicked north wind I am. Kayaking is a bad idea, but I paddled around a cruise ship the last day here anyhow! The havoc of this winter weather must’ve set records all over the country. Yesterday (Jan. 9th) it was summer here in Key West, but today the north wind has snatched the warmth of the sun away and temps are plunging towards 40 degrees. I know I’m not getting any sympathy from anyone north of here because it’s colder there. My reply to any complainers: No snow, here, but the locals are suffering. They call it paradise (at least on warmer days) and they’re right.
Why is Key West working so well for me? Like Ocean City, it’s small enough to walk or ride a bike everywhere, so the whole place is my back yard It has European cosmopolitan vibes, but not up-turned-nose sophisticated. There are true five star hotels (one is my comfort station) and great food, which is required. My dinner table is in one of the myriad of grand restaurants in the neighborhoods. There the food is delicious, large portioned, and reasonably priced. I was so delighted and well stuffed at these, that I returned to them again and again. El Sibone, 900 Catherine St., serves Cuban food with plantains, yucca and beans & rice. Pepe’s Café, 806 Caroline St., is seafood with unique side dishes like shrimp & fried potatoes and great for HH, Finnegan’s Wake, 520 Grinnell St. is Reuben Irish. Wow, is the word for each! There are lots of local bars with the Green Parrot, Southard & Whitehead Sts. where US 1 starts, on the top of the list. Be there for HH when sound check gives a taste of the nights jazzy bluesy bands. The prices are right and people friendly to make them my living rooms. The touristy places on Duval Street are loud, rowdy and crowded. I don’t need that. I enjoy the less visited places. That’s where I’ll be, except for occasionally going to where O.C. musician Kevin Poole is playing and others are working. There are many buildings that were built in the 1800s, so the streets are Europeanly narrow, but the palms and tropical plants remind me of southern Japan. Especially the roosters crowing, that’s certainly not a U.S. city trait, but I heard it in Okinawa, too.
My morning walk from the end of Duval Street near the southern most point in the U.S. marker, where I parked my RV/nest takes me down Whitehead Street, past Southard Street, and through the Truman Annex. That area was a navy base, now it’s condos and offices. It’s fenced off, but public and a great walk with orchids and tropical plants. The walkway leads to the Hyatt Vacation complex, cruise ship pier, and Mallory Square where street performers do circus acts to celebrate sunset. If you follow Southard St. you will come to a road that leads to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. (A little parking lot outside the park is a good place for my nest to overnight, too.) There’s a long sandy beach where you can spend a relaxing day. Most tourists never know the beach is there. I didn’t until I found it a couple years ago after I’d been here many times.
Dawn or sunset is a great photography time, because the light is so soft, not harsh like mid day. The colors of the orchids and tropical plants are lush and saturated, but glance over your shoulder occasionally, so you can see how the sun is painting the sky as it appears for sunrise. If you see it getting colorful, the sail boats and other nautical equipment on the old water front at the historical seaport end of Water St. makes a great foreground for sunrise or the buildings on Duval St. or Simonton St. may too, since they lead to the sun making out of the ordinary forefronts for the sky’s color.
The clouds and sky across the water from the cruise ship pier, sunset pier at the end of Duval and the harbor also contain that soft oil painting like color too, so don’t ignore it. Lots of the tropical plants have had well over a hundred years to develop in the yards of homes, guest houses, and hotels, so walk slow and savor them. I spotted an orchid peaking though a white picket fence on Simonton Street near where my nest was resting. It was kinda like a dandelion here in O.C., but gorgeous to me. Everyone smiles and says good morning, exquisitely dressed ladies ride by on bicycles smiling, and there’s no rushing, except for an occasional tourist who is behind their schedule! That’s not me! As for those who tell me Key West is too commercialized (just like O.C.), I say, you just have to make better choices! I could make this place home. I could do family photos like I do on the beach in Ocean City
