Key West and its Irreverence and Love of Life

Molly, Tory and I spent a week in Key West awaiting a weather window to the Dry Tortugas and another three days upon our return.  We can easily agree that this is one of the most fun places we have visited. On our first full day I spotted a man wearing a red onesie, half unbuttoned because of the heat.  While I was wondering what to make of him, we began to spot others, men and women both, also wearing onesies!  We learned that it was the 10th Annual Onesie Pub Crawl to support local businesses.  

    

Once that sank in, we then meet these two women coming standing at a bar that opened to the sidewalk.  I asked, “is that an onesie?”  The answer was an emphatic “yes!  It is all one piece underneath!” I don’t think I know a woman who would wear such a costume, but maybe living in Key West changes people.

 There is some organized activity, seemingly every day, from art shows to food festivals to theater to movies and even the monthly after sunset bike ride to celebrate the full moon.

You may have heard of the Conch Republic, referring to Key West and the rest of the Florida Keys.  This story began in 1982 when the U.S. Government blockaded Route 1 entering the Keys in an effort to intercept drugs and illegal immigrants.  All vehicles coming and going were subject to search. As Route 1 is the only road access to the Keys, traffic soon backed up for 17 miles.

Tourists from the mainland began to cancel reservations, and Key West was getting particularly hard hit.  The world press was now beginning to cover the story as Key West sought relief in Federal Court.  The request was quickly denied even though the Keys were being treated as a foreign country.  Let me now quote from the Conch Republic website at www.conchrepublic.com.

Our cruising partners gave me this as a thank you, and online
One can even order a passport!

When the Key West delegation left the courthouse, they were met by a gaggle of the world press asking “What are you going to do, Mr. Mayor?” and Mayor Wardlow replied “We are going to go home and secede” and thus the Conch Republic was born.

On April 23rd, the Conch Republic flag was raised over city hall and the Schooner Western Union, under command of Captain John Kraus, went forth into the harbor and attacked the US Coast Guard Cutter DILIGENCE with water balloons, conch fritters and stale Cuban bread. The DILIGENCE fought back with fire hoses and thus commenced the Great Battle of the Conch Republic. Prime Minister Wardlow surrendered and demanded foreign aid from the United States (which we are still waiting for!) The road block was quietly removed and the glorious Conch Republic was born.

All this, of course, was both to make a point about the unfair treatment of the Keys but also to have fun and make the best of the situation.  From a marketing standpoint, the Conch Republic has been a resounding success as flags, license plates, t-shirts and other references abound throughout the Keys.  To top off the marketing effort, Key West has almost an ideal climate for much of the year, and, oh, those sunsets! 

Molly, Jon and Liz at Sunset Pier.

Over 1 million tourists visit Key West each year, and one of the many highlights for visitors is having a drink on Sunset Pier watching the sunset. In addition, most every visitor seems to become more relaxed and better able to roll with whatever comes their way.  Two of the most famous visitors attracted to the Key West lifestyle included Ernest Hemingway and President Harry Truman. We visited each of their homes.

Hemingway lived in his beautiful house complete with a pool built from 1931 to 1939 with his 2nd of four wives along with numerous 6-toed cats.  The present cat population totals over 50, and we found at least one cat in each room and garden area.  Jon was sitting on a bench when one just jumped in his lap.

A cutout of Harry at his poker table
with the emergency table cover in the
upper.

I found the Truman White House of particular interest.  He is one of my favorite presidents and famous for doing what he thought was best for the country, regardless of the political consequences.  He enjoyed life, particularly in Key West where he had his nightly poker game.  Of course, the country wasn’t to know of this vice, and the Navy built a cover to quickly convert the poker table to a round meeting table.

Truman was widely expected to lose the 1948 election.  A labor strike at the Chicago Tribune resulted in management there
taking shortcuts.  They went home a little too early after the election!

Another unavoidable feature of Key West are the roosters and chickens.  Descendants from a time when settlers had chicken coups, these fowl roam the city freely and are part of the culture here.  During Tory’s and my early morning walks we would see and hear the roosters crowing on most every city lot.

 This city has so much history that I haven’t even touched on, but the focus of Key West is on the present.  Everyone should come here for a visit, and, please know there are countless great restaurants!

We ate very well in Key West.

Key West can give you courage to do most anything,  I even considered getting a tattoo!

I should also mention that you can find clothing that says most anything!

That includes dog apparel as well!

The I’m Not Arguing t-shirt was one of Molly’s favorites.