Hemingway House, 2

 Our tour(s) of the Hemingway Home and Museum continues...

As a war correspondent, D-Day (Gellhorn was there too)

Yes, but the major fish story would come from Cuba

Of the Paris years

A favorite movie

He generally had a writing studio apart from the apartments, houses...
the catwalk is no longer there, but the studio is (see below)

Lush...

When he returned from Europe to find a swimming pool
had replaced his boxing ring, he threw his "last red cent"
at Pauline; now enshrined under glass near the pool

Fridge magnet in the gift shoppe...exhibiting standard Hemingway
literary gibberish; note that in the portrait his ears have been reattached

A brilliant historical novel

Hadley, as she was then

In the writing studio

Urinal from one of Hemingway's Key West watering holes;
it's recumbent, tiled-in by Pauline

The writing studio

Polydactyl paw prints

One of the Keys' few cellars; probably one of Florida's few cellars

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Paris pals

Privacy fence Hemingway had built

Fun/fascinating side-story: for many years, under various
sponsorships, there was the International Imitation Hemingway
Competition, which I entered c. 1990. I didn't win, but my entry
was published in the above-pictured The Best of Bad Hemingway,
and is reproduced below. It is one of my few claims to literary
fame. So far.

Hemingway House, 1

We've seen our share of authors' sites, homes, flats, studios, bars, and restos, etc., including, not least, Hemingway's Idaho home (thanks, Rick and the Idaho Humanities Council). For us, the Hemingway house was one of Key West's major attractions. The house was built in the mid-19th century and is associated mostly with Pauline, the second wife, who stole him from her friend, Hadley, the Paris wife. More on this anon. Hemingway lived in Key West with Pauline roughly 1931-1939, with time off for business in Spain, Africa, and with the third wife-to-be. It's not complicated, really: he was a jerk. Be that as it may, our tour of the house was one of our best authorial visits, not least because of so much original contents, memorabilia, furnishings and the rest. Great vintage Old Florida. We walked around, initially, then got on the hourly guided tour, then walked around a bit more. Apologies for the disorganized nature of this and the following post. You'll figure it out.

Thanks, Wikipedia

Guard station

Beautifully landscaped, more Rhapis palms than anywhere
I've been, except Disney; and SE Asia

Of the origin of the polydactyl (six-toed) cats

Among the cat houses

There are some 60 "Hemingway cats" on the premises

When Pauline (#2) heard of Papa's affair with soon-to-be #3,
Martha Gellhorn, she had Hemingway's boxing ring torn
down and replaced by what is still the largest private pool
in the Keys; note huge Ming Aralias

Pretty productive eight years

Cat Sematary

Among the many displays in the house, this on Hemingway's fishing
boat, the Pilar (his nickname for Pauline; also a major character in 
For Whom the Bell Tolls)

View of the house from the lighthouse

Official glam shot; after his ears were amputated

No bare walls in this house/museum

Main bedroom; note polydactyl cat guarding bed

Running of the bulls display

Among the many beautifully-carved older pieces 

Key West Scenes

One weekend we drove down to Key West, a place we'd visited in much earlier years but wanted to see again. We spent just a day there, enjoyed it immensely, and are sure to return.

Driving on the (new) Seven Mile Bridge; remnants of the old bridge are
off to the right; possibly interesting anecdote...my parents knew one of
the bridgetenders (a neighbor) and on a few occasions we spent a weekend living
with him and his wife in their quarters beneath the bridge, always returning to
Miami with an ice chest full of fish; some great neighborhood fish fries then, in
the fifties, some of my earliest memories...hush puppies, the smell of beer...

We've seen Tiki bars, Tiki cafes, Tiki restaurants, but never before a Tiki
garage...quite a large one, in fact, part of one of the Key West dealerships

The old Key West lighthouse, near Hemingway's house, once
on the shore, now several blocks from the sea, all reclaimed...

Street scene nearby; note the metal roofing...required on every building
after the 1886 fire (except Tiki garages)

On Duval street, the main (touristy) drag

Interesting architecture at every turn; all of it having
weathered many hurricanes, because...typically, they
were built by shipwrights, who knew what they were 
doing

There are free range fowl everywhere, reminiscent of
Cow Eye (Kauai), but not quite so repulsive

Obligatory tourist train

Lots of murals

We inadvertently had lunch at a Guy Fieri-featured
seafood shack; Vicki had the fried clams (her one seafood)
and I the coconut shrimp, both pretty good

Sic transit, Gloria

Among the many interesting buildings

Sloppy Joe was an actual person, taught Hemingway marlin-fishing

Far from the best Key Lime pie we've had

Incredible tropical and sub-tropical foliage everywhere

Saved for next time

The road does not go ever on from here

On the flip side, dining at Shorty's in south Miami, a Vicki favorite
since the 50s

Soon to be replaced by a high-rise or parking garage: sic transit, etc.