Celebrity Equinox Cruise: December 14-21 PART THREE

     Being upfront here, I simply do not have the talent to take decent pictures nor write a proper description about Key West, Florida. A partial explanation is that while I have visited the place four times through the years, it was always on cruises that took me away after only a few short hours.
     But truthfully, I am far from an unbiased person when it comes to Key West. For years I listened to Jimmy Buffett sing about the place, its character, and its history. So I continue to be enchanted like a love struck teenager even though many people have tried to dissuade me of my clumsy romanticism. These detractors say Key West is tacky beyond redemption and that its banal commercialism has ruined everything special about the place.
     All very possible, but enough still lingers to make it close to paradise for me.    

    On my first visit to Key West way back in September, 2001 the aftereffects of a very recent 9/11 prevented a lot of the usual tourists from visiting. Long story short, that allowed me a lot of time at the Southern Most Point. There was no line of people waiting to have their picture taken at the colorful buoy.
    On all my other visits though, the line of people has been so long as to make it impossible for me to get another. So I just settle to take a quick picture as I ride by on one of the Couch Tour Train or Couch Tour Trolley.

    Caused a bit of an issue with my wife as we rode passed the Garden of Eden Bar on the very crowded Couch Tour Trolley. As I mentioned in earlier posts, the Celebrity Equinox was overwhelmingly an older crowd with many obviously of the more socially conservative bent.
    So my lovely spouse didn't appreciate when I loudly spoke out about how we needed to get off the trolley, go up to the Garden of Eden Bar and strip down ot our birthday suits like we did years ago. No, we never visited that bar but I did thoroughly enjoy my wife's discomfort and the weird looks we got from all the raging stiffs.

    Yes, there was a price to pay for my improvisation but it was worth the several hours of stony silence. I honestly can't say I would never visit a clothing option bar like Garden of Eden. While on cruises I generally follow the idea that since I will never see any of those people again I can act as stupid and foolish as I want.    

   The "Lost Weekend Liquor Store." With such a name, that place screams to be added to a story of some hard luck loser looking for redemption.
   From what I understand, it's actually a new business, not something from the days when Papa Hemingway could be found walking the streets.   

    If you look beyond the palm tree you will see the destroyed air traffic control tower at Key West Airport. Now the story told to us by the trolley driver was that the tower has been that way for years. That air traffic is controlled by some person sitting at the end of the runway with a radio.
    Not sure how about the truth of that story but it does sound cool.   

    Time, or the lack of it, has always been my enemy when visiting Key West. On this trip I accompanied my wife to the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, not a place many would expect me to like, but it was awesome. If my heart was normal, allowing me to drink beer, I would have done the bar crawl again.
    But be that as it may, I did enjoy seeing the 50 to 60 different species of butterflies that live in the indoor park.
   

    Not sure what species this bad boy belongs but this was one of my better pictures. It was funny how many shots I took but because of the nature of butterflies, failed to capture any image. 

    In the center of the park was a pond where two flamingos lived. They are named "Rhett" and "Scarlett" and didn't give a damn about any of us humans prowling around their humid home.     

    This butterfly looks like he, or she, has seen some rough times. Not sure if butterflies fight, but I can't think what would have caused this damage to its wings.

    A better view of the insides of the conservatory. 

    Like the previous visits, we had to get back to the ship much too early. These two Princess Cruise line ships were tied up at the Mallory Square docks. One of the things that fascinates me about cruising is the complexity of these ships, even medium-sized one like these two. Pack a couple of thousand spoiled North Americans and Europeans on a ship with about a thousand paid crew members answering their every whim.    

    Don't really know why I included this picture. Maybe because all the others I took at Key West were just not good enough. Riding the Couch Trolley wasn't really conducive to taking good photographs. Plus my wife was having issues with her knees making walking highly problematic.
    While I have forgotten the name of this little island just off Key West, I do remember it's one of those upper crust, exclusive communities.    

    Barely an hour after leaving Key West I took this picture. I really liked the contrasting blues of the sky and ocean. The next stop on the cruise after a day at sea was Costa Maya, Mexico.  

A Much Needed Imaginary Key West Vacation

Being that I have a deeply embedded moral override in my head that prevents me from putting my foot up someones butt no matter how desperately they need it I sometimes suffer from an affliction akin to delirium tremens. Like most stories I could write a very long winded tale but the best way to describe the situation involves a sleazy dude ratting out another in an attempt to garner brownie points and make himself look good.

However, the wise and knowledgeable Jimmy Buffett has written, " ...good times and riches and son of bitches I have seen more than I can recall." The only known cure for such frustrating situations usually has to be pursued on the weekend since it involves about a gallon of Margarita mix and cheap tequila, along with chips, salsa, and several hours of Jimmy Buffett's best music.

Since it is Tuesday night with the weekend a distant and dim beacon of hope and relaxation I am forced to cruise You Tube looking for the next best thing. This imaginary vacation will either defuse my growing frustration saving me from financial ruin and possible jail time or my next post will actually be from Key West. Stay tuned for the forthcoming answer.    

Nomad Feet Around Key West

When you last saw pictures from your intrepid Parrothead he had just returned to the Disney Magic from his walkabout/barcrawl in Key West. Because the Mouse charged an arm, leg, along with a very important part of his male anatomy for wifi access on the ship he was forced to limit the pictures from his adventures that day.  Never fear! I have long since returned to the confines of evil suburbia and will now share a few of the images I took.  The above picture, which for unstated reasons I liked a lot, was taken outside the Key West Museum of Art and History at the old Customs House. There were several other pieces of art outside the old Customs house with this one the most provocative. In fact it was so provocative it was a test of "moral" standards as the throngs of passengers from the ship passed by and fanned out across the island. As I hung around I saw actual families guide their kids away from the statues and restrict their children's  wandering eyes. I guess this is one of those situations where personal judgment comes into play but folks, this was Key West after all.  

There is much that draws me to Key West beside the obvious, and frankly overdone, Jimmy Buffett connection. Another draw for me to this nearly spoiled paradise is the history of artists and writers that have come to the quirky island seeking sanctuary from the stifling normality that pervades most of the United States. I have heard many say that spirit of unbridled creativity and original thought in Key West has suffered as the greedy developers and uber-rich have moved in forcing many locals and other more subversive elements out. Yeah, I can see it because much of the same thing is happening on the coast of South Carolina as the building of outlet malls, golf courses, and seaside suburban developments destroy centuries-old fishing villages and wetlands while running running poorer working folks inland. Still though holdouts remain, as I was walking down Whitehead Street I noticed this serious cool cottage and thought to myself the small house something akin to heaven. For those who do not know my usual addle brain dropping I regularly offer up I don't need any damn McMansion wedged between anal retentive A-holes who hold up inside their homes not too unlike the insane and late Unibomber. I'd rather live in a small home like that in a warm place with the ocean nearby.

But anyway, if you look at the left-side of the picture you will notice the beginnings of a large hedge that almost obscured from view of the next small cottage. As I moved on down the street my super-duper army training (yeah, I'm serious) allowed me to see some small movement behind it. Standing very still on the sidewalk I saw an old man sitting at a patio table painting a picture. My position had me directly behind his canvas so I have no idea what his painting looked like although to my dying day I will wonder. The artist's palate, placed beside his canvas on the table, was full of colors and while to me the artist looked beyond ancient for about a minute I watched his steady hand apply color to his work. I almost took a picture of him then I realized, thankfully, it would have been a huge and unforgivable invasion of his privacy. This might seem silly but as I moved on I realized this would be one of the highlights of my entire trip.           

Key West has been the center of several controversies as forces of freedom and liberty battle the prudes, greedy developers, and the perpetually uptight fearful that something will come and threaten their special position in the status quo. One of those battles was over the continued existence of the Key West "Gypsy" chickens. If I have the story right by 1890 over half of the population of Key West was Cubans seeking refuge from strife in their home country. The Cubans brought their love of "cockfighting" and I guess a few of the birds escaped. The escaped birds linked up with freed domestic chickens and after Mother Nature took her DNA encoded course created the birds that still strut around the island today.

The controversy developed as fears of bird-flu increased these last few years (mid-2000's) with the always proper and stiff normals scared the birds might be feathered Grim Reapers putting an end to their social affairs and golf excursions. I read about several round-ups and outright calls for extinction of the free feathered fellows. Thankfully I ran into many of these Key West residents and all I can say is FIGHT THE MAN, dudes.         

My original intention once Dragonwife and Miss Wiggles had left the ship for their visit to the butterfly garden was to make my way down to the Southern most point marked by the red and black buoy. When I got down there the line to pose for a picture in front of the icon was about as long as something you would see in Disney World, if not longer.  It was damn near chaos as well with people doing their best to pose next and in front of each other. The crowd seemed good natured enough and friendly but it was more of a hassle that I wanted so I walked further down to the nearby beach. 

As I drifted around I found this sign saying Tennessee Williams hung out here back in the day. Truthfully, there are many great things about this era we find ourselves living in like the internet and other really cool things. But our numbers and inventions have overwhelmed the planet and created a pace of life, here in America, that I believe is literally driving people crazy. While I completely and totally realize there is not a damn thing I can do about the situation other than soldier on and try and do things to make the world a better place I often find myself wondering about those times when things were simpler and in many ways better. It would have been totally cool to be on Key West back when Williams, Hemingway, and President Harry Truman were part of the local scene.

 

I have promised many times to post a few pictures of various ladies sunning themselves on the beach. This was taken on a cement pier jutting out into the water. South Beach is freaking small and far too packed for my liking, While I was sitting out on that pier I noticed this man at the end talking with a young couple who were fishing. What got my attention was that the young couple were sharing a two-part fishing pole. The young lady was using the lower half of the pole with the reel still attached and the guy was using the upper half with the fishing line tied to the bottom guide and strung through the others. It was a strange sight but believe it or not they were catching fish just minutes after throwing out their baited hooks. The kicker in all this was the old gentlemen standing next them singing 1940's love ballads. After each song he would say something about his lost love then move on to another tune. Since this was a public place I began recording the singing fella with the video function of my camera but I had a group of people start to walk in front of me and it destroyed both the view and sound.

On my way down to the ocean I passed Ernest Hemingway's home, I had every intention of going inside on my way back up but by that time the line to get inside was longer than at the Southern most point marker. Just something I have to look forward to on my next trip. Its something I need to address but I have yet to fall in love with Hemingway's writing, I enjoy it now but I have yet to have that religious experience several of my friends get when they read his works. When I returned to work I told my buddy "Tina" about skipping his house and the woman actually threw her french fries at me. Yeah, she is one of the Hemingway worshiping religious types.

After leaving Hemingway's house behind it was then I actively went on my bar crawl that I mention in the last picture post.

Saw this sign and just thought it was really cool to think the late Pan American airlines started in Key West on such a "simple" flight. Despite what others may think I am not anti-capitalist, I find nothing wrong with people taking their ideas, talents, or inventions and making money off it. Yes, I do believe capitalism does unlock the creative potential of the human spirit but I trouble with the concept is how people sell their souls to the god Profit. As much as it will piss off one of my brothers and many other people I know the United States is not, and has never been, a Christian nation. The teachings of Jesus have long since been superseded by the zealots for whom squeezing the last possible cent of Profit out of everything is the sum total and only meaning of their existence. I personally live by my easy going, beach bum, Bob Marley-influenced  attitude but I figure the Jesus dude would burn down Wall Street if he was around today.

Whoa! Talking about digressing in the extreme but moving back on point. Hooking up with Pan American back in the beginning of the golden age of aviation would have been a totally seat-of-the-pants adventure not too far off from some Indiana Jones movie. There was some smart and brave men in women back then. I hope we still have people like that, although from watching the news and seeing the strange lifeforms that parade around on reality shows I have serious doubts.

Okay, calling it quits on this pictorial adventure segment, I can tell must of you have already drifted away and while I have close to 400 more pictures I promise that I will not only keep most of them to myself, I will wait until I get the underwater camera developed before I show anymore.     

Key West Walkabout

Got to be quick because while the resort in Orlando charged out the butt for wifi the Disney ship has truly taken it to another level of piracy. Pulled into Key West today with Dragonwife and Wiggles going off to see a butterfly garden. That left me free to do a walkabout/ bar crawl.

Made it all the way down to the most southern point on the continental United States but the line at the red and black buoy was far too long to even consider waiting for a picture. Instead did a picture at the southernmost house then walked on the nearby beach. Nothing much to talk about except I was the oldest dude there which was uncomfortable and depressing in a way.I remember a time when hot young babes asked how's it going. Now all they ask is how things were.  Middle age is starting to be a bummer.

After that I made my way to the Green Parrot, Blue Heaven, and several other places but it all rather fuzzy now. Internet provider is freaking out and will have to sign off. I apologize for not dropping by the usual places but will get back to everyone as soon as possible