JUNE 2016
KEYSStyle PEOPLE • EVENTS • FEATURES
LITERARY KEY WEST THE KITERS OF KEY WEST TRIPPING UP THE KEYS
Judy
KEY WEST'S
BLUME
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A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE CELEBRATING THE UNIQUE LIFESTYLE OF THE FLORIDA KEYS.
JUNE 2016
CONTENTS | Photo by Rob O'Neal |
32 COVER STORY
Judy Blume AND KEY WEST
Writer’s haven becomes forever home
26 The Long and Winding Road: An Alternate Road Trip Up the Keys
6 The Kiters of Key West:
How an Extreme Sport Evolved into a Global Community
16 Bahama Village, Yesterday and Tomorrow
22 Get Cultured
36 Literary Key West A Living History
40 Passion for Fashion 42 Bites of Key West Eat and Drink Like a Local
This Edition: Rock House Masterpieces
44 Keys Wide Event Calendar
PUBLISHER Paul Clarin | ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Melanie Arnold | EDITOR Kay Harris | GRAPHIC ARTIST Dannielle Larrabee | WRITERS Kay Harris, Sarah Thomas, Mandy Miles | PHOTOGRAPHERS Mike Hentz, Rob O'Neal | | ADVERTISE 305.292.7777 sales@keysnews.com | FRONT COVER JUDY BLUME Photo by Rob O’Neal |
A Cooke Communications Florida LLC Publication
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5
The K
If you’ve found yourself out by Smathers Beach on a windy day, you’ve likely seen the kiters of Key West. As the beach tapers toward the airport, kites cut through the sky, lifting their riders off the surface of the ocean in apparent defiance of gravity. Tourists and locals alike can be seen pausing their jogs or bike rides to glimpse a rare sight: human beings in flight.
Kiteboarding, kitesurfing, or, as those who actually do it say, “kiting,” is a sport that has evolved significantly over the last twenty or so years. It’s been defined variously as a surface water sport; an extreme sport combining aspects of wakeboarding, windsurfing, and paragliding; or simply “being propelled across the water by a large kite.” The guys who do it call it “exhilarating,” “addictive,” or even “spiritual.” If there is one principle of life that kiteboarding illustrates, it’s that euphoria often holds hands with danger. Part of what makes the sport so captivating is its palpable drama: being carried 40 feet in the air by the wind, seeing the sky below your feet as you complete a flip. The kiters interviewed for this piece spoke of jumping the White Street Pier, or following a good wind for miles out, toward - or all the way to - Cuba. Of course, that is all at the adventurer’s own peril. The danger of the sport is part of what may have kept it relatively small. As experienced kiter and Key Wester Blake Olsen explains, “Kite boarding can be safe - I guess I’m just not safe myself. I was always just kind of reckless - really, extremely reckless, and would be attached to a powerful kite and would like land on my head from 40 feet in the air. Doing double or triple flips.”
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Kiters BY SARAH THOMAS
OF KEY WEST
| Photo by Blake Olsen | 7
Olsen narrates some history of the safety of the sport: “Basically with kiting… you used to have no safety systems. Now you have a lot of safety systems.” The kiters that I met reiterated that the sport itself isn’t dangerous, but the higher heights - literally and figuratively - tempt the athletes to higher-risk, higher-reward experiences.
“ I’VE B R O K E N A LO T OF BO N E S , ” Olsen laughs, “and I’ve also had a lot of concussions. I’ve been told I would never talk again. A kite pulled me into the ground headfirst on a sand bar, and I got spinal meningitis, and I had impaired speech after that, because of the brain trauma, and my brain swelling into my skull. And I couldn’t talk well or remember anything. That was in 11th grade.” At only twenty-three, Olsen is the youngest kiter with whom I spoke. But the mastery that he’s reached in those short years is at a physical (and, well, metaphysical) cost. “They told me I would never do any contact sports again, any sports again, and they wouldn’t let me. They made me wear karate helmets to soccer practice.” He is quiet, considering the memory. “Why would a doctor say that? I don’t understand why doctors tell people you’re never going to do all of these things again. I understand that it’s dangerous and I could die from the things I do, but it’s pretty fun.”
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This statement is true to Olsen’s signature nonchalance. He is young, blonde, and nearly fearless - a kind of prototypic surfer boy minus the machismo. You might call him naïve, if he hadn’t just detailed relearning to walk and talk after injury. He is ruminative when he speaks of his experience kiting, a quality that is common among this close-knit group of local kiteboarders. Olsen explains his path to the sport, a natural trajectory of a life immersed in adventure sports: “I grew up wind surfing in Saudi Arabia… in the Red Sea. When we moved to America I saw kiting for the first time in the Outerbanks, and I took a lesson and then first started kiting.” He continued kiting in colder climes, “I lived on Lake Huron up in northern Michigan and would get up at like 5:30 am before high school, and I wouldn’t really know how to set up the kite, but would just do it.” When he made his way to the Florida Keys three years ago, he found a burgeoning community of like-minded kiters: adventure-seekers with a taste for the lifestyle of sun and surf. The group routinely kites off Smathers Beach, or even more often, take boats out to spots a few miles offshore (Marvin Key was an oft-cited example), to take a few hours to soar. While this group has disparate origins, all of their paths have converged in the Keys. Paul Menta, a man you could fairly call a local kiteboarding legend, calls the Keys “ideal for kiting.” Menta, who isn’t only a seasoned kiteboarder, but a rum-maker and an experienced chef, evokes a sort of Obi-Wan Kenobi-in-board-shorts ethos when he speaks of his life experiences. Menta attributes the kiting popularity in the Keys not just to the technical concerns - good wind, open water - but to a way of life. “I’m kiting; I’m cooking rum.” Menta is also the proprietor of Key West First Legal Rum Distillery, one of his seemingly endless interests. “Everybody wants to come here,” he says. “It’s a lifestyle. I always say the best thing about Key West is leaving and coming home. I smell the jasmine. You see the people out kiting.”
THE BRIEF HISTORY OF KITING Kiting is a sport in its adolescence, but even so, it’s made major developments. Menta’s history with kiting began dovetailed with the spark of the sport itself - in the mid-90s. “Kite skiing is kind of where it came from,” he says. “[The boards] were a little bigger, had a big solid frame to them, and so you’d pull yourself on a ski… and they would go around, and try to do different things. Here, in Key West, around that time - and this was ’93, ’94, and we got a hold of one somehow. And we were at Smathers Beach with this big kite ski, and we were wake boarders, and surfers, and we got this thing, and it’s hard to control, and we would crash it in the water, and it’s just chaos.” He encountered it again a few years later. “I had a friend in Maui, and I wanted to do some surfing, and I met this guy who was here, Joe Koehl, and he was kiting, and I tried the kites again, the framed kites, and it was tough.” | Photo by Mike Freas – www.FotoByFreas.com | 9
At this time, the equipment was relatively primitive, and truly meant for a different sport. Not only that, but the concept was in early development, preventing Menta from truly embracing nascent kiting. Yet, Menta places the stopgap in his learning closer to home: “Like anything,” he laughs, “when you aren’t good enough, you’re like, ‘This sucks.’ So maybe we decided to wait til it gets better, you know, til it’s easier.” Menta is adept at tempering his ego with self-awareness and sense of humor. And kiting wasn’t done with Menta, not by a long shot. His stories of the sport could outlast many hours and bottles of his rum. He attributes the tipping point of kiteboarding’s popularity to two developments: inflatable kites and the Internet. He explains, “I met this guy Bruno, who was like the eternal father of kiteboarding, and he was from France, and he and his brother made [the inflatable kites]. We blew it up, and took it down on the beach. And we launched a kite, and we launched it in a place where you should never launch it. And I got on, and messed around. And that kind of ego, the macho stuff was really thrown out the window when I got dragged down the beach, and now my shorts are down around my ankles, and I was lifted, and smashed down against the sand. My buddy came over, and I was like ‘Man we’ve gotta figure this out.’ I was like, if I can learn how to do this, there will be a lot of money teaching people.” And teach people he did: Menta made a global business out of teaching kiting. He also took advantage of the blossoming reach of the Internet, creating a “rudimentary” web site to share kiting and teaching experiences, and a forum where others could share their experiences. But this came after the Internet hit the mainstream. Of those early days, he explains: “We didn’t have a reference point. And all of the sudden, this cool thing came out around 1996, the Internet, and all of the sudden in France, and Hawaii, and New Zealand—and everyone is trying to start doing it. The Internet conceived the sport, because first you had people, independently, with these ideas.” Menta gathered what he began to learn online and abroad. “I went back to Maui over the summer and taught people, and I kept a log of who I taught.” Menta started The Kitehouse, a kite school and hub for learning and sharing, in the summer of ’99, and the rest, as they say, is history.
A KITER’S PARADISE Tim Rhoeder, local kiter and longtime Key West resident, describes going out to the Flats, by Sunset Key: “It really is magic. All kinds of sharks, and fish, and you hear the wind, and the board just skimming across the water, and it’s just magic. It’s 10 . KeysStyle . June 2016
soft, it’s grassy, and you’re just gliding over the water.” Rhoeder has called Key West home since 1984, when he left Minnesota for warmer climes; he’s been a local business owner for over twenty years. One day, Rhoeder was out boating, when he first encountered kiters. “A guy that lived in the apartment next door was taking [kiting] lessons with a friend, and we had a boat, and so we’d come pick him up and take him out, and when you’re learning, you only go downwind. This was about seven years ago, and [watching the kiters], I said ‘Gosh, I wish I were 20 years younger.’ We were out in the Flats, they’re called, and then this guy named Harry came flying through, and he’s older and heavier than I am. And I saw him, so graceful, and thought
‘W O W , M A Y B E I C A N D O T H I S .’ Rhoeder has been kiting ever since. Rhoeder is bespectacled and understated, commanding and calm in demeanor. Yet he is wholly animated when the topic of discussion turns to, say, his newly purchased kiteboard that allows for kiting in lesser wind, showing me how the foil allows for gliding in complete silence, above the water. It’s rare to meet an adventure sports techie. Rhoeder also lights up discussing the diversity of the Keys, which is not limited to humanity. He mentions that the Keys are home to thousands of species of bird, mammal, and marine life. And in like, the kiters are attuned to the creatures with whom they exist: the bull sharks, the manta rays, the innumerable varieties of fish and fowl. The specificity of the environment make it ideal for kiting. “The Keys are actually a little windier than the rest of Florida, typically,” | Photo by Rick Lossi |
Rhoeder says, “and we have so much shallow water around, which is conducive to kiting, because you have smoother water, and we can go out to many places by boat here, and just have incredible sessions, and good wind, and protected waters, and all the way from Islamorada—there’s a kite school up there, and in Marathon. All the way up and down the Keys, there’s quite a bit of kiting.” Rhoeder, Menta, and Olson, have all spent significant time with their kiteboarding bretheren up the Keys. Olsen actually started his tenure of Keys adventure sporting in Marathon, where he was teaching wakeboarding and paddle boarding. “A friend from Michigan called the people at the wakeboarding and a cable park in Islamorada, and I started teaching wakeboarding in Marathon. Then I lived in a tree house and would drive to Marathon every day and teach wakeboarding and paddleboarding.” It’s a local community. Says Rhoeder, “We know all of the spots that you can launch from between here and Miami, you can go up to Curry Hammock up in Marathon, or up to the 7 Mile Bridge.” The fingers of the community span far beyond reach of the Overseas Highway, to remote places where people seem to have fallen for a common love.
A GLOBAL COMMUNITY As most travelers know, the world can prove surprisingly small. When there is a shared life passion bonding you to those of your tribe, the world becomes even smaller. Kiteboarders across the globe have formed an international community, from the shores of south France to the beaches of Maui. When Paul Menta did “Kite Surf the Earth,” competing, teaching, and kiting the globe, he met people that would cycle in and out of his life. All three kiters interviewed mentioned the same spots: the Outerbanks, Maui, France. Of course, there are kiting spots in plenty of far-flung locales, but the global community seems to tend toward closeness - a bond predicated on passion, tenacity, and well, risk. Olsen says, “You meet a kiteboarder somewhere on the beach, and then you stay connected via social media, and you see the same people at different beaches around the world.” Kiters new to the area defer to locals for the tips and unspoken rules of the area. When discussing the community of kiters, Rhoeder describes a self-governed and mutually respecting dynamic. He says, “We like to be selfpolicing, and when someone new comes to the area, and they are starting off in the wrong spot, or if they are kiting inappropriately, we’ll tell them. 11
We’ll mention areas to stay away from, and obstacles to avoid. Most kiters look for the local knowledge anyway, so if we see someone launching, say, down in the middle of the Spring Breakers, and we’ll say, ‘Come up the beach,’ and try to keep it safe for everybody.” An evident concern is that the sport is malecentric and prohibitively expensive. Menta debunks these interpreted limitations of the community. “Women kite. There is this girl, Daisy, and just took my kite and went out and totally ripped it up. Charlie, and Julie, and… women kite. Women have the finesse, and the patience.” He also notes that while there is an initial investment (a few thousand dollars in equipment and lessons), it’s good for about five years. The sport doesn’t require a boat, either-you can just throw a kite on your back and bike to the beach.
JOINING THE ADVENTURE Kiters can appear to be preternaturally gifted, defying laws of physics. Some would-be kiters may find the athleticism of the sport to be intimidating, or even prohibitive. But the experienced kiters insist that’s a misconception. Rhoeder explains: “I think everybody assumes you’re out there doing pull ups, but really there are four lines, and there are two connected to the bar, and you are steering with it, and the other two lines connect to the hook on your harness, and that’s core work, and yeah, it’s kind of a full body workout, it’s your arms, and your core and your back. You’re pretty exhausted after a few hours, but not to the extent that it looks like.” Olsen echoes the sentiment that, while it may seem initially expensive or intimidating, kiteboarding is a sport that is open to many. “Basically, anyone in the world can kite board… all it is is flying a kite. It doesn’t matter how big or small or old you are. I’ve taught six year olds how to do it, and then seventy-year-old ladies. You never know who’s going to be the best. Sometimes the really athletic guy might suck at kiteboarding. When I broke my leg I used to do beach inflatable wheelchair kiteboarding, so even if you’re handicapped you can do it.”
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Olson has taught people that he describes as initially “literally hopeless,” teaching a girl that had “never done a sport in her life but sell trumpets.” The trumpeter is now a kiter. Menta, too, has taught his share of unlikely kiters. “I remember this guy we call Elvis, and he said, ‘I want you to teach me,’ and I got this kite, and I always ask people ‘Can you swim?’ And he’s like ‘No.’ So I put a jacket on him, and first taught him how to swim, and then I taught him how to kite.” And they all agree that the Keys are an ideal place to start. Menta says, “Look, Key West is like an amazing place. It’s definitely one of the best places in the world to do this sport. We have this big ocean and windy winters, and there are so many aspects of Key West… you have all of these experiences offered, and kiteboarding is only one of them.” They also all agree that while you may not need athleticism, you do need patience, and a trainer kite. Olsen strongly recommends buying a trainer kite from a place like Mackite, to try it out before investing in full kiting gear. But once you get into it, Olsen calls the tug to the water
“A FULL ON A D D I C T I O N .” Rhoeder agrees. “The learning curve is a little steep, so you have to stick with it, but once you get it,” he laughs, “you can’t keep a full time job. Once the wind blows…” He looks out the window, and falls silent as chimes outdoor tinkle, and the wind picks up. It seems that for a moment, in his mind, he’s off to fly a kite. ■
| Photo by Mike Hentz| 13
| Mike Freas – www.FotoByFreas.com| 14 . KeysStyle . June 2016
Photo by Mike Hentz
Foto By Freas Photography
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By Sarah Thomas | Photos by Mike Hentz
BAHAMA VILLAGE, yesterday and tomorrow
THAT’S KIND OF TRAGIC
“When I was a kid, you’d go from one yard and pick guavas, and the next to pick Spanish limes.” James “Jim” Carey stands in his Thomas Street house, sanding a board. Tall and bespectacled, he was born and raised in Bahama Village, and this is his family home - beautifully maintained and still undergoing renovations. Jim is a retired contractor. He first left Key West to join the military in the late 1960s, returning to a very different place. About some of the new real estate buyers, he says, “They don’t know the local trees, and they cut them down. You can’t find a guava in Key West anywhere now, and that’s kind of tragic.”
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Natives and longtime locals alike profess that Key West was once a different island - romanticized for being rougher around the edges, cheaper, and less exclusive. It attracted immigrants and artists and wanderers (and still does), before real estate prices peaked and the chain drug stores became ubiquitous. Bahama Village, in some ways, may be Key West in microcosm - a historic neighborhood that embodies our “One Human Family” ethos through its diverse ethnic fabric. Yet this fabric is being threatened by exorbitant housing prices and out-of-town buyers gentrifying the neighborhood beyond recognition. Bahama Village is about a 16- block neighborhood between Whitehead Street and Truman Annex, dotted with colorful shotgun houses and locally-owned shops. Historically, it’s a black neighborhood, the largest percentage of whom were of Bahamian descent, though the neighborhood now claims a variety of international immigrants and influences. Between 1830-1840, an influx of Bahamian immigrants arrived in Key West, largely for its ample fishing and sponging businesses. The City of Key West boasts that Bahama Village is its oldest intact neighborhood - established over 150 years ago, with fifth generation Conchs still calling it home.
CHANGES
Richard Hatch, a successful entrepreneur in flip flops, has lived in Key West since ’86. Hatch, along with his partner, has been an owner of Blue Heaven, the bustling restaurant on Thomas and Petronia, since ’92. When he first moved down in the late 80s, he was writing for The Key West Citizen, and recalls, “I had the crime beat at the newspaper, and Petronia and Thomas was the site of many arrests for illicit substances.” But Hatch took to the area, and “began reporting the ‘Citizen of the Day.’” He remembers, “And then I came down here [in Bahama Village] and did some ‘Citizens of the Day,’ and that’s when I met Reggie across the street, a veteran. He later turned out to be my best friend down here.”
While Hatch’s 25 years doesn’t match Carey’s near-lifelong tenure in Bahama Village, he, too, remembers a simpler time in the neighborhood. “What struck me was how many people were on the street, playing cards or dominoes or checkers under that olive tree. It was fun; it was wonderful. More people on the street, kids on bicycles.” City Commissioner Clayton Lopez (representing District IV, encompassing Bahama Village), a fourth generation Conch, paints a similar idyllic vision of yesterday’s Bahama Village: “It was such a place for the nightlife. It was the black equivalent of Duval Street.” Of course, there was a flip side to the ease of the streets. There was more crime in the streets then, too. “It was pretty quiet at night down here then,” Hatch says of the early 90s. “A lot of people were scared to come here at night. At first the police told people not to come down here at night, and it was a good year and a half before we started doing dinner.” Despite these whispered threats of the neighborhood, residents and newcomers were drawn to Bahama Village’s friendliness, charm, and affordable housing. Snow Philip, a longtime single female resident of Bahama Village, with silver hair and a beautiful house on Julia Street, moved to Key West right around the time Hatch was opening Blue Heaven. She says, “I’ve lived in Bahama Village most of the 22 years I've lived in Key West.” A military brat and wanderer by nature, Philip has lived in many places, yet she calls Bahama Village home. “I love this neighborhood, and I think this street, the 300 block of Julia is the most diverse neighborhood in the city. I own the house but I do not own the land, a city trust owns the land. Bahama Conch Community Land Trust. BCCLT.” After moving away, Philip was drawn back to the neighborhood - her current house on Julia Street specifically. “This house was for sale, and this was low income, and you had to pay cash. This house had been empty for 20 years. That’s because it was BCCLT property. It’s owned and administered by the housing authority. They knew that I had a very limited income, but I had assets.”
| Many areas of Bahama Village have houses that still resemble the original structure next to a completely remodeled, renovated house. | 17
| City Commissioner Clayton Lopez and Snow Philip|
COMMERCE ON PETRONIA STREET
Petronia Street has long been a bustling hub of commerce and comingling. Blue Heaven was famously a liquor store, a bordello, a boxing ring that Hemingway frequented, a playhouse, and a pool hall. This kind of revolving, or rather evolving, pattern of commerce, holds true for a number of establishments on the street. “Petronia has always been a commercial street,” Hatch says. “This is where you came down to party and have fun, and there were neon lights and gambling.” That was years ago, and Bahama Village is as different as the rest of the island. Commissioner Lopez, who identifies as black and Latino, has a truly multiethnic family white, Latino, and grandkids proudly spanning the spectrum. He also has a long political and social history in the neighborhood. He marched in local demonstrations against segregation - particularly of a skating rink - and was part of a team to secure funding for the public pool that, today, remains in Bahama Village and is named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His concerns for the neighborhood align with his lifelong missions. Lopez supports the flourishing businesses, and “the changes to the economic corridor on Petronia,” Lopez says, “but the thing is, the only black business is Johnson’s Grocery. I have no problem with the economic growth, but that’s my concern.” The neighborhood demographic was recently cited by the 2010 census as approximately 43% black, 42% white, 10% Hispanic, and <4% other races. Thus, the fact that there is only one blackowned business is, at best, unrepresentative of the citizenry. Hatch reflects on the black-owned businesses that have closed: “We lost both of the barber shops - Floyd’s barbershop down the street, and the barbershop by my old place, Chapel’s barbershop is gone. B&G grocery store - a few more little businesses around.”
PHILIP WAS the rare buyer that was still a viable applicant despite the
stringent regulations of the BCCLT. Housing authorities from New York to Key West seem to be looking for a common unicorn: a person that qualifies as low - income, but has a considerable chunk of cash to pay for property up front. This exclusivity wasn’t lost on Philip. “But I loved coming back to Bahama Village,” she said. That seems to be one of the major factors changing the racial and ethnic make- up of the neighborhood: housing is either becoming seductively expensive, prompting original owners to sell, or the affordable housing initiatives enforce regulations that are rarely met by local residents. These concerns, however, haven’t slowed the development of the commercial heart of Bahama Village: Petronia Street. 18 . KeysStyle . June 2016
“So, it’s considerably more white now in the economic corridor,” Lopez concedes. “I don’t have as much of a problem with that, as I do with trying to increase the black entrepreneurship. To bring back that historic flavor, for lack of a better word. And some of that has been lost… some of what we’re trying to do is build some economic opportunities.” The City has a long history of controversial propositions with the professed aim of positively developing Bahama Village. Lopez has supported a number of hot-button ideas that he believes will ultimately benefit the Bahama Village neighborhood. Regarding the Frederick Douglass Band Room, Comissioner Lopez has proposed a cultural center and museum to tell the story of the Indigenous People and mid-1800s immigrants. He’s also proposed a hotel at Truman Waterfront as part of the 6.6 acres included in the Bahama Village extension, in hopes of bringing “jobs, training, and managerial
opportunities.” Others are wary of hotel guests closing in on the neighborhood, despite its potential economic benefits.
fact that I’m living here,” she considers, “means there are fewer black families on the street than there used to be.”
“I don’t know; it’s a little scary,” Hatch admits when considering the idea of more tourists in the area, staying at a hotel. “When we got the land, I was hoping it would be park land, I was hoping for a park.” Hatch also makes a positive observation about the business owners along the economic corridor: “Petronia Street has developed slowly, fortunately. Most all of the shops on Petronia Street have owners that also work in the shops.” It seems that one of the echoing themes is that when locals have a stake in the economy, wealth is more often built in a way that is responsible and sustainable.
Carey muses on how fortunate he is to live in a family home held for generations: “It’s easier for me. If I had housing costs… it’s ridiculous. I know many people who come down here with intentions of settling down, and then they get down here, and they realize they can’t afford to stay here. And then you have so many homeless, and there’s a housing shortage. That’s the result of progress I guess.” Or perhaps it’s the cost of progress.
BAHAMA VILLAGE TOMORROW
These residents hold in common a nostalgia for the Bahama Village of the past, but also an earnest hope to fashion a healthy future for the neighborhood. Of course, when economic interests are at play, the question is: Healthy for whom? Investors and developers have become notorious for snapping up affordable properties (often foreclosures) in Bahama Village and flipping them within months for a massive profit. As a real estate source put it, “when investors are paying for houses in cash on the court house stairs,” it’s much more difficult for the average homebuyer to compete. Some see the neighborhood as a bastion of consistency amid change. Philip says, “I haven’t seen the demographic change on this street. Many of my neighbors have been here a long time. The
Lopez remembers the time just post-integration: “And shortly after desegregation happened, and there was less of a reliance on each other, and you’re just… part of a bigger world. And I don’t know that I’d call it gentrification, if you’re talking strictly race. I get it, but I’m not looking at that strictly. It’s ‘are we losing the neighborhood?’ Is there no neighborhood there anymore?’ I could care less about my neighbor’s color, as long as my neighbor is my neighbor.” Hatch and Carey are even more targeted in their assessment of what breaks down the neighborhood. “The big fences,” Hatch says, referencing the fences erected around new construction. Carey agrees, “Yes, the housing cost - it brings a different level of people here. You’ve got a family paying $300 with subsidies, and next door, they’re driving a Mercedes… there are six foot fences everywhere, when you used to go from one yard to the next.” If only it were as simple as tearing down the fences. ■
| Blue Heaven restaurant located on Thomas and Petronia | 19
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Photo by Rob O'Neal
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get
CULTURED By Mandy Miles | Photos by Mike Hentz
THIS EDITION:
ROCK HOUSE
masterpieces
The gods of art have smiled on Julia Street, where a riveting new gallery has resurrected an old stone church Rock House Masterpieces features the work of at least 20 artists from all over the world, including the Florida Keys. Paintings, sculpture, photography, textiles and clocks, you name it. Look closely, and plan on staying awhile, lest you miss out on a fish sculpture made of reclaimed metal, a multi-layered mosaic in an upstairs viewing room, an artistically adapted, three-speed bicycle or a 200-year-old royal blue rug from Eastern Europe and the Middle East thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been expertly restored to highlight the earthy textiles.
| Opposite Page: The Rock House Masterpieces gallery is in a 200 year old church. | | Top Right: Paul and Rosemary Danks, visiting Key West from Britain, relax as they view some of the many pieces of art. | | Bottom Right: Gallery owners Eric Dickstein and Dr. Ronit Berdugo with their dog Scout. | 23
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“The artist literally sources the rugs from people’s homes over in Turkey and Afghanistan and reworks the color,” said gallery director Mark “Marco” Schreiber, who has managed to fill two floors of gallery space with a collection as diverse yet harmonious as the community that surrounds it. “You never know and can’t predict what people will be drawn to, and it changes from week to week, so the blending of pieces is critical to be sure we can offer something for everyone,” said gallery owner Eric Dickstein, who bought the stone building and completely renovated before opening Rock House Masterpieces about a year ago in April 2015. “It’s fine art, and it’s fun art,” Dickstein said, pointing to a giant, high-gloss image of a sailfish on the move by Tony Ludovico. “And of course, everybody loves the building.” The old stone church, once the AME Zion Church, at the corner of Whitehead and Julia Streets, was built between 1896 and 1900 by freed slaves, who had established the congregation in 1865. Original stained-glass windows still filter the island sun and a new interior stairway is made of wood from a salvaged pecan tree in north Georgia. The rest of the wood in the gallery is from Dickstein’s other enterprise, Pacific Green furniture. Dickstein is the North American distributor for the Fiji-based furniture company that works only with farmed, renewable coconut palm wood that is actually harder than teak, he said. From the softest leather sofas to round ottomans that roll with the motion of a rocking chair, Pacific Green is another reason people linger in Rock House Masterpieces. “Some of them just don’t want to get out of the rocking chair, or off the couch,” said Dickstein, running his hand along the supple, seafoam leather of a two-person sofa. And the line is getting the desired celebrity attention that designers seek – and need for success. “Clint Eastwood, Matthew McConaughey and Pierce Brosnan all own Pacific Green furniture,” Dickstein said. “So it’s getting to be a big hit.” Buyers choose their own frame style of several that are as comfortable as they are hip. Then they pick a leather color, style and softness. Then they never stand up again. But at least they have plenty to look at on the walls. ■
“Two floors featuring award winning artists; one block from Duval and the Hemingway House, zero excuses to miss this Key West destination,” Dickstein said. 25
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: AN ALTERNATE
UP THE KEYS
26 . KeysStyle . June 2016
By Sarah Thomas | Photos by Mike Hentz and Rob Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neal
As those of us who have driven the Overseas Highway over the years know, there are a number of familiar landmarks that dot the way. We know we’re in Islamorada when we see the illuminated neon turtle of the Green Turtle Inn, and it’s with known pleasure that we cruise by the oversized pink conch shell at the Theater of the Sea. The drive between Homestead and Key West offers a sunny version of Americana that it’s hard not to love. Yet many times, the drive is bookended by flight times or other commitments, urging us to speed through one of the most beautiful stretches of highway in the United States, stopping only for a fast food meal or a gas station coffee.
WHILE BABY’S ADDRESS professes a Key
West location, it is actually a little hike from the Southernmost City up on mile marker 15. Baby’s is a popular spot for cyclists, and a perfect destination if you’d like a challenging, but rewarding, 30 mile, thoroughly caffeinated, round trip ride from Key West. They offer everything from pizza to smoothies, though nothing beats the Keys classic: an icy cold brew on a hot day. Baby’s roasts all of their own beans (I love the Hazelnut Supreme), and beats any truck stop brew hands down. Do yourself the favor and take five.
SUGARLOAF LODGE TIKI BAR
(AND THE JUMPING BRIDGE!)
17001 Overseas Highway, Sugarloaf, FL MM 17
IF YOU WANDER down the path snaking behind the anachronistic Sugarloaf Lodge, you’ll see a friendly thatched roof and a soft soundtrack of laughter. The Tiki Bar behind the lodge has the feel of a backyard party, with bartenders mixing revelatory fresh margaritas, and a small local crowd. If you are feeling emboldened by your libations, take a true adventure known well by locals. If you hang a right at MM17 (Sugarloaf Shores) and drive down the shady lane, you’ll come to a barrier gate on your left. Park the car,
dge, MM 17 |
walk beyond the barrier, and you’ll find an idyllic bridge you can jump off and plunge into the saltwater tributary below. There are often local kids testing their courage, and folks enjoying a lazy swim below along the shore. Some might call it danger, some bliss. I would have called it “a secret” and left it off this list, had The Jumping Bridge not already had its own Facebook page. Who says paradise has to be completely unspoiled?
MY NEW JOINT
(AT THE SQUARE GROUPER)
22658 Overseas Hwy, Summerland Key, FL MM 22.5
JUST UP THE Overseas Highway lies one
of the best and least conventional dining experiences in the Lower Keys. The Square Grouper shares its name with the bales of lost drugs—often marijuana—found floating in the waters where traffickers have been. The theme is not left at the original name. “My New Joint,” their lounge upstairs, also indulges in trippy décor and frequent doubleentendre. But if college taught me anything, it’s that a palate inspired by marijuana is also an adventuresome one, and the menu at Square Grouper and My New Joint reflect a sophisticated twist on whimsy and indulgence. There is a fresh (legal) herb garden flanking the front lawn, and rosemary wafts up as you enter the restaurant. My New Joint offers a fantastic selection of fresh oysters and clams,
ik
3180 Highway 1, Key West, FL MM 15
| Jumpin Bri
i
r, Ba
MM
17 |
dg eT
BABY’S COFFEE
| My New Joint at The Square Grouper, MM 22.5 |
| Sugar loaf Lo
There are so many hidden gems off the Overseas Highway that many, sadly, may be left in the review mirror of your speeding car, so we’ve compiled a list of “off the beaten path” places that are more than worth the pull-off. The hope is that local and traveler alike might be bold and step—or drive—away from the familiar. And in the spirit of encouraging an alternate pathway, the attractions are ordered from Key West to Homestead, a reverse route from “the norm.” Because, perhaps most elementally, the Keys ask us to look at the world around us from a different perspective.
cocktails like the “Indica” featuring rosemary-infused vodka, lime, and grapefruit. The grilled oysters with bacon, pesto, and chopped tomato are rich and satisfying. Downstairs, the excellent wine list and criminally decadent chocolate fondue that will keep you on a high for weeks to come. 27
| Above: No Name Pub MM 29 | Below: Bahia Honda MM 37 and Baby's Coffee MM 15 |
NO NAME PUB 30813 Watson Blvd, Big Pine Key, FL MM 29
NO NAME PUB, Big Pine’s notoriously hard-to-
find restaurant and watering hole, embodies the spirit of “off the beaten path.” Certainly, the path to the pub has become more worn in recent years, but it still has the feel of a hideaway. Picnic tables dot the brick patio outside and the ceiling is flanked with customers’ spent dollar bills. No Name Pub has the atmosphere of a dive, with excellent fresh seafood. The pub began as a bait and tackle shop and general store, but over the years has been a brothel, pool hall, and finally, restaurant. It also is famous for its signature pizzas, with eclectic local toppings like key shrimp. Be sure to look up directions beforehand though, since their tag line is “A nice place if you can find it.”
THE GOOD FOOD CONSPIRACY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH CENTER
30150 Overseas Hwy, Big Pine Key, FL MM 30.5
THE GOOD FOOD Conspiracy is one part
vegetarian hippy enclave and one part wacky scientist wellness lab. They describe themselves as an “Organic Health Food Market, Juice Bar and Deli with a great assortment of delicious, freshly made to order Juices, Fruit Smoothies, Fruit Freezes, Raw & Cooked Vegetarian and Vegan Sandwiches.” The folks who work there 28 . KeysStyle . June 2016
are longhaired and lighthearted, happy to strike up a conversation, and equally knowledgeable when it comes to the supplements, vitamins, herbs, and elixirs that flank their shelves. The smoothies are excellent. The Atlantis Holistic Health Center (at Good Food Conspiracy) offers a number of relaxation services and alternative medicine treatments. Some of the most familiar include acupuncture, massage, and facials, and the lesser-known, but all the more curiosity-piquing, include “rain drop therapy, food detox, energy testing, color therapy, and iridology (reading of the eyes).” In the same complex is also Full Circle Wellness, a studio for yoga and tai chi among other things. This little feel good center has been an oasis to detox and heal from the indulgences of the Keys for the last 33 years.
BAHIA HONDA
STATE PARK
Bahia Honda Key, FL MM 37
AS YOU DESCEND from the summit of the
Seven Mile Bridge, the beach at Bahia Honda spans along the ocean to the right. There are postcard palms bending over the blue green water, and Henry Flagler’s derelict railroad bridge crests the Gulf, its signature gap like a smile missing teeth. While the Lower Keys are better known for their fishing, drinking, and dining, Bahia Honda is arguably one of the most beautiful beaches in the Continental U.S. Bear right into the State Park, and settle at one of the wooden picnic tables, or walk along the two soft sandy beaches (Calusa and Sandspur), or simply explore
more limited. Enter Keys Cable Park, a 50acre paradise, with an expansive lagoon and surrounding foliage, a sanctuary for adventure seekers traversing the Overseas Highway. The 5-acre, up to 65-foot deep lagoon is made up of quarries dredged by the East Coast Railway for Flagler’s railroad expansion in the early 1900s.
| Above: Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Bar MM 87 | Below: Harriette's Diner MM 95.7 and Keys Cable Park MM 59 |
the lush tropical vegetation of the park. You may come across musicians practicing, folks playing chess, dining, or walking their dogs.
The Cable Park employs a two-point cable system used for towing riders—skiers, wake boarders, or knee boarders—without the assistance of a boat. They mechanism is run by small engines, and the Keys Cable Park boasts that they are thus “very energy efficient and the greenest source of wakeboarding available.” The experience can be customized to the rider’s ability and preferred speed, and the mechanism stops if the rider falls, preventing the dreaded “swim/walk of shame.” It is an excellent introduction to watersports for the uninitiated and an unexpected experience for the veteran athlete.
Not only is Bahia Honda the perfect destination for a beach day, but it also offers a number of outdoor activities for visitors. Kayaking, charter fishing, and camping are among the activities offered at the park.
LORELEI
IF YOU CAN time your drive so that you are
KEYS CABLE
PARK
59300 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL MM 59
THE OPEN WATER and wind make the Keys
ideal for watersports: kayaking, paddle boarding, kite boarding, skiing, and wake boarding. However, if the wind isn’t cooperating and you don’t have a boat, your options are somewhat
RESTAURANT AND CABANA BAR 96 Madeira Rd, Islamorada, FL MM 87 cruising up to the Lorelei Cabana Bar at sunset, you’ve done something very right that day. The Lorelei is set just back from the Overseas Highway, jutting out over the water, and you’ll see its signature blonde mermaid beckoning from the road. The Lorelei is a welcoming tiki hut, with solid bar standards like their delicious Cracked Conch Appetizer, as well as strong, reasonably priced drinks. The Grey Goose Bloody Mary is a reason
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alone to come back, and in true irreverent Keys style, the Lorelei offers “Sunday School” from 7-11 am on Sunday Morning, where you can indulge in $3 Bloody Marys and, one assumes, worship the sun god.
MANGROVE
MARINA AND RESORT AQUALODGE HOUSEBOATS
200 Florida Ave. Tavernier, FL MM 91.7
MANGROVE MARINA is a full service marina
for local boaters, with wet and dry boat slips and a working yard. But a real draw for visitors is the rental houseboats available. With names like “Seabiscuit,” “The Conch Shell,” and “The Starfish,” Mangrove Marina’s houseboats are quirkily in keeping with an alternate Keys getaway. The boats are well-appointed, nautically-themed, and relatively modern, with comfy furniture and back decks for worldclass stargazing. The rates are also as or more reasonable than neighboring hotels, coupled with a far more memorable experience.
HARRIETTE’S 95710 Overseas Highway, Key Largo, FL MM 95.7
NO GREAT “ROAD TRIP” recommendation list
is complete without a killer diner that’s open early in the morning. Harriette’s, in a low-slung yellow building with sea foam green trim, is open at
6 am daily, serving up hot diner standards to road warriors and island dwellers alike. Harriette’s is best known for its generous breakfasts, with unusual pairings like Conch Benedict and renowned fresh-baked muffins, in flavors like Key Lime and Pineapple Upside-down Cake. The classic diner menu, gregarious waitstaff, and excellent baked goods have made Harriette’s an unassuming but quintessential spot on the way up the Keys. To use an alternative expression: the biscuits and gravy are to live for.
JOHN PENNEKAMP
CORAL REEF STATE PARK
10261 Overseas Highway, Key Largo, FL MM 102
JOHN PENNEKAMP State Park is the
“first undersea park in the United States,” encompassing 70 nautical miles. There is nearly every outdoor activity you can conjure available, both on land and water, from hiking along nature trails and kayaking through mangrove swamps, to camping, picnicking, and boating. Most preeminently though, the park is known for its snorkeling and scuba diving. They offer scuba diving among natural rock ledges and coral reef, as well as a more ambitious dive 100 feet offshore among the artifacts of a Spanish shipwreck. For those who would rather observe from a safe distance rather than diving head-in, there is also a 30,000 gallon saltwater aquarium to check out fish and marine life native to the Keys.
| Alabama Jacks MM 101.6 |
| Mang r
o ve
Ma
rin
a an eso dR
M 91.7 | r t, M
30 . KeysStyle . June 2016
| John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park MM 102 |
ALABAMA JACK’S
58000 Card Sound Rd, Homestead, FL MM 101.6
TAKE CARD SOUND Road away from the center
of Key Largo to this tropical tavern. There’s a $1 toll on the way, and visitors are known to wonder if the buck is actually an entrance fee to Alabama Jack’s. The ramshackle dive bar tucked between mangroves may not be immediately identified as a delicious roadside restaurant, but surely it is. Often identifiable by the parking lot full of motorcycles, the open-air establishment has live music, great food, and a beautiful view of the water. The outpost has been serving cold beer and hot food for fifty years—their conch fritters and conch salad both come highly recommended. It’s a perfect pit stop before or after a trip to the Miami-area airports—a last taste of the bold, backwater flavor of the Keys before heading back to the “real world.” After a few cold ones at Alabama Jack’s, you may find yourself whistling along to the near-forgotten 90s song that muses, “I wish the real world would just stop hassling me.” ■
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32 . KeysStyle . June 2016
“Life is a series of unlikely events, isn’t it? Hers certainly is. One unlikely event after another, adding up to a rich, complicated whole. And who knows what’s still to come?”
By Kay Harris | Photos by Rob O’Neal
- Judy Blume, In the Unlikely Event
Judy
BLUME and Key West: Writer’s haven becomes forever home Everyone knows Judy Blume, the famous author who has inspired and educated generations with her numerous novels and stories for children, teens and adults.
the community and how long have you lived here? Was the weather and setting more or less of a factor than the ties to the literary world?
But few know the Key West Judy Blume, who works tirelessly at her new passion, Books & Books at The Studios. Visitors are frequently surprised to find her volunteering there with her husband, George Cooper, selling books, smiling for photos and basking in the success of the book nook on the corner.
Judy Blume: We came the way so many do - renting for a
And even fewer know philanthropist Judy Blume, who avidly supports education and the arts, helping others to achieve and realize their own dreams. She and her husband quietly attend many performances, shows, speeches, presentations and openings to encourage and support their island friends and neighbors. Thankfully for us, this incredible writer, philanthropist, mentor, and all around lovely person graciously agreed to be interviewed for Keys Style to answer questions about her life and her love of Key West.
Keys Style: Your name is well connected to Key West as part
of the literary tradition of the island. What attracted you about
month in winter. I was working on Summer Sisters and needed to hide away. That was probably 1997. We talked to Phyllis Rose, a friend, before we committed. I was afraid it would be too hot to think. Phyllis assured me she was wearing polar fleece that day. So we came and we fell in love - with the town and the people. When our month ended we didn't want to leave. Lucky for us, our landlord was David Wolkowsky, and he knew another house we could rent for two more weeks. After that we’d spend longer and longer seasons until we realized this was home, this was where we wanted to be.
KS: What books have you written while living in Key West? JB: The first task was finishing Summer Sisters, not an easy
book for me. I think it went through twenty drafts. On a particularly bad day Bob Stone (novelist Robert Stone) saw me on my bicycle, and as I dissolved into tears he gave me a hug and told me he was also having a very hard time with the book he
33
was writing (Damascus Gate). I will never forget that act of kindness. After Summer Sisters I took some time off. I thought I might never want to do another book. But soon I got my mojo back and started a series of four books for young children. The books were fun to write. My editor came down to Key West to work with me.
KS: Has the community influenced your writing? JB: At the Literary Seminar in 2009, inspiration
struck. While I was listening to a young writer on stage talking about stories her mother told her about life in Cuba in the 50’s, an idea came to me – not just an idea, but a book complete with complex characters and plot, inspired by a series of events that actually happened in my hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, when I was a young teenager in the early 1950’s. Nothing like this had ever happened to me. I don’t expect it will again. I started my research the next day. The novel, In the Unlikely Event, took five years from start to finish. The paperback edition will be released on May 3.
KS: Have you based any characters on anyone you know here?
JB: No. This is a small town. Maybe if I were
writing a book set in Key West (now there’s an irresistible idea except that I’m not going to write any more novels).
KS: You are known in the community for your
charitable works and generosity- what are your favorite causes and why are they special to you?
JB: There are so many good works going on in
Key West. It's impossible to pick and choose. Of course the Tropic Cinema will always be dear to my heart. My husband, George Cooper, spent ten years helping to make that happen. We used to think of it as our baby but now our baby is all grown up and making us proud. And now it’s Books & Books @ the Studios. I vowed I would take a year off after writing In the Unlikely Event and relax. I would put my feet up and read in our garden. But when opportunity strikes…. Thanks to TSKW, and to Mitch Kaplan and his Books & Books in Miami, our partners, we were able to open a beautiful independent, non-profit, full service bookstore in Key West. A dream come true. George and I couldn’t have done this without The Studios making the
| Top: From left, Mia Clement and Emily Berg of Books and Books with George Cooper and Judy Blume. | | Bottom: George Cooper and Judy Blume are interviewed in front of the Tropic Cinema on Oscar Night in 2006. |
34 . KeysStyle . June 2016
fabulous corner space available, or without the support and mentoring of Books & Books. So, what can I say? Working at the store six days a week is both exhausting and exhilarating! My answer depends on the time of day.
KS: Some of your favorite charitable
interests, such as Books and Books, are tied to literacy and the love of literature. How important do you think it is for children and adults to be lifelong readers?
JB: There's no way to say how important it
is for parents to read to their kids, to let their kids see them reading and enjoying books. Sharing the same books can allow parents and kids to communicate through the characters. The best gift my parents gave to me was the gift of reading, the gift of encouraging me to read. They sent me the message that reading is a good thing. Celebrate, don't fret over what the kids choose to read. Sure, encourage them to read widely but try not to judge.
KS: Many of us grew up reading your
children’s books and now read your adult books. It’s allowed us to grow up with you, so to speak. I am sure you hear compliments of this type frequently. What do you think when fans tell you about the impact you’ve had on their lives?
JB: It's rewarding to hear from fans who
have grown up reading my books. Sometimes there are hugs, sometimes tears - at Books & Books there is often surprise, what I call the OMG response. They don't expect to find me working in a bookstore. KS: When is your next book coming out? JB: Next book…..don’t ask?! I’m a happy bookseller for now.
KS: Other than through events such as the
annual literary festival, how can Key West maintain its identity as a haven and a muse for writers? Do you think the literary and artistic communities work well together?
JB: Yes, I think we work very well together.
We’re supportive of each other. TSKW offers a residency program for writers/artists. The Literary Seminar does the same. These writers and artists spread the word when they go home. Key West is a great place. And it is, isn’t it? It’s unique.
BOOKS BY
Judy Blume IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events in the early 1950s, when airline travel was new and exciting and everyone dreamed of going somewhere, Judy Blume imagines and weaves together a haunting story of three generations of families, friends, and strangers, whose lives are profoundly changed by these disasters.
KS: If there was a word or quote that could sum up your beliefs, experiences or career, what would it be?
JB: Lucky lucky lucky me! ■
TIGER EYES After Davey's father is killed in a hold-up, she and her mother and younger brother visit relatives in New Mexico. Here Davey is befriended by a young man who helps her find the strength to carry on and conquer her fears.
ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET. A move from the city to the suburbs, sixth grade in a different school, a new group of friends. But Margaret handles it...in her own funny, endearing way.
TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING
| Judy Blume and George Cooper at Books and Books on Eaton Street. |
Fourth grader Peter Hatcher has a terrible problem – his little brother Fudge! The first in a very funny five book series.
Works available at Books & Books at The Studios of Key West or on Amazon.com 35
literary KEY WEST:
A LIVING HISTORY 36 . KeysStyle . June 2016
By Sarah Thomas
“The island starts to hum, like music in a dream. Paper-white, drunk, the sailors come stumbling, fighting, mumbling threats in children’s voices, stopping, lighting cigarettes…”
ey West is nearly as famous for its writers as it is the dark bars they drank in. The island’s rich literary legacy is steeped in history, and exists as vibrantly as the island itself. While even the most unversed tourists know of Ernest Hemingway’s fabled days in Key West, the island’s literary legacy spans far beyond Papa’s contribution. Generations before and after Hemingway, notably this issue’s featured cover author, Judy Blume, continue to carry the writer’s torch.
Stevens famously brawled in the front yard, leaving Stevens with a broken hand (crushed on Hemingway’s jaw). Hemingway wrote Murphy (who went on to inspire the Nicole Diver character in Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night), proclaiming, “But I can assure you that there is no one like Mr. Stevens to go down in a spectacular fashion especially into a large puddle of water in the street in front of your old Waddel street home where all took place…”
The citizens of the Southernmost city cherish the island and know that Key West is paradoxical in nature, home to sunshine and darkness. It is a place of incredible natural beauty, offering a seductive escape from the trappings of metropolises. And despite its “live and let live attitude,” Key West, too, is a place of staggering achievements: its artisans and chefs and writers are award-winning. Only a few short years ago, Key West was home to seven Pulitzer Prize winners simultaneously.
Just across town is the iconic eyebrow house on White Street, former home of poet Elizabeth Bishop, who moved to Key West in the 1930s. She often wrote to her friends of her love of the island, perhaps her best-documented affair. She pays the island homage in her poem “Full Moon, Key West,” the final stanza beginning: “The island starts to hum, like music in a dream. Paper-white, drunk, the sailors come stumbling, fighting, mumbling threats in children’s voices, stopping, lighting cigarettes…”
It is also, however, a place that has hosted great destruction, natural and human-made. Key West is home to hurricanes and alcoholism and piracy, our streets flanked with equal parts churches and bars. This is what may attract the writer: breathtaking splendor, coupled with the perpetual possibility of devastation. The balance of the beautiful and the destructive is no more boldly embodied than in the lives of Key West’s famous writers.
Beyond Bishop, Old Town’s streets are populated by the ghosts of many poets. Caroline Street is home to the Robert Frost Cottage, nestled on the property of the Porter House, where Jessie Porter once hosted a number of writers, including Frost, Thornton Wilder, and Tennessee Williams. And just up Duval Street, Williams at a time holed up at the La Concha Hotel on Duval Street to rework his play The Poker Game, ultimately emerging from his sequester in Key West with a very changed work, focused on a character named Blanche Dubois, and a new title: A Streetcar Named Desire.
LITERARY LORE
Hemingway’s fame, and that of his hard-drinking “Mob” - including Josie “Sloppy Joe” Russell and John Dos Passos - color the pages of Key West mythology. It’s hard to pass a corner in Old Town that isn’t the site of some whispered lore. The house on Waddell Street, once owned by Sarah Murphy, was where Hemingway and Wallace
These intersections of verse and place heavily dot maps of Key West. The idyllic collection of cottages known as The Writer’s Compound on Windsor Lane was home to Richard Wilbur, John Ciardi, Ralph Ellison, and John Hersey. Hersey
Ernest Hemingway
37
Photo by Rob O'Neal
| Author Thomas McGuane speaks to a packed house during the Friends of the Library "Distinguished Speaker" series at the Eaton Street Theater. | wrote Key West Tales there, a collection of stories that celebrate and skewer the idiosyncrasies of the town. And yet another poet, Shel Silverstein, first came down in the late 1970s, renting an apartment from an eccentric landlady on Caroline Street that went on to inspire Jimmy Buffet’s famous song “There’s a Woman Going Crazy on Caroline Street.” Yet, while we might walk the streets amid this history, the present - and future - of the literary scene in Key West are just as compelling as the past.
A NEW GENERATION
Judy Blume, author of young adult novels that distinctively shaped American adolescence (perhaps most brilliantly and controversially in Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, which awakened the sexual stirrings of a generation), is the resident literary icon of Key West. Her most recent work, In The Unlikely Event, was praised by The New York Times as a book that “makes us feel the pure shock and wonder of living.” I might say the same thing about island living. Blume shares a sisterhood with a number of successful female authors that live on the island. Allison Lurie, Ann Beattie, Annie Dillard, and Meg Cabot have all identified the island as an ideal place to live and write. It is fascinating that this cachet of female literary powerhouses has inherited the Hemingway (and company) legacy so steeped in machismo. We might consider this not as a corrective, but as a continuation and expansion of yesterday’s letters. These disparate writers have all allowed Key West to inspire their work, from Lurie’s many novel
38 . KeysStyle . June 2016
homages, like The Last Resort, to Dillard’s Pulitzerprizewinning decades-long body of work that visits the island, as well as other landscapes. These authors have not observed their literary impact from crystal thrones; rather they have embraced the small but potent literary community here. At this year’s Key West Literary Seminar, Ann Beattie taught a workshop on “the invisible aspects of literature,” and Thomas McGuane spoke to a packed house for the Friends of the Library “Distinguished Speaker” series, discussing the occasional resident’s many works that center around Key West. The Distinguished Speaker series also featured Judy Blume recently, as well as Meg Cabot, who regaled the audience with vignettes of her life on the island, the fictional universe she has fashioned from the reality of Key West, and the draw of the town. “Key West is where the naughty belong,” she said, to much applause. In true island fashion, the literary world is not an elitist society, but rather a cultural inheritance, driven by years of commitment: both to the legacy of words and of the community.
THE LYRICAL INHERITANCE
Arlo Haskell, Executive Director of the Key West Literary Society, is a perfect example of the inheritance of our small island town. Haskell is a native, sharing both his love of language, and his current title as Executive Director, with his mother. Haskell, a poet in his own right, has seen - and overseen - the growth of the annual Key West Literary Seminar at a nearly exponential rate.
Tennessee Williams
“Certainly, the Seminar has had a big impact on the legend of literary Key West, but I think our real legacy lies in the fact that there are more writers here than ever before, and that you hardly know they’re here, and more readers who are interested in learning about what happens here from a writer’s perspective, who stay behind closed doors and between the covers even when the sun is shining.” Haskell observes:
The covert nature of the community may be near its end: in 2016, the headliners of the seminar were writing luminaries Junot Diaz and Hilton Als. The Seminar for 2017 sold out in record time: under twenty minutes. In fact, the KWLS is planning to branch out even further this fall, resurrecting the legacy of another local late novelist, David Kaufelt. Kaufelt created a literary walking tour of Key West, and they plan to launch a new literary tour of the island. (I’ll also happily disclose that I am one of the forces behind this new effort.)
Judy Blume and David Kaufelt
The hope is that walking Old Town, and awakening legends, will not only bridge the gap between past and present, but between visitor and local. We already share a love of the island, and the words that spring from it. As Kaufelt once said, on the advent of one of his tours in the 90s, “I have a theory why we all live here - it’s called the Peter Pan theory. Freud said that we are at our most creative when we are in our very early youth, before we’re five years old. That’s where we are here. We wear shorts, we ride bicycles, we have the water, a great symbol of the unconscious, and we’re free to be children here and let our spirits go.” May the spirits of writers continue to bring them to Key West. ■
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PASSION for FASHION By Kay Harris | Photos by Mike Hentz and Jason Beede
V
ibrant colors in rainbow bright hues dominated the runway in May at Arabian Nights: 9th Annual Fashion Show in Key West.
Aspiring designers from the Fashion Club created their own unique wearable works of art for the show, demonstrating their passion and style. From formal wear to casual wear, the designers crafted fun, colorful, elegant and chic outfits to showcase their talents, which were modeled by fellow students on the catwalk. â&#x2013;
DESIGNERS:
Felicity Delostrinos, Emily Hernandez, Savannah Camposano, Lyra Collins, Amy Zappone, Megan Cassidy, Kristin Ayala Crane and Leslie Rodriguez
From left, model senior Evelyn Shields, designer senior Kristin Ayala Crane and model senior Julia Passarelli.
SAMANTHA GOLDEN
DESIGNER: KRISTIN AYALA CRANE
40 . KeysStyle . June 2016
VIVIAN MCGILL
DESIGNER: FELICITY DELOSTRINOS
ANISSIA THOMPSON
DESIGNER: LESLIE RODRIGUEZ
Designers Leslie Rodriguez and Kristen Ayala Crane work on final details with model Julia Passoreli.
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bites of KEY WEST eat and drink like a local
SUMMER SAMPLING The Schooner Wharf in Key West is your quintessential summer (or year-round) hangout. The water- side view lets you rest, eat, drink and enjoy while watching boats come and go, accompanied typically by live music and a delightful combination of locals and visitors that makes for some entertaining conversation. Owned by Paul and Evalena Worthington, you can’t be in Key West and not be familiar with this fun and festive restaurant, bar, locals hangout, and all-around welcoming venue!
MANGO MINT MARGARITA INGREDIENTS:
4 ounces Tequila 1 ounce Triple sec 2 cups mango chunks ½ ounce sweet and sour ½ ounce lime juice Mint leaves Ice DIRECTIONS:
Mix together and blend for your frozen drink. NOTE: Schooner Wharf adds a crème
When asked to suggest a typical, summery, tropical drink and food combination, Evalena says their Frozen Mango Mint Margarita with a plate of fresh seafood, including pink shrimp and oysters, is perfect for a Key West day. Although Schooner Wharf’s exact recipe is a trade secret, Keys Style has provided a drink recipe that is similar and can be tinkered with to add your own style to it. ■
42 . KeysStyle . June 2016
By Kay Harris | Photos by Mike Hentz
de menthe float to theirs and many recipes also call for sugar, depending on the sweetness of the mangoes!
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EVENT CALENDAR KEYS WIDE
FIVE TO TRY KEY WEST
KEY WEST
waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
305-809-3562
lori.bosco@fkcc.edu
JULY 2-4
JULY 2 – 4
SEPTEMBER 1-5
A wacky talent show, pie-eating and cooking contests and other tasty temptations await Key West visitors during the fourth annual Key Lime Festival. A Key Lime martini Sip and Stroll, and Key lime rum sampling and distillery tour are among events to kickoff the weekend-long event.
ANNUAL KEY LIME FESTIVAL A wacky talent show, pie-eating and cooking contests and other tasty temptations await Key West visitors during the annual Key Lime Festival. ANNUAL KEY WEST BREWFEST More than 150 beers and microbrews are on tap at this signature tasting festival.
BIG PINE
JULY 9
32ND ANNUAL UNDERWATER MUSIC FESTIVAL The nationally-acclaimed submerged songfest is held at Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
MARATHON
JUNE 24-26
MARATHON SUPER BOAT GRAND PRIX Offshore powerboat racing events are held along a course parallel to the Marathon shoreline near the worldfamous Seven Mile Bridge.
KEY LARGO
AUGUST 20
ANYTHING THAT FLOATS RACE Grab your oars and anything that floats and enjoy this family-fun event; an on-the-water race of vessels crafted from items around the house. 44 . KeysStyle . June 2016
ANNUAL KEY LIME FESTIVAL
JUNE 10 – 12
ANNUAL MYSTERY WRITERS KEY WEST FEST Renowned mystery writers and acclaimed storytellers are to infiltrate the island where Hemingway and Tennessee Williams found their inspiration. Open to authors, aspiring authors and non-writing mystery-buffs alike, MWKWF 2016 welcomes keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Tanenbaum, and special guest authors Timothy Hallinan, Heather Graham and James O. Born along with a criminally stellar hit-list of some two dozen high-profile and award winning mystery and crime fiction authors and true-crime experts.
305-587-9392
info@mysterywriters keywestfest.com
JUNE 11
VFW FISHING TOURNAMENT
This family oriented tournament offers cash prizes for dolphin, wahoo, tuna, snapper and grouper, along with prizes for
heaviest fish by a lady angler, heaviest fish by a juvenile angler, pee-wee and active service member. All proceeds benefit disabled and veterans in need throughout Monroe County.
305-509-7244
psty2k@yahoo.com
JUNE 17 – 29
MICHAEL CHARLES AT CHICAGOS KEY WEST
Blues Hall of Famer Australian artist Michael Charles embarks on his ninth consecutive tour in 2016, which will once again take him to the far corners of the USA, Canada, and Australia. Shows are set for 8:30 p.m. at Chicagos, 610 Greene St.
305-741-7891
JUNE 18
FKCC SWIM AROUND KEY WEST
The officially sanctioned event is a 12.5-mile swim clockwise around the island of Key West that is open to all age groups. Individual swimmers and relay teams can compete. The route takes swimmers through the
JULY 4
ANNUAL HOSPICE OF THE FLORIDA KEYS & VISITING NURSE ASSOC. PICNIC
Benefits Hospice of the Florida Keys and the Visiting Nurse Association takes place at the luxurious Casa Marina Resort & Beach Club. The celebration is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. with fireworks starting at 9 p.m., courtesy of the Key West Rotary Club. Live music, a silent auction and fun-filled family festivities.
305-294-8812
JULY 14 – 16
MEL FISHER DAYS
Come celebrate the day 29 years ago when Mel’s crews found $400 million in shipwrecked gold, silver and emeralds that had been sitting on the ocean floor for more than 300 years. Kick-off party at the Schooner Wharf Bar
with costume contest, raffle, and live entertainment. Duval Street block party is on Saturday, 2pm – 8pm, in the 200 block of Duval Street, and features live music and street fair food.
305-295-7929
www.melfisherdays.com
JULY 20 – 23
BACARDI OAKHEART KEY WEST MARLIN TOURNAMENT
Anglers ply the waters once fished by novelist Ernest Hemingway, vying for $50,000 in guaranteed cash prizes. Held in conjunction with Key West’s annual Hemingway Days festival, the event awards $25,000 to the first-place team.
305-304-0317
tim.greene@keywestmarlin.com
JULY 20 – 25
HEMINGWAY DAYS
The 36th annual celebration of the legendary author’s work and lifestyle features literary readings, Running of the Bulls, short story competition, fishing tournament, Sloppy Joe’s Look-Alike Contest and a birthday “party” commemorating Ernest’s July 21st birthday.
JULY 27 – 28
LOBSTER MINI-SPORT SEASON
Two-day event draws hundreds of often frenzied recreational boaters in search of Florida lobster. Many rules apply, including: Bag limit: 6 per person per day for Monroe County. Possession limits are enforced on and off the water. Minimum size limit: must be larger than 3” carapace, measured in the water. A reminder that possession and use of a measuring device is required at all times, and night diving is prohibited in Monroe County. Florida Salwater Fishing License plus lobster endorsement/ stamp required. Florida Fish & Wildlife (FWC)
JULY 23
HEMINGWAY 5K SUNSET RUN & PADDLEBOARD RACE This is the original and oldest ongoing 5K Run in Key West and takes place as part of the the annual Hemingway Days Festival. The race course is a scenic flat course that runs past Key West’s most famous landmarks including the Ernest Hemingway Home, the iconic Southernmost Point and the famous Green Parrot Bar.
305-240-0727
barb@keywestspecialevents.com
JUNE 24 – 26
MARATHON SUPER BOAT GRAND PRIX
Offshore powerboat racing events are held along a course parallel to the Marathon shoreline near the world-famous Seven Mile Bridge. Enjoy free admission to view the boats and meet drivers and crews at the Race Village dry pits and wet pits.
305-296-6166
Marking the official opening of lobster season, this crustaceanfocused event features street fairs, live music, and arts & crafts. Street fair with free live concert on Saturday, noon-11pm, lower Duval Street.
JULY 4
MARATHON BEACH PARTY & FIREWORKS SHOW
305-744-9804
www.keywestlobsterfest.com
The Key West Business Guild presents this all-male celebration that typically includes pool and dance parties, on-the-water adventures and a fashion show that raises money for a local non-profit organization.
keywesttheater@gmail.com
MARA THON
KEY WEST LOBSTERFEST
JULY 21
305-985-0433
www.womenfest.com
AUGUST 11
AUGUST 11 – 14
Leon Russell is a music legend and perhaps the most accomplished and versatile musician in the history of rock ‘n roll. Leon has played on pop, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, standards, gospel, and surf records. He has collaborated with hundreds of artists from Joe Cocker, Frank Sinatra, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and scores more.
305-294-4603
305-289-2320
Look-Alike: 305-296-2388 Literary: 305-797-0579 KEY WEST THEATER PRESENTS: LEON RUSSELL
friends. Activities generally include dance parties, poolside gatherings, sailing and more.
TROPICAL HEAT
305-294-4603
SEPTEMBER 1 – 5
SEVENTH ANNUAL KEY WEST BREWFEST
More than 150 beers and microbrews are on tap at this “tasty” annual event that benefits the charitable efforts of the Key West Sunrise Rotary Club of the Conch Republic. Events from beer dinners, beer brunches, happy hour parties, pool parties, late-night parties, seminars and the Signature Tasting Festival Event are some of the offered activities.
800-354-4455
info@keywestbrewfest.com
SEPTEMBER 8 – 11
WOMENFEST KEY WEST
Thousands of singles, couples and groups of women flock to Key West each year for this renowned celebration for lesbians and their
BIG PINE
JULY 9
ANNUAL UNDERWATER MUSIC FESTIVAL
The submerged songfest is held at Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The marine musical event is set 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and staged by Keys radio station US1 Radio 104.1 FM. The music is broadcast underwater via Lubell Laboratory speakers suspended beneath boats positioned above the reef. All participants are encouraged to come in costume!
For one of the Keys’ largest and longest fireworks displays, families gather for a full day of activities in Marathon for a patriotic parade that begins around 10:30 a.m. and proceeds from Marathon High School on Sombrero Beach Road (MM 50 oceanside) to free-admission Sombrero Beach, where a daylong celebration features food, drink, kids’ crafts and entertainment, capped off after dark with fireworks. Marathon is known as the Boating Destination of the Keys, and hundreds of boaters line up in front of the beach for a preferred view of the festivities.
305-743-5417
info@floridakeysmarathon.com
SEPTEMBER 2 – 5
HEROES SALUTE TRIBUTE WEEKEND
Each fall, Hawks Cay Resort on Duck Key hosts an annual Heroes Salute program to honor military, fire and rescue, law enforcement and medical personnel; a special Labor Day Weekend event is planned to include an All-American barbecue, heroes tribute, country music concert and fireworks show.
877-484-9342
matt.lawrence@hawkscay.com
305-872-2411
executivedirector@ lowerkeyschamber.com 45
Caribbean Club and Marriott Key Largo Bay Resort. Reservations are suggested. Limited seating. www.keylargofireworks.com
AUGUST 20
in a derby from their own private vessel or join a professional dive operator's charter.
REEF: 305-852-0030 reefhq@reef.org
ANYTHING THAT FLOATS RACE
ISLAMORADA
JUNE 16 – 19
GUY HARVEY OUTPOST INAUGURAL BLAZING MAKO TOURNAMENT & FESTIVAL
The event is to include a notfor-profit fishing tournament; innovative art exhibits featuring recycled materials, conservation organization displays and local vendors, all showcased in a 100 tent “Conchservation” Village to highlight ‘trash-to-treasure’ art exhibits and conservation efforts in the Florida Keys; a trivia event; beach and water sport competitions; a Rum Village and Kids Pier Fishing Tournament; fishing seminars and the traditional burning sculpture bonfire, a 15-foot mako shark design, beach-side. The event will also aid in raising funds for marine sciences scholarships.
JULY 8 – 10
ISLAMORADA SUMMER CLASSIC
A family-formatted boat tournament series is to feature nine target backcountry and oceanside species. Trophies are awarded to the top boats in weight and release categories, as well as private vessel and charter divisions.
Grab your oars and anything that floats and enjoy this family-fun event - an on-the-water race of vessels crafted from items around the house - on Blackwater Sound, Mile Marker 104 bayside. Waterfront bars and restaurants offer excellent viewing areas for observing the race and enjoying a Keys sunset, with live music and more fun to follow.
305-451-4502
events@fkrm.com
305-522-4868
islamoradafishingclassics@aol.com
JUNE 4 – AUGUST 7 FLORIDA KEYS GUITAR FESTIVAL
954-524-2225
clegris@guyharveypost.com
JUNE 3 – 5
JUNE 20 – 24
SKIPPERS DOLPHIN TOURNAMENT
GOLD CUP TARPON TOURNAMENT
With founders including baseball great and avid fly fisherman Ted Williams, this challenge appeals to “tarpon addicts,” and both experienced and novice anglers can compete. The event is limited to 25 anglers and proceeds are to benefit the Florida Keys’ fishing industry’s Guides Trust Foundation. infodept@goldcuptt.com
JUNE 24 – 25
ANNUAL UNIV. OF MIAMI SPORTS HALL OF FAME CELEBRITY DOLPHIN TOURNAMENT
Anglers can fish with some favorite former Miami Hurricanes All-Stars in the one-day tournament that features cash prizes for the heaviest dolphin. Other attractions include a charity auction and more.
305-598-2525
info@canesfish.com 46 . KeysStyle . June 2016
FLORIDA KEYS
KEY LARGO
This tournament is headquartered at Skippers Dockside Restaurant, behind the Holiday Inn. A kickoff and final registration party is planned Friday, June 3; fishing days are June 4 & 5; cash prizes over $60,000 include a firstplace prize of $25,000. Prizes for top six teams as well as lady and junior anglers. ditournaments@aol.com
JULY 4
SEPTEMBER 10
Blackwater Sound provides the perfect nighttime mirrorlike surface to make the annual fireworks display seem like a 3-D viewing experience designed to dazzle. The show is to take place on the bayfront in Key Largo at 10 p.m., July 4. The best seating can be found at Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill, Sundowners and Senior Frijoles restaurants,
Teams of up to four divers compete for cash and prizes. Derby divers who successfully remove invasive lionfish from sanctuary waters can win for most, largest and smallest lionfish. The Upper Keys derby is held at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Visit REEF website to register; teams of up to four people can join. Divers can participate
FIREWORKS SHOW ON BLACKWATER SOUND
LIONFISH DERBY FOR DIVERS
Throughout the Florida Keys. The Florida Keys Guitar Festival presents eight virtuoso classical and jazz concerts in Marathon (June 4 & 5), Key Largo (July 2) and Key West (Aug. 5-7). The inaugural festival is to feature five of South Florida’s best guitarists including Matthew Jampol, Steve Ramos, Bob Hanni, Larry Baeder and Mike Emerson. Details to be posted online. jampolmateo@gmail.com floridakeysguitarfestival.com
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48 . KeysStyle . June 2016