Key West #2

Key West, FL Vol. 2

In volume 2 we'll stroll down Whitehead Street and then check out some more of the tourist hot spots in the west end of town. We'll take a tour of Hemingway House and also visit Fort Taylor.

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West End

Key West is a funky town with its pastel colored, conch-style buildings and chickens running all around. Many of the rich and famous have lived in Key West, including Ernest Hemingway, President Harry Truman, James Audubon, and Jimmy Buffet. Estate houses and tropical gardens dot the city. The west end of the city is the touristy part of town, with its various museums, boutiques, seafood restaurants, and bars (think Margaritaville).

Harry S. Truman
Little White House

Bougainvillea and other tropical flora

Local resident

Whitehead Street

Audubon House on Whitehead Street

Audubon House

Bananas

???

First Flight Restaurant and Brewery

Southernmost house

Grand Hotel and Museum

Tropical Flora

Southernmost point
on the Continental U.S.

Banyan tree

Funky Chickens

Begin U.S. Hwy 1 North

End U.S. Hwy 1 South

Green Parrot Bar

Bahama Village Market

I like this photo

Hemingway House

Everyone knows Ernest Hemingway as maybe the greatest American novelist (The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms). However not everyone may know that he led a remarkable life that made him a "bigger than life" legend. In addition being a superb author, he was also at various times a reporter, war correspondent, ambulance driver, big game hunter, avid fisherman, and a very heavy drinker. He had 4 wives (one at a time) and God knows how many cats. He maintained permanent residences in Key West and Havana and had a house in Idaho. The house in Key West was a gift from the uncle of his second wife, Pauline. I had to choose between touring the Audubon House or the Hemingway House on my 2019 trip to Key West. I chose Hemingway House (both charge entrance fees).

Hemingway House

Memorabelia in the parlor

Key West Lighthouse

Polydactyl cat (6 toes on each paw)

Hemingway swimming pool
(first one in Key West)

Kitchen

"For Whom The Bell Tolls"
movie poster

Bedroom

Dining Room

Cat nap

Ernest Hemingway Study

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Construction on Fort Taylor (named for President Zachary Taylor) began in 1845 and continued through the 1850s. It remained in Union hands during the Civil War and served as a base to interdict Confederate blockade runners. The fort also saw service during the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the cuban missle crisis. Fort Taylor was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973. Today the fort is known as the Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, and contains the largest collection of civil war cannons in the nation.