The Spaniards, who were the first to see these places, exclaimed: "Oh, Florida!" (Oh, blooming!) Legend has it that this is how the state got its name.
Once in Florida, very often you want to exclaim after the discoverers: Oh, what beaches! Oh what parks! Oh what museums!
There are so many interesting places here that it is simply impossible to tell about everything in one article. Therefore, we will only talk about Key West, one of the islands of the Florida Keys archipelago, located in the south of Florida.
The Florida Keys are linked to the Florida Peninsula by the unique Overseas Highway. Its length is 113 miles (approximately 180 kilometers) and it is one of the longest highways in the world, connecting the islands to the mainland.
It was built on the site of an old railroad built in 1912 by millionaire Henry Morrison Flagler. Its length was 160 kilometers - an unthinkable figure for those times, especially considering that most of the road was built above water.
The railway took 7 years to build; it killed 700 people and cost $ 50 million. But it operated for only 23 years - a terrible hurricane on Labor Day in 1935 practically destroyed it ...
Then, instead of the railway, a highway was built with 42 bridges, one of which is a local landmark. Its length is 7 miles (approximately 11 kilometers), it is called the "Seven Mile Bridge", and its photograph can be seen on almost any tourist avenue.
Our path lies on the island of KeyWest. It is the final, southernmost point of the United States, the Overseas Highway mile zero. There is even a special red-black-yellow buoy on which it is written: "The southernmost point of the continental US. 90 miles to Cuba."
The island of Key West is very small - only 3.2 by 6.4 kilometers, but it fully confirms the Russian proverb: the spool is small, but expensive.
This island has a rich history. Many famous people of America lived and worked here, Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy came here to relax (by the way, the presidential residence here is called the "Little White House"), the island even has its own airport. They also say that there is always good weather, the most beautiful sunset and that this place is the dream of any tourist ... But first things first.
Island of Bones
These islands were discovered by the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon. This happened on May 13, 1513. The island, which is now called Key West, he named "Cayo Hueso" - "Island of Bones". The fact is that the Indian tribe Calusa lived here, and the whole island was strewn with bones (although the Spaniards did not specify whose exactly ...).
Subsequently, in the 18th century, the name of the island turned into Key West, and it has nothing to do with the English word "West" - "West". And the word "key" in the name of these islands comes from the Spanish word "cayo" "small island", and not from the English word "key" - "key", as it might seem.
For almost 300 years, only fishermen, pirates, turtle hunters and marauders - treasure seekers on lost ships - lived here. Shipwrecks were frequent here and looting was a very lucrative business. After the War of Independence, the islands were transferred to Spain, and in 1815 they were presented (!) For some unknown merits to the soldier Juan Pablo Salas, who in 1822 sold Key West Island to a certain John Simonton in one of the bars of Havana for only 2000 dollars!
This Simonton quickly realized that he could get rich by dividing the island into lots and selling them off. This is how the first permanent settlement appeared on the island.
The city began to grow rapidly and by 1890 had become the richest in Florida with the highest per capita income in the country.
There were more than 160 factories for the production of cigars, more than 90% of sea sponges were mined, a huge plant for processing turtles was built (by the way, hunting for turtles was officially banned only in the 70s of the XX century!).
In addition, trams already ran in Key West at that time, there was an opera house, there were several banks, and some of them still exist in the same places. And the city of Miami at the time was a tiny, poor fishing village.
City of Artists and Writers
Key West is often called heaven on earth, and, of course, such a place could not fail to attract many famous Americans. John James Odabon, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, John Dos Passos, Tennessee Williams and many others, famous and not so famous, writers, poets and artists lived and worked here at different times.
There is a huge number of art galleries and small exhibition halls where you can buy both real works of art and inexpensive paintings by local artists. 
The city is divided into two parts, Old Town and New Town, Old Town and New Town.
Of course, the Old Town is of the greatest interest for tourists. It is easy to get around on foot in just a few hours. In general, I would advise you to walk everywhere here, as you can waste more than one hour looking for parking for your car. As a last resort, you can always catch a taxi - it will not cost very much, but where else in the world can you take a ride in a pink taxi ?!
There are a lot of museums here - literary, memorial, and historical ... Eyes just run wild. And we must not forget about beaches, fishing. Time here seems to slow down, and you don't want to rush anywhere. I must say that the locals are very leisurely, and do not be surprised if the restaurant will serve you for a long time - it is simply not customary to rush here.
So, if you are limited in time and do not want to run from one museum to another, then I would advise you to limit yourself to just a few. 
Of course, one cannot fail to visit the famous Aquarium. It was built in 1934 and is said to be the world's first open-air aquarium.
It may, of course, not the largest in America, but it attracts thousands of tourists with its unusual show feeding sharks and huge sea turtles. And here you can touch various underwater creatures with your hands, see barracudas, eels, sea bass - and you can't list all of them.
Sharks and turtles are fed 4 times a day, the feeding times are written on numerous signs, so it's easy to guess to see the Aquarium and watch the shark or turtle lunch.
And after the Aquarium, you can go fishing, since the choice here is almost unlimited, and try to catch a swordfish or barracuda. Local fishermen claim that even sharks are found, but this is very rare.
If you catch any unusual fish, then for a fee you can make a stuffed animal for you, but it will cost quite a lot, and it is not known how such a souvenir will be treated at customs ...
Next, our path lies in the Shipwreck Museum. Here, actors dressed in 19th century costumes act out scenes of the sinking of the ship Isaac Allerton, which sank off the coast of Key West in 1856, in front of visitors.
And then you can climb to the observation deck, from where a fantastic view of the ocean and the Gulf of Mexico opens up from a 20-meter height. And who knows, maybe you will be lucky and you will see some sunken ship at the bottom of the sea?
Visiting Hemingway
It is impossible to come to Key West and not go to Hemingway. Perhaps he was and still is the most famous inhabitant of this island. He first came here on the advice of his friend John Dos Passos in 1920, and the place fascinated him so much that in 1931 Hemingway bought a house with a large garden here.
In this house were written "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Snows of Kilimanjaro", "Farewell to Arms!" and much more.
It was interesting to know exactly how Hemingway wrote. The fact is that he was a rather idle person, he was terribly fond of fishing, after which he was not averse to spending several hours at a bar with friends, and did not really like to sit at a writing table. To discipline himself, he set a certain norm - to write 600 words a day, after which he could do whatever his heart desires.
And Hemingway also came up with the following: in the courtyard of the house he built an unusual structure - a kind of "birdhouse" in which he arranged his office. You can get there only by a very narrow staircase ...
The explanation for such an architectural solution is simple: only an absolutely sober person could walk along it, while a drunk person simply could not get here! Now, of course, this ladder is gone ...
And in the house itself there are a lot of things that belonged to "Pope", as everyone here calls him.
The guides will take you through all the rooms, show you a lot of photographs of the writer himself, his wives, friends, relatives, will definitely bring you to the figurine of a cat - a gift from the great Picasso, tell you how the Hemingway couple made themselves a huge "multi-sleeping" bed with the help of an iron gate (the gate was used instead of backs!).
Then you will be taken to the local attraction - the pool.
This is Key West's first outdoor pool. It was built by Hemingway's wife Paulina. They say that when the writer found out that this construction cost him 20 thousand dollars (the money was huge at that time!), He allegedly took out a coin in denomination of one cent from his pocket and threw it into the still uncured cement with the words: "On this pool I've spent all the money, down to the last cent! " I don't know if this is true or fiction, but there really is a coin.
Another attraction of the museum is cats. Yes, yes, a lot of cats! Well, where else in the world can you find a museum in which cats are almost the main owners?
About 50 cats now live in Hemingway's house - the descendants of those who lived here under "Pope".
Hemingway was a passionate fisherman and equally passionate "cat lover", and at home he kept an unusual breed of so-called six-fingered cats - "six toed cats", which he brought from Europe.
It was believed that these cats bring good luck to the fishermen, and the problems with "using" the catch disappear - to feed 80 cats, you need more than one kilogram of fish!
These cats are unusual. They have six and sometimes seven toes on their front and hind legs! And the colors they are very different from black to snow-white, from spotted to Siamese.
And they also have very interesting names - not some banal American Murkas or Vaskas, but, for example, Marilyn Monroe or Winston Churchill ... newborn kitten ...
Cats can be found here everywhere: in the house, in the garden, on all benches and tables, near the drinking fountain, which Hemingway made especially for them. In several places there are huge bowls of dry food, near which you will probably see some Greta Garbo who just dined ... name and dates of life of the deceased ...
After the museum, I advise you to go to the Sloppy Joe s bar, which is Dad's favorite bar, and I would call this a "small branch" of the museum.
Here you can see a stuffed fish that Hemingway caught, his photographs. The menu contains various favorite dishes and drinks of the writer, and some are named so: for example, "Hemingway's favorite double hamburger."
Well, if you're lucky, and you find yourself here in mid-July, during the so-called "Sloppy Joe" s Hemingway - a doppelganger contest very popular here, you can even have a glass of ice beer with the almost real "Hemingway".
Festivals and Holidays
In general, I must say that in Key West they love and know how to have fun. Every month, various competitions and festivals are held here, so the chance to get to any celebration is very great - this is the Robert Frost festival, and the theater festival, and all kinds of musical holidays ... In a word, there would be a desire to celebrate, but you can always find a reason ...
One such event is the "Sunset Festival" at Mallory Square. Locals, speaking about it, "accidentally" forget to mention that this festival is daily. And we were in a terrible hurry to the embankment, afraid to be late ... And only then we realized that after all, a sunset happens every day!
Every day hundreds of people come to the embankment to watch the sunset. Various street musicians, clowns, artists, souvenir merchants gather here, and you can also try local exotic dishes and drinks. Well, after watching the sunset, go to some small restaurant or cafe, or just take a walk around the city.
By the way, don't be surprised by the huge number of homosexual couples. The fact is that KeyWest is one of the centers of America's sexual minorities, so there are a lot of hotels, shops, clubs and bars, over which a rainbow flag flies - the official flag of homosexuals and lesbians.
Our Key West journey is drawing to a close. But, having been here at least once, I want to come back again. The people in Key West are friendly and welcoming, the ocean is warm and gentle, the beaches are wonderful, the food is delicious and varied ... What else do you need to be happy? I just want to say: Key West is a heavenly delight! 
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Key West is a popular beach resort and capital of the Florida Keys, located on the island of the same name. A real tropical paradise, where even the harsh police cars say that they are guarding its gates - "protecting paradise".
Cruise ships with tourists come here almost round the clock. But most, of course, arrive by land. Who can you not meet in this city! And poor students, and staid pensioners, and the princess of Monaco and even Madonna herself, who loves to be in this island city.
A bit of history
Key West was once an incredibly wealthy city: the locals lived by collecting stocks of shipwrecks washed ashore. This was in 1889 and Key West was declared bankrupt in 1930. But those days are long gone, and now the residents of the city live only on the money that tourists leave here. The latter, I must say, do not skimp, and they lay out round sums for a vacation in a paradise.
Popular hotels in Key West
Weather in Key West
Key West attractions and attractions
The city has an incredible number of art galleries. The most famous and most visited is considered to be the rather prosaically named Key West Gallery. Here you can find the works of many famous authors, as well as those who are just starting their creative path.
The city has an incredible number of art galleries.
Chickens are also highly respected in the city. There are also quite a few of them here, and they all freely walk around the city. Chickens know perfectly well where they are supposed to cross the road, and they do it very carefully. Well, the drivers just stop their cars and wait until all interested birds have finished crossing the street.
But the most famous landmark of the city is the model of the buoy, which is built of cement. This buoy reads in large letters: Republic of Conch / 90 miles to Cuba / Southernmost point of the continental US / Key West, Florida / Where the sunset is. Before the buoy, there was a sign here, but it was very often kidnapped by tourists, so the city authorities decided to write these words meaningful for the city on a cement buoy, which no one would be able to budge.
Key West Museums
The most popular museum in the city has a much more romantic name than the gallery - it is the Shipwreck Museum. At first glance, the original wooden building can only be called a museum at a stretch.
The most popular museum in the city has a much more romantic name than the gallery - it is the Shipwreck Museum.
Here, local theater actors, dressed in 19th century costumes, play out real sea battles in front of the audience. And on the very roof of the museum there is observation deck, to which at one time every day the inhabitants of the city took turns climbing and looking at the ocean, expecting a shipwreck. When it finally happened, the one looking at the platform with all his throat shouted that the ship was sinking and that it was time to go rob it. Raspberries, not life!
Fort Zachary-Taylor
Another great place in the city is the Fort Zachary-Taylor National Historical Park. Here you can see the real ghosts of pirates, who, like all pirates, are arguing about who owns the chest with gold.
Hemingway House
It is impossible to visit Key West and not visit the famous writer Ernest Hemingway - the most famous inhabitant of the city, and of the entire archipelago. He came here out of curiosity, and stayed to live, buying a small house with a garden.
The city is home to an incredibly large number of cats. For every inhabitant of Key West, there are about four animals. By the way, there is one more interesting story about these tailed beasts. Once Hemingway was presented with an amazing kitten with six fingers, which, since 1935, has led the pedigree of the famous six-fingered cats. Six or even seven fingers on two or all four paws is not a breed or a disease, but a gene mutation. The descendants of Snow, donated to Hemingway, are the main owners of the writer's house-museum. Today, more than 40 cats live here: they lie on their beds, accompany curious tourists. And behind the house is a real six-fingered cat cemetery.
Key West is also a center for sexual minorities. Here you can often meet homosexual couples, and no one pays any attention to them. Everyone treats it as something that is also part of the city.
And what are the residents doing here? Practically nothing. They wander around the city all day long, lounging around and having fun. That is why it seems that time in Key West has stood still and just stands still. And the people living here are incredibly slow. Therefore, you should not be surprised that a tourist will have to wait not 5 minutes, but half an hour, and sometimes even more, for his order in a cafe or restaurant.
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Every resident of the United States considers it his duty at least once in his life to make a pilgrimage to the southernmost point of the United States to the city of Key West, located on the island of the same name. Key West has become a mecca for Americans and tourists. If you have not visited Key West, then you have not been to Florida ...
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If in America they sang a song like ours "Where does the Motherland begin?", They would have no doubt - "Maybe it begins ...". They know for sure that their homeland, America, begins exactly from this place - the zero point of reference of the road number one passing through the whole country - "US-1"
This is the southernmost tip of the United States, if you remember the map, then Florida juts out into the Atlantic Ocean like an appendix, and Key West is the southernmost of a series of islands starting from the southern tip of Florida. The road to this island is laid partly along these islands, partly along the bridges between the islands (it can be clearly seen in the film "True lies" with Schwarzenegger).
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From Wikipedia:
Key West is the southernmost city in the continental states of the United States. Among 49 states (excluding Hawaii), this is the only city where temperatures below 0 ° C have never been recorded.
The population of the city is 25, 4 thousand people () - about a third of the total population of the Florida Keys.
The climate in the city is tropical, clearly divided into two seasons - dry and wet.
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Key West is the southernmost point of the United States, an island located 150 km from Cuba and connected to the land by a bridge 11 km away. The nearest major city is Miami.
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A distinctive feature of the island is its own airport. You can fly from Miami in 1 hour.
Plane landing on Key West island
Immediately upon arrival, Floridians set the tone for acceptance of marine life right at the airport. At the airport, an installation has been created especially for those arriving: fish are twisted into a ram's horn and ornaments are laid out with them. ...
Fishing in the Florida Keys, including Key West, with their richest underwater life, is one of the best in the world. An international fishing tournament is held annually on one of the islands.
You can also get there by car or bus in 4 hours (from Miami).
From time to time you pass different islands. Some of them are very tiny, like in the photo, and for some you drive a few minutes
It was also unusual to see poles with wires that run along the road and are installed right in the water.
From Miami to Key West (in a minute).
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Key West Island is the latest in the chain of Florida Islands, which are connected by one narrow embankment road and very long bridges ..
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The road to Key West from Miami is very scenic and runs along the highway that connects the islands with dams and bridges, on one side of which is the Atlantic Ocean and on the other the Gulf of Mexico. An incredible panorama opens from here - a bright blue sky and a dazzling turquoise of the ocean.
The road also crosses the world famous 7-mile bridge. From here, a breathtaking panorama opens: blue sky and turquoise blue ocean. Have you seen the movie True Lies featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger? The episode on the bridge was filmed here.
Not a single photo, not a single video can convey the full picture of the overview and sensations when you are on the rise of this bridge. In reality, we see not only the road going into the sky, but at the same time we see with a peripheral vision and the oceanic mass: on the one hand, the Atlantic, and on the other, the Gulf of Mexico. The sky and the ocean ... of the earth there is only a strip leading to the sky ...
If you make an effort and strain your imagination a little, then you can roughly imagine what this amateur was trying to shoot with his camera.
And when the fantasy goes off scale, then such computer games are created on the topic "Destruction of the seven-mile bridge".
Computer games such as Destruction of the Seven-Mile Bridge are created with a sick imagination.
And those who have "a healthy mind in a healthy body" arrange sports races across the famous bridge.
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Florida Keys - Bahia Honda State Park. Original (3008 × 2000)
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"Beauty And The Beast"
.Ft. Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, Key West Original (2304 × 1728)
At the beginning of the 18th century, this island belonged to the Spaniards, was sold for $ 2,000 to the American Matthew Perry, and he declared it the property of the United States. These islands were discovered by the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon on May 13, 1513. The island, which is now called Key West, he named "Cayo Hueso" - "Island of Bones". The fact is that the Indian tribe Calusa lived here, and the whole island was strewn with bones. The once lost place was at one time even considered a refuge for smugglers.
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Subsequently, in the 18th century, the name of the island turned into Key West, and it has nothing to do with the English word "West" - "West". And the word "key" in the name of these islands comes from the Spanish word "cayo" "small island", and not from the English word "key" - "key".
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For almost 300 years, only fishermen, pirates, turtle hunters and treasure hunters on lost ships lived here. Shipwrecks were frequent here and looting was a very lucrative business. After the war of independence, the islands were ceded to Spain, and in 1815 they were presented for some unknown merits to the soldier Juan Pablo Salas, who in 1822 sold Key West to a certain John Simonton in a bar in Havana for $ 2,000.
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Simonton quickly realized that he could get rich by dividing the island into lots and selling them. This is how the first permanent settlement appeared on the island. The city began to grow rapidly and by 1890 had become the richest in Florida with the highest per capita income in the country.
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There were more than 160 factories for the production of cigars, more than 90% of sea sponges were mined, a huge plant for processing turtles was built (officially, hunting for turtles was banned only in the 70s of the XX century!).
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In addition, trams already ran in Key West at that time, there was an opera house, there were several banks, and some of them still exist in the same places. And the city of Miami at the time was a tiny, poor fishing village.
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So, Key West officially received city status and became part of Florida in 1896. At this time, it was a fairly wealthy and populated city with a well-developed ship repair industry. And in 1912, a railway was built, which connected the island with the mainland and breathed secular life into it.
Life in the city began to calm down to be reborn again in another no less interesting form. Bohemian city!
The paradise island of Key West, located off the coast of Florida, has long been chosen by connoisseurs of beauty.
Harry Truman Statue
Writers, artists and statesmen from Hemingway and President Truman to Tennessee Williams and John James Auduwon lived here, all the houses in which they lived are now museums.
Outside the city, the reputation of the most intriguing city in the world has grown, thanks to the fact that free artists, entertainers, gays, eccentrics from the Bahamas, New England, Cuba and Africa have always flocked here, who lived with the philosophy of "Let it be" long before the appearance of the Beatles.
"Come to us for two hours and immediately leave back - otherwise you will stay for a lifetime", - so say the locals, knowing how attractive the atmosphere of the island is. Many famous writers have lived here and several US presidents rested in the Little White House, built by President Truman.
One of the bartenders said that he once lived in New York and had his own restaurant there, a lot of headaches and city bustle. Then he dropped everything, sold his house and moved here, where he now works as a bartender. When asked if he was happy, he laughed and said: “How can you not be happy here !? This is paradise! "
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They say about Key West that "people disappear there": when they come on vacation, they become defectors. The atmosphere of this city especially affects New Yorkers. Russian tourists do not visit Key West often, our people are much more fond of Miami.
And in this bar the writer Hemingway disappeared.
Now there is, practically, a branch of the writer's museum: on the wall hangs a stuffed fish caught by Hemingway himself and his photographs.
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Winslow Homer-Fishing Boats, Key West
Winslow Homer A Norther - Key West
Winslow Homer. Coconut-Palms, -Key-West.
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Ernest Hemingway lived on Key West from 1931 to 1940. Here is what Ernest Hemingway wrote about Key West: "... this is the best place I've ever been, flowers, tamarind, guavas, coconut trees." The famous "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" are written here. The biggest attraction in the city is the Ernest Hemingway House Museum.
The friend of the Cuban dictator and the famous American writer loved Key West, loved its quiet and measured life, the comfort of its bars and the beauty of the ocean landscapes. In July, Key West hosts the Hemingway Festivals every year.
"He (Hemingway) rushed in a car, opening all the windows. Dense waves of thick air roared into the windows, ruffled his hair and clothes, weathered his face, and it seemed to him that it was easier to breathe. Birds flashed high above his head - the wings of an eagle now and then business covered the road with a wide black shadow, the scream of a stork was heard, and then, tearing himself away from the road for a second, he managed to follow his long elongated silhouette with his gaze.
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The heat gradually subsided, and he felt that he was beginning to fizzle out. He no longer wanted to sit with his grip on the steering wheel, and he slowed down. As soon as the car began to go slower, blue rushed into his eyes, like a robber from around the corner. It was the ocean, shimmering in the sun like an outlandish emerald. Never before had he seen so many shades of green-blue-blue, going into some hopeless, unthinkable distance. Sen's old girlfriend, whom he sometimes looked at for hours, unable to take his eyes off the water, now seemed like a small colorless gray sparrow, compared to the colorful splendor of the ocean.
Now he was driving along a thin coastal path, surrounded by water. Water was everywhere, wherever you look - both to the right and to the left. The road went only straight, and for a minute he was afraid that he would not hold back and would fall into this blue-green abyss. But the Sun, gradually declining towards sunset, was still shining brightly, and he could clearly see the road heading straight ahead. He remembered that old John was waiting for him in the morning, but he didn't want to drive the car anymore. Deafened by the cries of numerous birds and the whistling wind in his ears, he abruptly stopped the car and got out, barely spreading his legs. Thirteen years have passed since the war, but the pain from the wounds still made itself felt.
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The ocean was surprisingly shallow near the shore, and the water, overgrown with mud, gave off a mildew, and he thought he really liked this image of a huge sea giant with the smell of a quiet village pond.
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Glancing over the blue endless space and the tiny green island in the distance, he was already heading for the car, when he involuntarily stopped.
Not far from the island above the water surface, three dark triangles appeared, smoothly floating along the horizon. For a long time he stood by the water, watching the dolphins with his gaze, and felt how delight was slowly growing in his soul and the long-awaited feeling of peace and joy came after so many years of trials - war and injury, the suicide of his father and friend, and most importantly - unrequited and rejected love .. ...
On that summer day in 1931, Hemingway drove to Key West Island in the middle of the night and spent the night at the house of his friend the writer John Dos Passos. In the morning he was awakened by the desperate cry of a rooster climbing onto the veranda. There was a banana tree in front of Joe's window, and large, bright purple flowers weighed down with fruit oozed from the sap and scent. He wanted to live and write with renewed vigor, this stupid writer's itch returned to him, which he had not experienced so much since the days of Paris. "
To be continued...
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The first European to visit Key West was the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521. The Spanish colonists named the island Cayo Hueso, and Spanish speakers still use this name to this day. Literally it means "bone key", they say that the island was covered with bones after the Indian battle. Over time, Hueso morphed into the English word west, which is similar in sound, and the bone key changed to western.
Key West was once an incredibly wealthy city: the locals lived by collecting cargo washed ashore from sunken ships. But those times have long since sunk into oblivion, and now the inhabitants of the city live only on the money that tourists leave here. The latter, I must say, do not skimp - who counts the money on vacation?
Sloppy Joe's bar is Hemingway's favorite bar
The walls of the bar are covered with photographs of Hemingway; here you can see a stuffed fish caught by the writer. The menu includes various favorite foods and drinks of the writer, with some named after him as Papa Doble daiquiri. The cocktail contains rum, grapefruit juice, pomegranate syrup, soda water, and lime juice. In fact, although Hemingway enjoyed daiquiri at times, his favorite drink was Teacher's, a cheap brand of Scotch whiskey.
This buoy is one of the main attractions of Key West, millions of tourists are sure to take pictures with it in the background. Previously, there was just a sign on this place, but visitors often grabbed it as a souvenir, in 1983 the city erected a cement model of a buoy, so far no one has been able to steal it. The buoy reads “Republic of Konch | 90 miles to Cuba | Southernmost point of the continental United States | Key West, Florida | Sunset House "(" The Conch Republic | 90 Miles to Cuba | Southernmost point continental U.S.A. | Key West, FL | Home of the Sunset ").
The hotel is located in the former residence of the cigar tycoon Eduardo H. Gato. Interestingly, the Victorian mansion was originally built on the opposite side of the street. But when the tycoon settled comfortably on the veranda with a cup of tea, he decided that the sun was not falling on the veranda at the right angle. How would you solve this question? ... Eduardo simply ordered to move the house and a huge structure, put on logs, rolled down the street with the help of harnessed mules. Now on hot southern days on the veranda, you can enjoy the shade and cool breezes.
This house was built in 1851 by Asa Tift, a shipbuilder and wreck lifting specialist, and by 1928 it was completely abandoned and boarded up due to inheritance disputes. The house somehow charmed Ernest Hemingway, who returned from Europe, he bought it for $ 8000, which resolved the Tifts' family problems. The furniture used by the writer and his family is still preserved here, and even the cats that live in the house are the descendants of those cats that Hemingway kept, including the "polydactyl" breed, which he loved so much.
Neighbors often see the ghost of the writer walking on the balcony or hear the sound of a typewriter coming from the office. It is said that Hemingway can also be seen standing near a window on the second floor and sometimes he even waves his hand in response to a greeting.
Ernest Hemingway wrote about Key West: "This is the best place I've ever been - all year round flowers, date trees, guavas, coconut trees ... Lied on absinthe last night and showed tricks with a knife."
Every year thousands of people visit the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum to see the writing desk behind which Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls and other famous works were created.
The real owners of the house-museum are six-fingered cats, which trace their ancestry to the Snowball kitten. A strange kitten with six fingers on velvet paws instead of the normal five was presented to the writer by his friend Captain Stanley Dexter in 1930. In 1957, 57 animals already lived in his villa: 43 adult cats and 14 kittens.
In my opinion, this cat never changes position ...
Hemingway himself began to build the pool, but work was interrupted in the spring of 1937, when a civil war raged in Spain, and the writer went to this country as a war correspondent. His wife Polina began to supervise the project. The final construction cost was $ 20,000 - it was very difficult to dig a massive hole in the island's hard coral soil. In the 1930s, the Hemingway Basin was the only one in the Florida Keys. Ernest was greatly annoyed by the construction costs, and at some point he threw a cent into the unfinished pool with the words “Polina, you spent all your money on this pool, every last cent!”. It is unknown if the story is true, but a cent embedded in cement can be seen in the northern part of the basin.
For 32 years since its opening in 1848, the lighthouse keeper was a woman, Barbara Mabrity, which was completely unheard of in the 19th century. At the age of 82, she was fired for speaking out against the North - Key West remained under the control of the North throughout the Civil War.
The house was built in 1829 and survived occupation by northerners during the Civil War of the North and South, fires, the famous Florida hurricanes, economic upheavals, pirates, heat, humidity, insects, tropical weather of the Florida Keys, and even moving from one street to another.
In the golden age of sail, about 100 ships a day passed Key West, the waters around which were well known for being some of the most treacherous in the world. On average, one ship a week crashed on the reefs of the Florida Keys. Brave locals were on duty day and night on such observation towers or patrolled around the island in small boats. When the wreck was noticed, a shout was heard over the island - "Shipwreck" (Wreck Ashore) and the entire male population of the island dropped everything and rushed to the docks in a race to the reef. The first person to reach the sinking ship became a "master", he supervised rescue operations and received a large share of the sale of cargo. On average, half of the sale of the salvaged property went to the owners of the ship, the other half was distributed by the master.
One of the bartenders said that he once lived in New York and had his own restaurant there, a lot of headaches and city bustle. Then he dropped everything, sold his house and moved here, where he now works as a bartender. When asked if he was happy, he laughed and said: “How can you not be happy here !? This is paradise! "
“Everything here is literally saturated with the proximity of the ocean and where you cannot turn - you will certainly rest against the Gulf of Mexico, or find yourself on the coast, washed by the waves of the Atlantic. The ocean with you is an inseparable part of the soul and happy peace, like the presence of a beloved woman, without whom you are lost and do not know what to do with yourself if she is not there. "- Victor Berdnik. Return to Key West.
It is said that a Key West holiday should begin and end at the harbor. The seaport laid the foundation for the history of the island about 200 years ago and is still the heart of the island. What better way than spending a day on the yacht and catching your own dinner?
