Key West 1

On the road:  After the CREDO conference ended yesterday morning, I drove south to Marathon — about two-thirds of the way down the Keys.  I checked into the Holiday Inn, and decided to go for an early dinner.  Oliver, the guy at the front desk, recommended Keys Fisheries as his favorite seafood house.  Keys Fisheries is very informal.  You order your food at a window (identifying yourself and your order, on this particular night, as a favorite wild animal) and eat your meal at a picnic table overlooking the water.  "Bobcat" had Key Lime Scallops: a half-dozen large sea scallops sauteed with lime juice, white wine, scallions, other seasoning, and then served over linguine.  Very tasty!

The Train's tour guide answers a question.

This morning I headed down to Key West, some 50 miles south of Marathon.  I parked at a garage in the Bight (or harbor) and then walked a block to the Conch Tour Train ticket booth.  This cheesy-looking train snakes all over Old Town, giving passengers a comprehensive introduction to Key West architecture (mostly Victorian) and suggesting sights-to-see (such as the Hemingway House).  Each tour guide has his or her patented patter which, I suspect, includes the same jokes told every day, every year, world without end.

My primary goal for the day was to see Harry Truman's Little White House.  I remember hearing about the Little White House as a child, and I have read about Truman's visits to Key West, most recently in David McCullough's excellent biography.  I expected a much more impressive structure.  Actually, this building originated as two-family housing for the commander of the Key West submarine base and the base's paymaster.  Built in 1890, it was converted into a single-family home early in the 20th c., and then upgraded to serve as a vacation White House in 1946.

The Little White House, from Front Street.

The Little White House, side view.

Historical Marker.

Another tour gets underway.

Key West is in bloom this spring!  This is along the
Front Street fence at the Little White House.

Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy used the house as a get-away.  Then, in the 1970s and '80s, it fell into disrepair.  Finally, building was sold to the State of Florida, renovated, and is now operated by a nonprofit corporation as a national historical site.

By a stroke of luck, when the house was no longer used by presidents, the Navy put all the furnishings into storage.  Therefore almost all furniture on display (save for a Queen Anne highboy in Bess' bedroom) are the very furnishings used by the Trumans.

This includes a large poker table on the porch.  Truman took "working vacations" at Key West.  After a walk around town in the early morning, the President worked until 7:00 p.m.  Then, after dinner, Truman and his staff felt free to relax with a couple hours of cards and drinks before turning in.  Unfortunately, no photographs of the interior of the house were permitted.

I had also planned to visit the Ernest Hemingway House and Museum, but when the tour train rolled past about 2:30 p.m., some 200 people were waiting in line.  I decided to save this venue for another visit, and to be there first thing in the morning!  Instead I contented myself with a jolty train ride around Key West and some glimpses (for that's all we had time for) of interesting sights.

Many Key West Victorians have porch ceilings painted blue.
It provides a softer, more natural light for those using the porch. 

This "buoy" marks the southernmost point in the U.S.
Well, that's the "official" line for tourists.  Actually, it doesn't.

Key West's Episcopal Church is the oldest
non-Catholic church in Florida.

The Custom House, a kind of "Federal Building" built in the late 19th century, now serves as an art gallery and museum.  Art in Public Places is alive and well at the Custom House, where several handsome sculptures are on display!  And some are monumental, to say the least.

"Time for Fun" by Seward Johnson,
twirls in front of the Custom House.

A sculpture of Ernest Hemingway, fishing pole in hand,
stands in front of the Custom House.

Hemingway's statue is a favorite place
to have one's photo taken!

One of the tour train guides mentioned that the today's crowd — in May, between the winter and summer tourist invasions — looked to him a little sparse.  Sparse?  There was a milling mob out there!  I can only imagine what it's like at the height of the season(s).

A crowd surges down Front Street.

More tomorrow. •••