Of Roosters and Rum

One of the advantages of getting a place right on Duval Street in Key West is that you are in the middle of the action, witness to the wondrous chaotic cacophony of life as it streams by.

The disadvantage is that you are in the middle of the action, witness to the wondrous chaotic cacophony of life as it streams by…

I’ve been coming to Key West for twenty years now.  This does not reflect particularly well on me.  I could have easily spent the equivalent time and money exploring the museums of Paris for example, bettering myself by taking in some of the greatest works of western civilization.

But I’m pretty sure the Louvre doesn’t have a 24-hour Cuban mix sandwich place conveniently attached to a Laundromat where you can get a quick meal at 2AM AND do a load of whites if you are so inclined. (I’m not saying that was the only reason Paris fell in the war, I’m just saying it was probably a contributing factor.)

So, I come to Key West instead.

For some time now, the place has been becoming more sanitized.  Cruise ships started stopping by years ago, disgorging their cargo of attention-span challenged tourists eager to snatch up T-shirt memorabilia from the gift shops next to places they’ll never actually enter.  (I'm surprised they haven't opened gift shops for the gift shops.)  There’s a Hard Rock Café on Duval.   Atlantic Shores, a gay friendly hotel famous for its inexpensive rooms (a nice option for cash-short straights as well!) and its clothing-optional beach bar was bulldozed for a luxury development.

And even Captain Tony is dead.  And if Captain Tony can die, anyone can.

But then, I realized a long time ago that you really can’t spend all your time sitting around drinking rum. 

Not when there’s also whiskey and gin.

And so Key West lives on.  A place to escape to, as it has always been.  A place where free roaming chickens are revered, you can buy drinks on the sidewalk, and your wife, having gone with you before, will probably say, “No, that’s okay, you go down with your friends, we’ll go somewhere else later.”

J.