Thurs. Jan. 12
We docked at Key West. We have no shore excursions, so we’re on our own. I take Julie around to a few of the places I know. First, to the Mel Fisher jewelry and treasure store, and we poke our head into the museum but do not take the tour. If you do not know the story of Mel Fisher and his discovery of the Atocha shipwreck, it's worth Googling. Next, to the Key Lime shop. The have moved down two doors from their previous location, but still have the best key lime pie on the Key, according to many. Then we walk up and down Duval Street, into a few shops, and a quick spin around Captain Tony’s Saloon, which many people do not realize to this day was Ernest Hemingway’s TRUE hangout during his years on Key West (1928-1938) during which and huntime Captain Tony’s WAS the original Sloppy Joe’s. Sometime after Hemingway left Key West in 1938, through some weird combination of events, the original Sloppy Joe’s on Greene Street became Captain Tony’s, and ANOTHER bar, at the corner of Greene and Duval Streets, took over the name “Sloppy Joe’s” and began propagating the notion that THIS was where Hemingway “hung out,” and the legend began taking on a life of its own, even to the point where the time period discrepancy could be explained --- false though it was -- by the notion that this is where Hemingway “hung out” during the “Papa Hemingway” period of his life (with the beard and the sea captain’s hat, etc.) So many people now who visit Key West who want to travel in the footsteps of Hemingway go to “Sloppy Joe’s” and think they’re communing with the spirit of Hemingway, when actually he never set foot into that bar, and was in fact living 90 miles to the south in Cuba by the time the “new” Sloppy Joe’s had opened.
We had lunch at Conch Republic at the end of Greene Steet by one of the marinas. Conch fritters, stone crab, and coleslaw for me. Some kind of fish sandwich for Julie. We went back to the ship after that and hung out on the pool deck. Supper rolls around, and we show up to the dining room at 6 p.m., only to find out that the table full of loud boys has also switched their dining time to 6 p.m.. So at this point, we request to be reseated in another area of the dining room, which the host does, and this makes for a much more pleasant experience. We meet a couple of sisters who are cruising together, and through the course of the evening I find out one of the sisters is divorced and “on the market.” They are from the Twin Cities area, but nevertheless I hand the eligible sister a slip of paper with my email on it and tell her to “email me and see if we can get together. Stranger things have happened.” I get no response, but am proud of myself for stepping up to the plate.
The show tonight is a salute to the ’70 by the Royal Caribbean Singers/Dancers, and neither Julie nor I are excited about this, so we skip the show. I win $35 in the casino tonight. Together with my $12 win from last night, I think sets me about even as far as wins/losses. We set our suitcases outside the door for pickup. Tomorrow we dock back at Miami, and the cruise is over. Who will cut my fruit for breakfast?
Expenses: $25 lunch
Bruce
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