Hemingway Cat
Ernest Hemingway
Sloppy Joe’s Bar
After recently watching the superb PBS documentary of Ernest Hemingway by Ken Burns, I knew I had to visit Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West just to once again check out all the cool stuff on the walls!
Custom House
We have always walked by the Custom House in Key West and I always thought it looked like a cool building, but we never got around to actually going inside until this past visit. It’s definitely worth the effort! The Custom House is home to the Key West Museum of Art & History, which contains a treasure trove of fascinating exhibits and artifacts that include Ernest Hemingway, Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railway, the USS Maine, the great folk art of Mario Sanchez and much more. Don’t miss it!
What I’m Reading …
“Focusing on the years 1934 to 1961 – from Hemingway’s pinnacle as the reigning monarch of American letters until his suicide – Paul Hendrickson traces the writer’s exultations and despair around the one constant in his life during this time: his beloved boat, Pilar. Drawing on previously unpublished material, Hendrickson shows that for all the writer’s boorishness, depression, and alcoholism, and despite his choleric anger, he was capable of remarkable generosity. Hemingway’s Boat is both stunningly original and deeply gripping, an invaluable contribution to our understanding of this great American writer.”
Only One Day
“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today.” – Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940
Leicester Hemingway
Born on April 1, 1915, in Oak Park, Illinois, Leicester Clarence Hemingway was sixteen years younger than his famous brother, Ernest, and lived in the shadow of the literary legend his entire life. However, by all accounts, Leicester idolized his older brother and eventually became a respected writer in his own right. Ernest nicknamed his little brother, “the Baron.” In 1953, Leicester published his first novel, The Sound of the Trumpet, which was loosely based on his wartime experiences in France and Germany during World War II. In 1962, Leicester published the critically acclaimed biography, My Brother, Ernest Hemingway.
Believe it or not, Leicester founded his own micronation called the “Republic of New Atlantis” (actually an eight-foot-by-30-foot barge located just 12 nautical miles off the coast of Jamaica) in 1965. Stating that “there’s no law that says you can’t start your own country,” Leicester even created a New Atlantis flag, issued New Atlantis postage stamps, and created New Atlantis currency. Unfortunately, New Atlantis was completely destroyed during a tropical storm the following year. An active outdoorsman like his brother, Leicester frequently fished off the coast of Bimini and even published a monthly newsletter, The Bimini Out Islands News. He even appeared on a 1980 episode of In Search of … titled “The Bimini Wall.” Faced with several debilitating health issues, Leicester died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Miami Beach home on September 13, 1982, at the age of sixty-seven.
On Ernest’s Life
“Ernest lived as he died—violently. He had a tremendous respect for courage. During his own lifetime he traded in it, developed it, and taught other people a great deal about it. And his own courage never deserted him. What finally failed him was his body. This can happen to anyone.”
On Havana
“Havana is one of the loveliest, wickedest, most mysterious and enchanting cities in the world.”
On Robert Capa
“Robert Capa had come to Spain via central Europe as a photographer. He went where Ernest went, drank where Ernest drank, made jokes that made Ernest laugh, and generally proved himself one hell of a fine fellow.”
On Ernest’s Drinking Prowess
“Ernest was then drinking fifteen to seventeen Scotch-and-sodas over the course of a day. He was holding them remarkably well.”
On Ernest’s Love of Cats
“Much as been written about Ernest’s enormous fondness for cats. He claimed they were superior to people of unknown quality. ‘A cat has absolute emotional honesty, Baron,’ he told me once. ‘Male or female, a cat will show you how it feels about you. People hide their feelings for various reasons, but cats never do.'”
Key West Cemetery
Established in 1847, the 19-acre Key West Cemetery features a monument that was dedicated in 1900 for sailors who died during the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine (which blew up in Havana Harbor in 1898, killing approximately 260 American sailors), as well as a number of eclectic inscriptions such as “I Told You I Was Sick,” “I’m Just Resting My Eyes” and “Devoted Fan of Julio Iglesias.” In addition, the cemetery contains the graves of “General” Abe Sawyer, Key West’s famous 40-inch-tall midget, who had requested to be buried in a full-size tomb; William Curry, who was reportedly Florida’s first millionaire; Stephen Mallory, a U.S. Senator and Confederate Navy Secretary; and Ernest Hemingway’s good buddy, “Sloppy Joe” Russell.
Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum
Built by 1851 by Asa Tift, a captain and ship’s architect, the house (the single largest residential property on the island) was bought by Ernest “Papa” Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline, in 1931 at a cost of $8,000 (it was actually a wedding gift from Pauline’s wealthy uncle, Gus). The couple lived there with their two sons, Patrick and Gregory (Ernest divorced Pauline in 1940 and married Martha Gelhorn three weeks later). Hemingway reportedly wrote the final draft of A Farewell to Arms, as well as classic short stories such as “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” at the house. He created a writing studio in the second floor of a carriage house on the property that was connected to the master bedroom by a walkway. A boxing aficionado, Hemingway built a ring in the backyard where he often sparred with local fighters. An in-ground, saltwater pool was added in 1938 at a cost of $20,000. Hemingway hired his friend and handyman Toby Bruce to build a high brick wall around the house as privacy from tourists anxious to catch a glimpse of the famous writer. Hemingway also hauled away a urinal from Sloppy Joe’s Bar to the house and turned it into a fountain in the yard. Approximately 40 to 50 polydactyl (six-toed) cats currently live on the grounds of the Hemingway Home. According to legend, the cats are descendants of Hemingway’s own six-toed cat, Snowball (however, Patrick has denied that his father owned any cats in Key West, only at his residence in Cuba, Finca Vigia). Designated a National Historic Landmark, the Ernest Hemingway Home is located at 907 Whitehead Street (across from the Key West Lighthouse).
Wandering Florida 