Key West Impressions

Key West is charming and corny, quaint and oddball. Here is probably the largest collection of Victorian houses in the country. The architecture has an island flavor with pastels, shutters, and yards of lush, exotic plants. There are lots of bicycles here and a lot of old men with Ernest Hemingway beards. One passed us in a tired old 70's car with a gray parrot sitting on the back of the passenger's seat. The main street blooms with tourists walking past t-shirt shops, boat chandleries, key lime pie outlets, outdoor restaurants strung with fairie lights, and transvestite clubs where "ladies" lounge with artificial boobs and too much makeup. I saw a sign that said "Old Hippies Store" and I do believe this is where they have all gone. At sunset in Mallory Square, old men with iron gray hair walk tight ropes, train cats to leap through hoops, play music and juggle for the dollars that tourists throw into their hats.