Hemmingway house walk/run

[jabberman_76366]

Wanted to warn all members about this excursion! When we got off the Conquest we were met by our guide named Doug.We had 60 people signed up for this tour, so it was divided up in to two groups. Doug knows quite alot about Key West. However it is hard to listen to someone when he is too busy trying to out run the other group! Instead of a walk it became a run! We almost lost a couple of people. After reaching the Hemmingway house my wife and I split off from the group and went our seperate ways. I suggest that Doug needs to slow down when guiding tours. When I told him that we would not be going on with the tour, he told me that If I wanted a refund then I would need to talk to Carnival! I did go to the excursion desk, as I wanted them to be aware of what happened. Apparently some one on the tour had already complained!

[marshhawk]

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I once joined a group of seniors on a ghost tour in St. Augustine and had to run to keep up too. And I was not a senior at the time. We are planning to walk without tour guide, hopefully we will be able to enjoy our hours in port.

[bhopal21]

We are planning to walk without tour guide, hopefully we will be able to enjoy our hours in port.

 

 

Good for you. It is an easy walk right down Whitehead Street and there is no reason to pay the ship an inflated price for something that you can do yourself when you want to do it.

 

And you can even buy the tickets cheaper in advance, if you like.

 

www.hemingwayhome.com

 

Mike:)

[dane225]

Thanks for the info. we are planning on visiting the Hemmingway house on our cruise in Nov.

[romanroxy]

We stopped doing ship excursions for that same reason: too many people in the group and you can't hear the guide, plus the overinflated price (like another poster mentioned).

[peter_krynicki]

Follow in Papa's footsteps: a 2-mile Hemingway hike:

 

 

 

 

1. Start at the Hemingway House, 907 Whitehead St. Now a registered National Historic Landmark, the two-story Spanish Colonial mansion was home to Ernest and Pauline (Pfeiffer) Hemingway from 1931-1939. See the studio where Hemingway wrote Death in the Afternoon and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. The house is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and includes a gift shop. Admission is $11 for adults ($1 off to AAA members), $6 for kids 6-12, free to kids under 6. Guided tours are available. (305) 294-1136. www.hemingwayhome.com.

 

 

 

 

Next, head north on Whitehead to Petronia Street. Turn left. Walk 2 blocks to the intersection with Thomas Street.

 

 

 

 

2. Blue Heaven Restaurant, 729 Thomas St. During Hemingway's time here, the quirky cafe with yummy granola and a whole lot more was the site of an open-air boxing arena. He was referee for Friday-night fights. Boxers were paid 50 cents a round. The building once housed a bordello. These days the eatery is a tourist favorite. Be prepared for dirt floors and good food. And beware of long lines and roaming roosters.

 

 

 

 

Go east on Petronia to Duval Street. Turn left and continue to the northwest corner of Duval and Fleming.

 

 

 

 

3. Crowne Plaza La Concha Resort, formerly the Colonial Hotel, 430 Duval St. Back in 1928, when Hemingway made his inaugural visit to Key West sailing aboard a steamship from Cuba, this seven-story hotel was the first thing he saw. That's because it is and was the city's tallest building. The Hemingways booked rooms there for friends and relatives. While you're there, take the elevator to the roof-top bar for a magnificent view of the city.

 

 

 

 

Go east on Fleming to Elizabeth Street. Turn right at the Monroe County Library to Windsor Lane. Turn left on Windsor until you reach the church at the intersection with Truman Avenue.

 

 

 

 

4. St. Mary, Star of the Sea, 1010 Windsor Lane. Hemingway, who converted to Catholicism when he married Pauline Pfeiffer, belonged and donated an altar to this church.

 

 

 

 

Walk southwest on Windsor to Margaret Street. Take Margaret to Fleming.

 

 

 

 

5. Electric Kitchen, 830 Fleming. The only thing electric here in Hemingway's time was a few bare lightbulbs strung from the ceiling. The food was cheap (20 to 40 cents for breakfast) and good and the place, operated by Rhoda Baker (aka Rutabaga) was a favorite Hemingway hangout.

 

 

 

 

Continue north on Margaret to the waterfront, Land's End Village.

 

 

 

 

6. Land's End Village and Marina (formerly Thompson's Docks), 1 Lands End Village. An avid fisherman and boater, Hemingway often visited and took charter boats from the docks owned by his friend Charles Thompson. Thompson and his two brothers controlled the sea turtle industry in the Keys and Central America. The site of the cannery is now a restaurant, bar and museum called Turtle Kraals.

 

 

 

 

Go south on Caroline Street. Take Caroline west to the southwest corner at the intersection with Simonton.

 

 

 

 

7. Casa Antigua, Papa's first pad, 314 Simonton St. The apartment/auto dealership complex where Hemingway first lived is a private home today. The couple stayed in a drab set of rooms in an apartment above the garage. Hemingway worked on A Farewell to Arms here. The home has a magnificent atrium garden, and a Caribbean gift shop. The garden is open for tours and visitors can glimpse the apartment where Hemingway stayed. Casa Antigua is the site of the annual awards presentation for the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition directed by Ernest's granddaughter, an author, too.

 

 

 

 

Go north on Simonton to Greene Street, past Duval to Captain Tony's.

 

 

 

 

8. Captain Tony's Saloon, the first Sloppy Joe's, 428 Greene St. Hemingway was a silent partner to boat captain and rum runner Joe Russell, who opened this speakeasy when Prohibition ended in 1933. Hemingway convinced Joe to call the place "Sloppy Joe's" rather than the "Blind Pig," a term used for illegal bars. In 1937, Sloppy Joe's moved to its current location on Duval Street.

 

 

 

 

Take Greene Street east to the northeast corner of Greene and Duval.

 

 

 

 

9. Sloppy Joe's, 201 Duval St. Hemingway met his third wife Martha Gellhorn at this Sloppy Joe's. A number of his belongings, including uncashed royalty checks and sections of the original manuscript of To Have and Have Not, were found stored there after his death. Before it was the most popular bar on Duval, this building housed a fine restaurant called Victoria. The Spanish man who owned it had an unfortunate name ... Farto. Thousands of tourists come to Sloppy Joes each year to toast the author and look at all the Hemingway memorabilia, including news clippings and art work depicting Hemingway.

 

 

 

 

Source: Hemingway's Key West by Stuart B. McIver (Pineapple Press, $10.95)

 

Have lunch at #2.

 

 

 

Pjk