‘Do you have any idea of how many bales of marijuana have been smoked on that balcony you’re sitting on?’ laughed my friend Jonathan.

I did. I mean – 5 minutes in Key West tells you that.

If it wasn’t the 90 miles from Cuba that initially got you wondering just how much fun had been had here on leave, the old gingerbread markings of perfume bottles (indicating in all languages that a bordello lay inside) on the antiquated homes might. Or the fact that the ‘Conch Republic’ got so infuriated with having every car leaving this, the 2nd oldest town in the U.S., searched by custom officials, that they actually declared their (short-lived independence) back in ’82, resulting in the acquisition of not only a billion in foreign aid, but dual-citizenship?

Remember hearing about this?

Me neither.

But a lot of things have happened to this little town that most didn’t hear about.

Hunter S. Thompson spent part of ‘The Rum Diary‘ time here, as did local celeb Hemmingway and Tennesse Williams. But what about the grand fort of Dry Tortugas, one of the most stunning pieces of Spanish-meets-Carribean architecture in America?

Fantasy Fest?
Captain Tony?!
The Cemetery?
Jimmy Buf….sorry, had to draw the line there. But he is the unofficial mayor.

Who knew?

I was told this from the gardner of our home for 5 days, a mid-lifer with curly grey hair and a confusion why ‘any person would ever go back home?’…

Really can’t blame him, can you?