KEY WEST ICONS: A SALOON KEEPER, A WRITER, AND A PRESIDENT

This Southernmost Point in the continental United States (only 90-miles
from Cuba) is a place where pirates once preyed and presidents once
played.  It is a place where straight meets gay, where drunk
drinks with sober.  lt is Caribbean and continental,
traditional and avant garde. It is Mallory Square Pier where the
local Conch people, the visitor, the juggler, the belly dancer, and
the mime, all gather for nature’s nightly spectacular…a fiery sunset when that
great orange ball seems to drop off the edge of the universe.

But for me, Key West is best remembered for three salty characters that
made a permanent place in the city’s history…a saloon keeper…a
writer…and a president.

THE SALOON KEEPER: Joe Russell is a name you may not recognize, but I’m
sure you’ve heard of “Sloppy Joe’s”, a bar that was born on December
5, 1933, the day prohibition ended.

Joe Russell was the original proprietor of a bar named the “Blind Pig”,
located in a rundown building that Russell leased for three dollars a
week.  Upon addition of a dance floor, the name was changed to
the “Silver Slipper”.  It was a shabby, uncomfortable saloon
where good friends gathered for gambling, fifteen-cent whiskey, and
ten-cent shots of gin.

Ernest Hemingway, Joe’s friend and a favorite patron of Russell’s bar,
suggested that Joe change the name of the bar to Sloppy
Joe’s.  The new name was adopted from Jose Garcia’s Rio Havana
Club that sold liquor and iced seafood. Because the floor was always
wet with melted ice, his patrons taunted this Spanish Joe with running a
sloppy place…and the name stuck.

Today, visitors can tour the National Historic Landmark that was the home
of         
Pulitzer Prize winner Ernest Hemingway. Several items of the property are
of
particular note. A replica of the ceramic cat sculpture, given to the
cat-loving     
“Papa” Hemingway by his friend Picasso, sits atop a chest. 

                     

A discarded Sloppy Joe’s urinal, given to Hemingway by his good friend
Joe               
Russell (owner of Hemingway’s hang-out joint “Sloppy Joes”), was
turned into         
what must be the most famous feline watering hole in the world. An old
Spanish     
olive jar forms the top of the fountain. The trough that forms the base of
the       
fountain is the above-mentioned urinal.  Hemingway’s then-wife
Pauline               
surrounded the trough with colorful tiles in an attempt to disguise its
true identity.

Also noteworthy is a penny embedded in the poolside patio. Having
paid             
$20,OOO for the first swimming pool built in Key West (in the late
1930’s),                 
Hemingway took a penny from his pocket, pressed it into the wet cement of
the       
surrounding patio. Hemingway then told his wife: “Well, you might as
well take my last cent.” The wife, Hemingway’s second of four, was
ultimately divorced.       
The poolside penny remains.             
                   
                     
 
                     
                     
                     
                 
A living memorial to the late author has also been preserved at his
Spanish-       
colonial mansion. Approximately 40-50 polydactyl (six-toed) cats,
descendants       
of the nearly 50 cats who lived there with “Papa”, still call
907 Whitehead Street   
home.   

When you step inside this comfy, unpretentious, wooden two-story home, you
feel as if you are an invited guest, coming to share a meal, listen
to a great fishing story, play a game of poker at the round rattan
poker table, or hear about the important events impacting
our country.