The San Carlos building was built (a few times because hurricanes kept knocking it down) as a gathering place for Cuban emigres. The current building is beautiful. It is said that José Martí gave speeches from the balcony and that Enrico Caruso performed at earlier buildings housing the San Carlos Institute. See a brief history of the Institute at http://www.cubanfest.com/sancarlos.htm - The Civilized Explorer- powered by SmugMug

Photos of our trip to Key West in October 2007.

Gallery pages: < 1 2 3 4 5 >

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civex > The building housing what is now a branch of Wachovia was originally the First National Bank, founded in 1891. The people at the First National refused to cash a thousand dollar check for royalties for "A Farewell to Arms" held by some scruffy guy called Hemingway. The local bar did, though, and Sloppy Joe's entered into history.

civex > Notice the hours they're open end with "unless closed."

civex > The San Carlos building was built (a few times because hurricanes kept knocking it down) as a gathering place for Cuban emigres. The current building is beautiful. It is said that José Martí gave speeches from the balcony and that Enrico Caruso performed at earlier buildings housing the San Carlos Institute. See a brief history of the Institute at http://www.cubanfest.com/sancarlos.htm

civex > It's glory years as a movie palace are over, and the Strand is now a Walgreen's Pharmacy, open 24/7. There's a great photo at http://www.leatheregg.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=356 and several derogatory comments about how low the building has fallen at http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2576/ - along with how commercial Key West has become since the 50s. Ah, yes - the good old days.

civex > This is a needle point. Yes, really.

civex > This is a portion of a sculpture by J. Seward Johson at the Key West Museum of Art and History. See their web page on it at http://www.kwahs.com/press/seward.htm; it's a fascinating series of works. Johnson himself has had an interesting life you might not envy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seward_Johnson_II

This photo was taken just outside the sculpture of Van Gogh's painting "Vincent's Bedroom in Arles." See a reproduction at http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0482.htm - van Gogh did three paintings and two drawings of the room, and Johnson has captured the forced perspective in his sculpture. The chair, for example, is greatly slanted towards the viewer in both the painting and the sculpture. Each item that you see in this photo is a separate object. If you ever have a chance to see any of these works by Johnson, take the opportunity.

civex > Louise has a chat with some of Johnson's sculptures.

civex > Louise intruding in the picnic, based on the painting by Manet: http://www.abcgallery.com/M/manet/manet6.html

civex > One of the life-sized sculptures by Seward Johnson.

The San Carlos building was built (a few times because hurricanes kept knocking it down) as a gathering place for Cuban emigres. The current building is beautiful. It is said that José Martí gave speeches from the balcony and that Enrico Caruso performed at earlier buildings housing the San Carlos Institute. See a brief history of the Institute athttp://www.cubanfest.com/sancarlos.htm