Hemingway House of Key West
Dear blog,
Over the holidays, my husband and I were fortunate enough to get over a week off to spend time with our kids and family. My husband, amazing as he is, drove us all the way down to Miami in one night by himself. He loves us so much. But on top of that, the first Saturday we were down there, everyone had things to do without us, so he drove the kids and I down to Key West. Now, this isn't an easy drive. It took over three hours to get there from Miami. The weather was perfect, and traffic was good, at least it was on the way down. One major thing we noticed about the drive was the levels of destruction and debris piled all along the highway. Hurricane Irma crossed right over the middle of the Keys. It seemed, once we passed Key Largo, both sides of the road held giant piles of garbage wherever people could fit one. The piles didn't seem to end until we reach Key West itself. It wasn't hard to find parking in between everything we wanted to do. Our first stop was the Southernmost Point of the United States. I went to visit this place twice, years ago, but my husband had never been. Both times, when I went, it was easy to park and get to the marker. This time, it was very different. We had to wait in line at least twenty minutes in the sun. While we were waiting, an island tour bus pulled up to describe the spot. The driver described how people could avoid the line by photoshoping themselves into a picture of the marker. This certainly made those of us standing in line feel silly for a moment. But then we got to actually take pictures at the point. Our next stop was food. We hadn't eaten in several hours and the kids were starving. My husband might have been hungry too, but who can tell. We wanted to find something very unique to the island but not over priced. We stopped at a small restaurant with an outdoor eating area, Viva Saloon. The food wasn't unbelievable, or out of this world but it was good. Our kids enjoyed it, though it was the hottest time of the day when we ate, so they weren't super happy. After lunch, we walked around the corner to the main reason we visited the key, the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum of Key West. The first thing you notice about this place is all the people; there were way more people than I expected. Way more than the Hemingway - Pfeiffer Museum here in Piggott, AR. I was very impressed with the house. I would love to live in a house like it. The only thing I didn't like was the cats. However, one interesting fact about the more than 60 cats was many of them have six toes on their front paws. Normal cats have only 5 toes on their front paws, and 4 on their back. These cats carry a gene that could increase their number of toes. Our first stop was the ticket booth; if you ever plan to visit this place, you need to know they don't take credit/debit cards. They only accept cash or checks. So we started the tour in the bottom of the house. We learn about the man who originally built the house, and about how it eventually ended up in the possession of the Ernest Hemingway and his second wife Pauline Pfeiffer. This was Hemingway's primary residence for much of his adult life. Some of his greatest novels were written in this house; including, "A Farewell to Arms", "Death in the Afternoon", and "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Yes, a ton of American culture came from that house. We toured the modest living spaces upstairs. The home isn't spacious by today's standard, but still a fairly nice place for anyone with the means. In fact, I would love to own a house like that, with perhaps a little more space for furniture and far less cats. We got to see the office where he did much of his work, only to learn he only wrote a few hours each morning before he took off to the bars to drink the day away. This saddens me, as he was clearly a talented man, but a troubled individual. We completed the tour, learning many things about the Hemingways, the home, and the unique additions they made to the house. I genuinely enjoyed the tour, I love learning history. I recommend you take an opportunity to visit whenever you can. The beaches there are beautiful, and the weather perfect in the winter.
Over the holidays, my husband and I were fortunate enough to get over a week off to spend time with our kids and family. My husband, amazing as he is, drove us all the way down to Miami in one night by himself. He loves us so much. But on top of that, the first Saturday we were down there, everyone had things to do without us, so he drove the kids and I down to Key West. Now, this isn't an easy drive. It took over three hours to get there from Miami. The weather was perfect, and traffic was good, at least it was on the way down. One major thing we noticed about the drive was the levels of destruction and debris piled all along the highway. Hurricane Irma crossed right over the middle of the Keys. It seemed, once we passed Key Largo, both sides of the road held giant piles of garbage wherever people could fit one. The piles didn't seem to end until we reach Key West itself. It wasn't hard to find parking in between everything we wanted to do. Our first stop was the Southernmost Point of the United States. I went to visit this place twice, years ago, but my husband had never been. Both times, when I went, it was easy to park and get to the marker. This time, it was very different. We had to wait in line at least twenty minutes in the sun. While we were waiting, an island tour bus pulled up to describe the spot. The driver described how people could avoid the line by photoshoping themselves into a picture of the marker. This certainly made those of us standing in line feel silly for a moment. But then we got to actually take pictures at the point. Our next stop was food. We hadn't eaten in several hours and the kids were starving. My husband might have been hungry too, but who can tell. We wanted to find something very unique to the island but not over priced. We stopped at a small restaurant with an outdoor eating area, Viva Saloon. The food wasn't unbelievable, or out of this world but it was good. Our kids enjoyed it, though it was the hottest time of the day when we ate, so they weren't super happy. After lunch, we walked around the corner to the main reason we visited the key, the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum of Key West. The first thing you notice about this place is all the people; there were way more people than I expected. Way more than the Hemingway - Pfeiffer Museum here in Piggott, AR. I was very impressed with the house. I would love to live in a house like it. The only thing I didn't like was the cats. However, one interesting fact about the more than 60 cats was many of them have six toes on their front paws. Normal cats have only 5 toes on their front paws, and 4 on their back. These cats carry a gene that could increase their number of toes. Our first stop was the ticket booth; if you ever plan to visit this place, you need to know they don't take credit/debit cards. They only accept cash or checks. So we started the tour in the bottom of the house. We learn about the man who originally built the house, and about how it eventually ended up in the possession of the Ernest Hemingway and his second wife Pauline Pfeiffer. This was Hemingway's primary residence for much of his adult life. Some of his greatest novels were written in this house; including, "A Farewell to Arms", "Death in the Afternoon", and "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Yes, a ton of American culture came from that house. We toured the modest living spaces upstairs. The home isn't spacious by today's standard, but still a fairly nice place for anyone with the means. In fact, I would love to own a house like that, with perhaps a little more space for furniture and far less cats. We got to see the office where he did much of his work, only to learn he only wrote a few hours each morning before he took off to the bars to drink the day away. This saddens me, as he was clearly a talented man, but a troubled individual. We completed the tour, learning many things about the Hemingways, the home, and the unique additions they made to the house. I genuinely enjoyed the tour, I love learning history. I recommend you take an opportunity to visit whenever you can. The beaches there are beautiful, and the weather perfect in the winter.
waiting in line for the picture
Living room
Stairs to second floor
Bathroom
View
Bathroom with a view lol
Office
Penny? You should go check it out to find it out about it ;)
Pool
Thank you for stopping by! Have a blessed day!
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