Key West, Day 5

Day 5 - Ernest Hemingway's house.

Ernest Hemingway spent several winter's at his home in Key West.  We got to tour it and the beautiful grounds - which I found out weren't pretty at all when he lived there, pretty much just sand with a few palm trees as there was no running water on the island.

Kids on Mr. Hemingway's balcony with Key West lighthouse in the background.

Of course, none of the kids knew who Ernest Hemingway was, so they weren't all that excited about it.  Although, my youngest asked when she saw the pool, "When that man gets back home and cleans his pool, can we go swimming with him?"

He had a lot of cats, in fact 47 of the cat's descendants still live in the home today.  Above is a cat fountain - the top is made from an olive jar and the bottom was a urinal from Sloppy Joe's!  BTW, we ate at Sloppy Joe's one day for lunch and it was so good.  I really, really wanted to try their famous Sloppy Joe sandwich, but couldn't bring myself to do it.  I think Manwich and school cafeterias have ruined a Sloppy Joe for me forever.

I read online that one of Ernest Hemingway's cats had six toes.  There is a restaurant that was our favorite breakfast joint called the Six-Toed Cat right next door.  Several of the cats on the island today have six toes.  I was wondering how in the world you'd be able to tell a difference .... but when I saw one I knew!


Six-toed cat



There was a pool/guest house in the back with his office overlooking the pool area.  Above is where Hemingway wrote 70% of his works.



Another cat curled up amongst books.

Did I tell you that most of the tour guides and ticket booth guy looked like Hemingway?  Then again, this week Sloppy Joe's is holding their annual Hemingway Look-Alike contest and we were told half the island looks like him this time of year.