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15-02-2015, 20:03
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#31
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: On a boat
Boat: 1987 Cabo Rico 38 #117 (sold) & 2008 Manta 42 #124
Posts: 4,177
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
We spent a little over a month in Key West over xmas and new years. Although I agree that KW is kind of a dump, and that the mooring field is the absolute pits, if you get off the beaten edge of the island there is a lot of nice architecture and whatnot and some nice restaurants.
But, my wife and I have made a rule... no more than a few weeks there in the future. We have seen the Hemingway house, the Whitehouse, the shipwreck museum, etc... so no need to hit the touristy stuff. The bars are nice for a bunch of people to go out and slam back some beers, and we really like the Green Parrot, but every time we step onto KW $100 magically flies out of my checking account and I wonder - WHY?
I didn't find the people there particularly friendly although we did occasionally run into some nice folks. I consider myself very friendly - always say hello and ask about your day regardless of our relation - but we made it a game to see how many people would say hello or acknowledge you back and it was about 40%.
Restaurant food was generally average to below average and expensive, with some exceptions such as Blue Heaven (where I would say "slightly over average"). I can only speak about the places we ate and there were a lot we did not.
The music scene there was pretty good.
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15-02-2015, 20:32
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#32
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,190
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
I like the funky aspects of KW, kind of like Greenwich Village/Haight Ashbury/Harvard Square used to be before the yuppies and the corporations moved in and ruined those. Although it seem that now the time has come for Key West to go that way. But at least one can bask in the sun and have a few beers in the swimming shorts in the middle of the winter without a long shlep to some Caribbean island. It is what it is and considering all the winter alternatives (within the US) ain't too bad.
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16-02-2015, 07:37
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#33
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,909
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave852
I live in the upper keys and whenever I tell some one where I'am from they say "oh key west" and I say no, key west is 90 miles away. Key west is a whole different place than the other 105 miles of keys.
Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum
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When I used to live in Miami, we used to hit the Keys a lot (and I had to work in KW every once in a while). Every time, driving down, we would comment on how much nicer the places in between Miami (Homestead, really) and Key West, were than what was on either end. My last trip has made me think that even more.
My fear is that the KW experience will eventuallystart moving up the chain and consuming the really nice places that are left.
__________________
Founding member of the controversial Calypso rock band, Guns & Anchors!
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20-02-2015, 23:46
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#34
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cruiser
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Tampa Bay
Posts: 69
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saleen411
It was GREAT 40 years ago when I first went.
I'm of the school where most ALL the nice places in the US have been RUINED by overcrowding and subsequent issues such as crime.
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LOL there were only 243 million people living in North America in 1975. Everything was nicer back then.
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21-02-2015, 21:55
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#35
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: On a boat
Boat: 1987 Cabo Rico 38 #117 (sold) & 2008 Manta 42 #124
Posts: 4,177
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosis
LOL there were only 243 million people living in North America in 1975. Everything was nicer back then.
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Do you realize that Russia has 1/2 our population and almost twice the square miles? That would be like seeing 1 person for every 4 (right?) you see now in the keys. Of course, I am generalizing but still... weird to think about.
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22-02-2015, 11:06
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#36
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: North Charleston, SC
Boat: Camano Troll
Posts: 5,176
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Remember, when complaining about overpopulation, that you are part of the problem!
__________________
Ron
HIGH COTTON
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22-02-2015, 15:09
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#37
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Back in Northern California working on the Ranch
Boat: Pearson 365 Sloop and 9' Fatty Knees.
Posts: 10,481
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Quote:
Originally Posted by redhead
Just as an added note for those on land. A great friend of mine has been a street musician on Mallory Square for the last 15 years. She can tell you of the changes. Oddly, her biggest complaint is the yuppification/homogenization of EYW.
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Hilarious...the very people she makes money from.
__________________
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow - what a ride!"
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22-02-2015, 17:41
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#38
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Cowichan Bay, BC (Maple Bay Marina)
Posts: 9,758
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Quote:
Originally Posted by zboss
Do you realize that Russia has 1/2 our population and almost twice the square miles? That would be like seeing 1 person for every 4 (right?) you see now in the keys. Of course, I am generalizing but still... weird to think about.
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Good math.
One might, however, check the latitude of most of the rest of the country. Moscow is quite a bit further north than London, without the benefit of the Gulf Stream. Among other geographical issues.
They also killed off a lot of their own countrymen during that, uhm, civil war, after 1917, plus WWII.
__________________
Stu Jackson
Catalina 34 #224 (1986) C34IA Secretary
Mill Bay, BC, SR/FK, M25, Rocna 10 (22#) (NZ model)
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22-02-2015, 23:58
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#39
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 32
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
apropos of nothing...my favorite epitaph ever is on a headstone in a Key west cemetery..."Flo" was a waitress and a noted hypochondiac (sp?) the quote?
"I told you I was sick."
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23-02-2015, 19:53
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#40
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Connecticut
Boat: Beneteau 473
Posts: 145
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Dump? No way! Touristy? Sure, but a good one. We just spent a few days there after the boat show">Miami Boat Show. Lots of great music, food, cigars, drinkin'. We liked it! Not sure we'd take time out to sail there, but I'd go back. The Hemingway house is a great tour! No, not a dump. Not perfect, but clean and cared for where it needs to be.
Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum
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23-02-2015, 19:56
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#41
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Back in Pennsylvania Awaiting next cruising season
Boat: Grand Soleil 46.3
Posts: 300
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Quote:
Originally Posted by IntoMyHealth
Dump? No way! Touristy? Sure, but a good one. We just spent a few days there after the Miami Boat Show. Lots of great music, food, cigars, drinkin'. We liked it! Not sure we'd take time out to sail there, but I'd go back. The Hemingway house is a great tour! No, not a dump. Not perfect, but clean and cared for where it needs to be.
Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum
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The town is cool, just don't sail there and anchor is all....
Sent from my D6616 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app
__________________
Do or do not, there is no try.
-Jedi master Yoda
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23-02-2015, 20:44
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#42
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Winnipeg
Boat: None at this time
Posts: 8,462
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Key West area, including Stock Island, is a facade. Just like the old western movie sets...
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23-02-2015, 21:37
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#43
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,909
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
You can sure drop some serious coin there in a very short period of time. I really don't see how the people who work in the bars and restaurants afford to live there. Housing is out of sight.
__________________
Founding member of the controversial Calypso rock band, Guns & Anchors!
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23-02-2015, 21:38
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#44
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Winnipeg
Boat: None at this time
Posts: 8,462
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Quote:
You can sure drop some serious coin there in a very short period of time. I really don't see how the people who work in the bars and restaurants afford to live there.
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Look in the mangrove swamp trailer parks.
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23-02-2015, 21:40
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#45
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,909
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Re: Well, key west is a dump...moving on
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeepFrz
Look in the mangrove swamp trailer parks.
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When you go walking around the harbor early in the morning, it looks like a homeless convention. It's a funny place, for sure.
__________________
Founding member of the controversial Calypso rock band, Guns & Anchors!
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