key west - part two

i wanted to have a cocktail party.  so i asked all my friends in key west - fishermen, non-fishermen, and help...annie, john wells, kennie the rake and mike the hoe.  kennie accepted - along with others - and asked if he could come dressed as a cocktail waitress.  i said no - my conservative fishing guide friends wouldn't understand.  he agreed that was probably true - and, even so, took over the party with his charm.  the little shit.

sally and i had two favorite places to eat - bagatelle on duval street and blue heaven in old key west.  at bagatelle we could often get the corner table overlooking duval...and spend much of our time gawking at, or mocking, the passers by.  the food was only fair but the sights were good and the cork bouncing [which we taught the kids] was excellent if one found the sweet spot on the table.  blue heaven - across duval in the old part of town - was the place to go for breakfast.  the outdoor eating area was shaded by a big, old gumbo limbo tree and the ground covered in deep brown mulch through which chickens scratched, pecking occasionally at the odd scrap or bug.  cats of all sizes lolled insouciantly under the tables.  the first time i took sally, hungover, i stopped at the bar on the way in and ordered coffee and a red stripe.  sally, equally hungover, had the same and declared red stripe "the best beer ever."

the pier house, down by the harbor, was high end when it came to food but had a nice, intimate piano bar which was good for late night drinks.  often there were several gay actors and singers in attendance and one got any number of slightly off key, though exuberant, show tunes and dance lines.  one quiet night sally sang tune after tune with the forgiving and patient piano player.  a slightly drunk and much more enthusiastic piano man pounded out tunes in the bar at la-di-da, the gay hotel on duval as she struggled to keep up.  i drank rum on the rocks and bantered with the barman, all the while eyeing an obviously uncomfortable couple from cleveland who had stumbled into this den of iniquity and depravity.  they fled when "it's raining men" came over the sound system at full blast and a succession of gays marched down from the second floor and into the "ballroom" to attend the weekly 4:30 p.m. "industrial strength" tea dance.

 it was, after all, key west.