Tags
2008, Conch Chowder, Cuban, Cypress National Preserve, Everglades, Florida, Florida Keys, Hemmingway, Key West, Memorial Day, Road Trip, Travel, USA
Well, I was thankfully up in time, knowing it would be a long haul but not quite aware of what hand my driving fate would be playing me later. It was a wonderfully smooth three hours to end up at Key West around 9:15am, which was fifteen minutes earlier than expected (despite leaving the motel later).
I fell in love with the streets almost instantly, with the wonderful architecture reminiscent, of some of the buildings I saw in New Orleans. After getting my bearings, I was delighted to have completely accidentally, parked a couple of streets from my first stop at the 5 Brothers, Cuban store. Paralleling the old corner shops in England (and yes, it was also on a corner) it was compact, with the air of something older, yet still clean and organised, without suffering a clinical look. I ordered up a Cuban coffee (café con leche) and the signature sandwich. I didn’t want to insult with attempts, at my couple of words of Spanish and stuck with the not-so-broken English. The sandwich is made in the back amidst their own form of feng shui; the serving hatch is at chest height and so I was listening to conversation in Spanish, from a very full pair of breasts (not that I’m complaining in the slightest, you understand). While waiting to pay, I gleefully watched a couple of leather-skinned old Americans, strolling and swapping the day’s news about fishing, while they too, awaited some coffee; I’m just loving how stereotypical movie scenes are presented before me.