Local Color ~ Mr. James Chapman

July 1, 2014 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

Wonderful artwork painted along Mr. Chapman’s fence

Walking down Petronia street, I saw a number of places I want to go to – Blue Heaven, La Creperie and Santiago’s Bodega, but Michael isn’t with me so I’m just window shopping and reading menu’s. These places are tucked away in the part of Key West called Bahama Village. This was once a primarily black neighborhood, and is named for its many original residents who were of Bahamian ancestry.

The coconut man’s truck – Note the “We Love Chapman” painting on the door

Between Blue Heaven and Santiago’s Bodega there is a fascinating corner house with interesting artwork and all kinds of contraptions in the yard. A beat up old truck, colorfully painted and filled with coconuts is parked next to the side yard. I see an older, black gentleman in the yard and I ask him if I can speak with him. He invites me in and we start what turns out to be a half hour conversation.

Mr. James Chapman

I was originally interested because of the art and the “inventions” and I thought Michael might like to come back and photograph them but what really interested me was Mr. Chapman himself. He’s a Character with a capital “C”. He is seventy-five years old, was born in the house across the street, lived there until he was 3 and then moved into another house, next door to his current house. He is a philosopher and a tinkerer, has an amazing toolshed and a large number of “works in progress” scattered around.

Of all the cool things in his yard, the best is a tricycle that is all tricked out with lights, music and Key West memorabilia. Michael and I had seen a man riding a trike up and then back down Duval street a few nights earlier when we were eating dinner. As he went by the first time – lights flashing and music blaring – I said to Michael, Do you think he’s selling something? When he came back, I thought no, he’s doing this for fun and to spread joy. I was thrilled to see the trike and he confirmed that yes, that was him and he does rides it for fun and joy – every night, weather permitting, as soon as it starts to get dark. It looks very different in the daylight, when the lights are off, but is none the less fascinating to pour over. We’ll catch him riding some night and take a photo.

Mr. Chaoman standing in front of a huge mural of all the key people in Bahama Village painted by Rcik Worth

Mr. Chapman standing next to a painting of himself – part of a huge mural of all the key people in Bahama Village painted by local artist, Rick Worth

Mr. Chapman has seen a tremendous evolution of history in this area during his lifetime. From what He told me, originally blacks were not allowed to live in Key West and when they were finally permitted to, they were confined to the “back” of Key West in the area that became Bahama Village. Mr. Chapman went to all black schools, has lived through segregation, and is now seeing the “gentrification” of this area due to its proximity to Whitehead and Duval Streets. This is forcing the original tenants out of the area due to rising prices. Historically, no white people ever crossed into Bahama Village except one, Ernest Hemingway. He became friends with many of the residents and his death was felt deeply by many residents. By 2008, the area was only 50% black and I understand the percentage of blacks has continued to decline as more businesses snap up prime locations and more affluent people buy up the houses.

I brought Michael back a few days later to meet Mr. Chapman and to take pictures. He wasn’t as talkative on our second visit but was still just as friendly. We’ll definitely go back another time and give him prints of Michael’s photos. As we were walking down Chapman Lane to our car, we had a neat surprise. A young woman wanted to pet Mick and as I looked closely at her, I thought I recognized her. I looked at the other people she was with and realized that she and another women were the key belly dancers from A Mid Summer Night’s Dream. Of course they remembered Michael as one of the photographers and we had a great conversation and met even more good people. Michael is going to photograph one of their Belly Dancing classes and may be able to set up a couple of artist shoots for July. Stay tuned for posts about the photo shoots.

A Mid Summer’s Night Dream & Spectacle ~ Summer Solstice

June 25, 2014 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

Event Poster

The Key West Botanical Garden grounds were transformed into a fairyland for the summer solstice on June 21st, and artists from all over Key West converged to celebrate and entertain. The event felt magical from the moment I walked in. Many people, contributors and guests, were dressed up in fantasy costumes, with painted faces and fabulous headgear.

The Mid Summer Queen ~ she made her beautiful outfit

This is the 8th year this event has been held and people knew there was a contest for “best dressed” and really got into the spirit of the night. There was a face painting and headdress booth right inside the door so I got my face painted and a flower headdress with beautiful ribbons hanging down so I’d fit in with the scene. As always in Key West, dogs were welcomed and some also came in costume. One thing I thought was particularly cool was there were a number of dogs available for adoption that were being walked through the event with coats saying adopt me. I thought this was a great way for people to see animals who needed a home and hopefully a few went home with new families to love them.

Dancing in the moonlight …

There were three major venues set up throughout the park. One venue had great musicians playing. There were more than 20 groups or individuals that played and sang non stop from 5 until 11 PM. It was great to stroll into the area, listen to a few songs, move on and then come back and hear a totally different sound. Many of the early groups were off to play in downtown Key West later in the evening and I got a good overview of the wonderful local music that is available here.

The second venue was an outdoor stage area where there were hula hoop demonstrations, belly dancing (both a performance and participatory dancing), Salsa dancing, poetry reading, sword dancing and an amazing fire eating demonstration. All this was backed by a fantastic video show once it was dark which added to the fun and mystery of the dancers as the colors flowed across their bodies and their shadows danced behind them.

Ms. Lydia Firefly strutting her stuff

The last major venue was a small theatre area where snippets of Shakespeare were performed, individuals played music, more poetry was read and a youth dance troupe performed. Interspersed between these venues were food trucks, fortune telling, sculptures, a dream board where you could write your dream in chalk, and a fantastic mural being created.

A young girl adding her magic to the giant mural

Michael showed up early to take ‘behind the scenes’ pictures of the set up and then photographed both the performers and the guests all night long. The fact that so many guests were dressed up, in addition to the artists who were performing, gave the evening a fun, fantastical feeling everywhere you went. See all Michael’s personal favorite pictures from the night. (look for the slide show button on the top right to have them open and scroll.) There were so many outstanding people and activities and I’ve only shown a fraction here. It’s especially fun going to an event Where Michael is the photographer because he gets to meet and know the event people and as a result we get an insider’s view of what is happening, meet new people we wouldn’t ordinarily get to know and often find out interesting things or other events that are happening in the area.

the face painting was a huge hit and very well done by local artists

All the artists including the face painters were donating their talents to benefit the Botanical Gardens. The gardens are not supported by Key West or the state for funding so they look to admissions, sponsors, donations and events to support the facility.

The gardens are representative of local Florida, Cuban and Caribbean plants and so it’s not as “showy” as a garden planted with the goal of looking vibrant at all times. It does provide an essential stopping place for migratory birds and butterflies and educates the public about native plants. Over 200 bird species and 37 butterfly species have been sighted. The Botanical Garden has a series of self guided tours including the “old garden” with a number of endangered species, a butterfly garden, a tropical hardwood hammock, pond and lake tour and a Cuban palm tour. If you are coming to Key West or want to know more about the Tropical Rainforest and Botanical Garden visit their website or send for their terrific garden guide.

This was truly a magical night and if you are in Key West or close by for the next summer solstice definitely stop by for a night to remember.

Savory or Sweet? ~ Key Plaza Creperie

June 19, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

John, the owner, with his chef extraordinaire

John, the owner with his chef extrordinaire

Michael’s phone screen cracked so we were off to AT&T to request a replacement phone. Fortunately, we had insurance on his phone so it was a fairly straight forward process to get a replacement. While Michael was finalizing the transaction, I started wandering down the strip mall and stumbled across the Key Plaza Creperie. The smells emanating from this restaurant were wonderful ~ a sweet vanilla scent of classic crepes. I was enrolled!

This is a savory buckwheat breakfast crepe

We stopped in for lunch and had a delightful meal. The menu is fairly extensive. They make Galettes (savoury buckwheat crepes) with all kinds of yummy fillings as well as sweet crepes that are essentially fruity, sweet dessert crepes and very decadent sounding. In addition to crepes, they also sell wraps, Panini’s and salads. Everything that came out of the kitchen looked wonderful.

Michael and I have very fond memories of eating buckwheat crepes with our friend Cathy. Her mom made delicious buckwheat crepes with a fabulous liver pate filling. (And I don’t even like liver!). We both decided we had to try the Galettes. Michael had an “Alaskan” which had smoked salmon, Brie & chives and I had a goat cheese, spinach, tomato and mushroom crepe. They were completely delicious and we decided we needed to visit again to try the sweet crepes.

Could this crepe look any sweeter?

This morning, we visited again and Michael had the Tropical crepe – a sweet crepe filled with pineapple, raisins and coconut. I planned on getting their customer favorite sweet crepe the “Dulce De Leche” which has a coconut and banana filling. And if that isn’t decadent enough, you can also add a scoop of vanilla gelato. However, it was too early for all that sugar and I opted for another buckwheat crepe with eggs, Swiss cheese and sausage. Once again the crepes were good but I preferred my cheese and veggie crepe from the other day. I still need to go back and have the Dulce De Leche crepe when my sweet tooth is ready to be satisfied. YUM!

Key Plaza Creperie

“A Great Place …. if You Can Find It” ~ Hogfish Bar and Grill

June 19, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

Pure old style Key West laid back, funky and GREAT

“A great place … if you can find it” The tagline says it all. This local’s favorite seafood “shack” is tucked away in a small, safe harbor, way off the tourist path, but definitely worth finding. Truly, there are four road signs within the last quarter mile to keep you on track and convincing you that you are on the right road and there really is a restaurant at the end of the journey.

We stumbled onto the location midafternoon when we were looking for a fresh fish store that had closed down. I jumped out to ask them about the fish store and they told me it had moved to a new location.

I liked the looks of the restaurant – a large, open air eatery, filled with funk and not pretentious. Someone had told us we definitely needed to eat there and seeing the restaurant confirmed that we definitely would be back for lunch or dinner.

Hogfish has a great menu. There were a number of items I would like to try but what immediately caught my eye was the fresh, local, pink key west ‘peel and eat’ shrimp cooked Maryland style (with Old Bay seasoning). YUM! Excellent, sweet and tender morsels. We ordered a half pound as an appetizer but you could easily just eat shrimp all night and be very happy. I had the Hogfish with blackened Scallops dinner and Michael had the Hogfish special which was stuffed with crab meat. The Hogfish was good but I thought it could have had better, more pronounced spices. The blackened Scallops were unbelievably good. This is the third time we’ve had Hogfish so I think I’m done for a bit since I can always count on Michael making his fabulous recipe at home.

A glimpse of some the great art and the boat dock, right outside the door

The atmosphere was fun. Lots of good energy, fun art and memorabilia, families with kids, dogs, chickens and a cat roaming the perimeter – Key West is really all inclusive. Everybody was having a good time. Food comes quickly from the kitchen. The next time I’d stagger the appetizer and dinner orders to have a little more relax time. The restaurant is right at the end of a working waterfront and, next time, I’d like to take a stroll down and check out the boats.

Other interesting sounding food included a Lobster BLT, Baha style tacos, Bahamian Conch Chowder and Lobster Pot Pie. These were the unusual items, there were a lot more regular favorites that also looked wonderful. We never even got to the dessert menu. Or to the large Bar area which also looked interesting.

We drove back watching a great sunset unfold. The sky was luminescent both in the west AND the east; it was kind of wild. If I hadn’t known which way was west, it would have been hard to tell which direction the sun was setting. I’ve never seen that before.

If you want to get your tropical fever running check out the Hogfish Bar and Grill website for fun pictures and an outstanding menu.

ONE HUMAN FAMILY and the Key West Pride Parade

June 18, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

“Like fingers on a hand … We are all different and unique. We are all of equal value. We are all created to work together. And although we appear separate, we are all linked to – and a part of – each other.”

On the first day of the new millennium, a Key West Artist started printing and handing out free ONE HUMAN FAMILY stickers. It was unanimously adopted as the inclusive philosophy of the city of Key West. More than 1 million stickers have been sent worldwide and ONE HUMAN FAMILY has become an international grass-roots movement to unite all people and guarantee everyone equal rights, dignity and respect. (Words courtesy of ONE HUMAN FAMILY website).

Rob Smith waving to the crowd

The ONE HUMAN FAMILY theme was a big part of this year’s Key West Pride parade that took place on Sunday, June 15th and was the culmination of a multi-day Pride event. Rob Smith, Iraq war veteran, author and openly gay activist, was the Grand Marshall. The VFW, who joined the parade for the first time last year, were the first to sign up for this year’s event. Active duty service personnel and VFW representatives brought tears to my eyes as they proudly marched at the front of the parade.

After our service men and women passed by, the politicians rode by in numerous vehicles. It was great to see them turnout and support their constituents and, my guess, in some cases themselves.

There was also great representation of a number of pride groups, local hotels and businesses. In October, Key West holds their annual Fantasy Fest and the Kings and Queens from the past few years were also part of the extravaganza.

Dogs are welcomed everywhere in Key West

And as would be expected in Key West there was lots of color, over the top costumes, floats and great enthusiasm. Everyone in the parade and watching it were having a great time – including of course, the dogs!

Michael has many more really fun pictures at StraleyPhotography.com . Check them out, they are great.

You Tube also has a great video that captures the highlights of the parade including one, very public, marriage proposal in front of a large, cheering crowd.

Cajan Delights at the Blossom Cafe

June 14, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

Michael was walking the dog on Sunday and strolled by the Blossom Cafe. They were closed but had an enticing sign so we walked over again mid-week to stop by for lunch.

Skittles showing off for the camera

Besides the great sign, they had a beautiful parrot named Skittles in front of the store. She is a Catalina Macaw, is beautifully marked and quite a show off.

Key West is a VERY dog friendly town and you can take your dog most everywhere including most stores. Mick was invited in to join us for lunch and was perfectly behaved. So many new experiences for him.

Shannan and José own Blossom and are gracious hosts. They stopped into Key West for a day a couple of years ago and decided they had to move here. They are originally from New Orleans but had to move as a result of Katrina and ended up in Rochester, NY. Beautiful upstate New York but cold and snowy. A year after their trip they moved south again and the Cafe has been open about 11 months.

Shannan serving Gumbo and Etoufee

We had a delicious lunch – we split the Seafood Gumbo and Crawfish Etouféé (sweet crawfish stew) and each had a crawfish BLT. Yummy!

UPDATE: We stopped by this morning for a breakfast sandwich and had an egg, steak and cheese sandwich on Cuban bread – Delicious and too much food, we’ll split one next time. I’d like a little hot sauce on this sandwich so will need to check if they have that as a condiment on our next visit.

Candi and Michael’s Honey Moon

June 14, 2014 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

The honey moon rising out of the sea

Because we are close to the Summer solstice (June 21st), the June full moon appears over the horizon as a huge butterscotch orange orb and is called the honey moon. June traditionally was the month that most weddings occurred and the time couples spent alone after their wedding became known as their honeymoon.

Michael and I were out on the Higgs beach pier to see this beautiful moon rising on Friday, the 13th. The horizon was cloudy so it took a while for the moon to appear but it lived up to its description and was beautiful.

After peaking through the clouds, it disappeared again for a short while and then triumphantly lit up the sky – smaller and whiter, but reflecting beautifully off the water. The breeze was strong and welcoming cool as we and the other moon worshippers waited for this event that will not occur again until June 2098. (a June, full moon on Friday the 13th)

Earlier, we strolled downtown to the Pier House to support a charitable event and had lovely tapas and rum tastings. We had some good conversations with other visitors to Key West and got a couple of great recommendations for things to do and places to eat. The tapas were very good, rum is never bad but it was hot, hot, hot over on the western side of the island. The sun was blazing, getting ready for its sunset performance and there was very little breeze. It was a stark contrast to the eastern shore breezes we felt later and often have at our house. Definitely something you want to consider if you move here or visit in the summer months.

Michael at the Pier House

We strolled over to Mallory Square to check out the action. It was about 7:20 PM and there were people gathering for the sunset celebration but because it was still over an hour away, not too much performance art was going on. It was fun seeing the ships coming in and out of the harbor. We will definitely book a sunset cruise one evening soon.

Because we were shooting the moon rise, we left to meander back to our car. Key West is a great walking town with lots of interesting places to see and people to watch. And, oh yes, of course the chickens!

Hunting for Iguanas

June 4, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

When we were on the Olde Town Trolley the other day, the driver stopped near the airport and pointed out iguanas hanging out in the grass near a mangrove stream, right behind a hotel. There were brown ones as well as bright green ones. Today we’re on the hunt to see if we can capture some pictures.

Only saw two iguanas today. This one is a veteran pro. He posed like a model – standing still, eating grass, walking towards Michael, holding his head up and then moving it from side to side as if saying – which view do you like best?

Check out his coloring and markings, pretty incredible. Overall, I’d say he’s a pretty handsome dude.

We tried to get pictures of a bright green iguana also, but the one we saw was much more shy and ran into the mangrove when we were still very far away. We’ll need to go back and try again another day.

Can you imagine coming out of your hotel room to get into your car and seeing one (or more) of these guys right next to your car?

Rainy Day and Café Solé

June 2, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

Spitting a little bit of rain this morning, the first time in 2 weeks. Key West is having a drought so any rain is welcomed. The day continues to be cloudy with threat of rain and finally as we jump in the car to go to the dog park it starts raining. We go anyway and sit under a covered table. Mick and a few other dogs romp around. Mick hasn’t run at this dog park as much as he did in JAX and I wasn’t sure if it was because the weather has gotten warmer or different location/different dogs were the cause. None of the dogs here run as much plus I know Mick misses the pond at our old dog park. Well he was running and romping today in the cooler, wet weather – having a great time.

We went out to dinner tonight at Café Solé a lovely French restaurant that specializes in fish. I had read great reviews about the food. I noticed that I really wanted it to be special and arrived with all kinds of expectations that it would be wonderful and was prepared to be enchanted. Michael is more realistic – wanting a great meal but taking a wait and see attitude. The setting was lovely – covered outdoor seating and attentive wait staff. Our waiter, Trip, was overly enthusiastic about everything, a little over the top for Michael.

I had Portobello mushroom soup that was sublime, Michael had lobster bisque which was very good but not the same with Florida lobster. Michael wants to get back north and gorge on Maine lobster until we can’t eat anymore. Sounds great to me –we haven’t had cold water lobster in years and really miss it. We split a good seafood risotto and both had the hog snapper which is the café specialty and it was wonderful; slightly breaded, flash fried then baked with a lovely sauce. Michael makes a terrific Hog Snapper with Teriyaki that he thinks is even better. I love his dish but since they are so different I’d be hard pressed to choose a winner, both are divine. Desert was a disappointing Bananas Foster – good but not at the level I expected from this restaurant. We agreed it was a 7-8 meal overall. Setting was lovely, fabulous company and good to very good food.

Exploring Key West

May 27, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

We’ve found the dog park, the designated dog beach, and spent one day at Higgs beach soaking up way too much sun.

We found a lovely Civil War fort right on Higgs beach that has been taken over by the Garden Club and made into a lovely, secluded park. The building is fascinating and the plantings throughout the gardens are amazing. Michael took lots of lovely pictures and I fell in love with a natural statue of a woman made out of palm fronds. Look at the detail and you can see sea grape leaves in her bustle and mussel shell jewelry. When we settle in Grenada, I’m going to make a Caribbean version or two ~ maybe with a carnival man as well.

We rode the Olde Town Trolley to get a 90 minute tour and overview of the island. It was interesting and fun but the seats were really cramped so it also felt good to get off!

Key West has had a very interesting history with lots of economic ups and downs. People who have been here for a while need a good sense of survival. There was a boom during the ship salvage years until laws changed, then bust. Another boom harvesting salt, then sponges and another boom with rolling cigars with the accompanying busts in between as those industries moved elsewhere. Flagler built a railroad all through the keys but at some point the southernmost bridges got washed away. The government built an aquarium to lure tourists here, 40K the first year, and then next year the bridge was gone.

Key West sided with the North during the Civil War because of Fort Zachary and later became the “Conch Republic” and declared its’ independence from the US in 1982 when the US government set up a blockage at the start of the Florida mainland that searched every car coming off the keys to look for illegal immigrants. This action was once again killing the Key West economy because it was taking 7 hours to get through the blockage. After a vigorous campaign that included newspaper and television coverage the blockage was lifted. Independence Day is still celebrated every April 23^rd. I’m sorry we missed that but I’m sure it was a zoo and fun.

There are lots more interesting history that’s fun to read. If you are interested, check out http://www.keyshistory.org/keywest.html for more detailed information and fun facts.

I know we will walk the length of Duval Street at some point but it will need to be planned on a coolish day (overcast) and hopefully when there are no cruise ships in dock. We are also looking forward to a sunset sail so watch for a post and great pictures.

Candi and Michael ~ On The Move

Tales from Grenada and Beyond