Hunting for Hauntings

Ghost Orb photographed in Churchyard in Key West

I believe in ghosts. My apartment in Jersey City was haunted and I worked in a haunted bar in Ft. Lauderdale a million years back (on Commercial Blvd, it was a haunted country-western, lesbian sports bar named Our Playhouse to be exact).

I believe in ghosts because I've seen or heard them or have had people I know see or hear them. First person encounters tend to make you believe. And I believe in the most tourist-trappy of all tours - the Ghost Tour!

For those of you that don't believe in ghosts - how about a good story? I think believers and non-believers alike can all agree on liking a good story that's well told. Let's up the ante. How about a good ghost story? I'll see your ghost story and raise you.....what about if there are actually ghosts present? Jackpot!

One of my favorite ghost towns is Key West. You just feel the place is haunted. I mean ya got a small island that has a history of Indians, Bahamians, Pirates, Artists, Drunks, Eccentrics all in a lucious simmering stew of hurricanes, malaria, murders, drownings and shipwrecks.

Ghost Tour Guide Giving the Rules - You might be touched.....Be open...

The tours are chock filled with stories like the story of Robert the Doll, an enchanted doll made for a little boy by his nanny. Cute story? Not so cute when said nanny alledgedly had an affair with the little boy's dad, had a child by him who mysteriously died and was fired by the wife. the doll has a "soul stone" sewn into it, thus making the lifesized doll enchanted with a voodoo spell...The legend of Robert the Doll is still alive and well. You can visit Robert the Doll at the East Mortello Museum (itseld kinda haunted). Ask his permission before you snap a pic because the walls of the museum are filled with letters to Robert from visitors who didn't ask his permission and lived to regret it.

Robert the Doll messed up my camera and wouldn't let me buy a Pepsi.

Another good haunt is the church turned theatre turned abandoned building where a group of children and their Sunday School teacher were burned alive by the Church's Pastor. The Pastor also happened to be the Schoolmarm's husband and he thought she was cheating on him. So he burned her and the kids alive. If you put your ear to the glass doors you can hear tapping back from little hands. And the scent in the air? That sweet smell of roasting? That's the flesh of the children burning. I myself was pushed by phantom hands there and my husband (a skeptic) said aloud "If your're in there show me". At that point lights went on in the abandoned theatre. He's not so skeptical now.

Haunted Theatre where children died. Do you see a ghost?

Churchyard where the children were buried.

My favorite ghost that I search for is of course, Pappa Hemingway. It's said that Ernest Hemingway roams Key West on his birthday. I've yet to see him, but I would love to. I do have a drink (or two or three or five) in his honor for his birthday every year. Hey - it's my birthday too!

And of course, there's the cemetery in Key West. Located in "dead" center of town on Passover Lane, the cemetery is not open at night, but still a great place to go in the daytime. This is the place where the dead have a sense of humor - like in the gravestone that says "I told you I was sick". Gotta love it.

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Key West Cemetery on "Passover" Lane. Anyone home?

Some may think that touring cemeteries and looking for ghosts is morbid. I beg to differ. I'm the first to tell you that I am scared to death of death. I think we all are to some degree - the ultimate unknown has to bring fear to everyone. Looking for ghosts can maybe give us some answers to the questions we all have, possibly some comfort in knowing that this life is not all there is in the universe and at the very least....some really good stories.

Boo-Yah!

The Perfect Sunset

I was going through some pictures today and I've found that, as many of us probably do, I have a huge amount of sunset shots. I have sunsets over Miami, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Kenya, Orlando, New Orleans, Bermuda, The Bahamas and more. I have good sunsets and not so good. Sunsets with people silhouetted in the foreground and sunsets with giraffe and elephant silhouetted in the foreground.

I have sunsets that are green and sunsets that are blueish. I have purple, red, yellow and orange sunsets. I even have video of the sun going down into the horizon from Mallory Square in Key West and from atop a hillside in Nanyuki, Kenya with Mt. Kenya in the distance.

What is my (our) fascination with sunsets? Well, I'll tell you my theory. As much as I hate to think that I might not be immortal, I might not be. There is the distinct possibility that we have only a finite time on this planet and that the time that we think is so abundant really is limited. We all get sooooo busy - working, going to the grocery store, paying bills, commuting. I suspect that there's not a place on this earth where people don't get caught up in the minutia that is day to day living - caring for children, spouses, pets.....working at jobs that are either unfulfilling or too stimulating - doesn't matter what we do - we're usually too busy to stop and look at the incredible miracles that happen around us every day.

So when we do have the chance to go somewhere and look at the sky turn yellow and purple and pink. We hope the conditions are perfect (there's no rain or tall person with a hat in front of you or loud screaming drunk or child ruining the moment). And we have a moment to stop and breathe and look and take it in.....
A sunset is the oldest and simplest miracle on earth - Ancient Egyptian Priests prayed each sunset to the Sun God Ra to bring back the sun the next day. The ancient Romans built temples to sun worshipers. The Aztec and Mayans worshiped the sun. There is something so primal, so natural about looking at the sunset.

A picture that no human could replicate is painted by nature each and every day. And maybe there is some primal instinctual fear in our darkest lizard brain that this could possibly be the last sunset we will ever see that makes us stop in our tracks and watch. And hope this sunset that we're witnessing is pink and orange and red and yellow.....the perfect sunset. The one to go on.

Key West - The City at the End of the Country

I LOVE KEY WEST. I love driving to Key West. I love the freedom I feel every time the Florida Turnpike ends and I start the drive south and west on the Overseas Highway. Key West is everything that Miami lacks. Let me first say that I do like Miami. I don't love it because how can you love something that really has no soul and no identity? Miami and Miami Beach are the supermodel of cities - heartbreakingly beautiful, put together, lovely to look at, wonderful for a one night stand but try to talk to her about art, or culture.....and.....? Yeah. I know that Miami is really trying to have a great art and culture scene. I give props to my friends who work hard at having Miami being taken seriously as a cultural capital but after all the galleries, the concerts, the happenings - Miami Social comes along and kills any good press with a swipe of a perfectly french manicured fingernail.

But enough of Miami....I want to talk about Key West. Strangely enough, a lot of my South Florida acquaintances think Key West or the Keys, for that matter, is really a euphemism for the Tiki bar in Islamorada - NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!!!! Stop! The Keys and Key West is so much more than that! Let me explain.

For me, the drive on the Overseas Highway is nothing short of the drive to freedom. Best done in a convertible (alas, my little LeBaron died), any car will do in a clinch. For the drive it is a requirement to put on the Margaritaville channel on Sirius radio (a Jimmy Buffet or Bob Marley CD will work fine, too). Leave your attitude in Miami or Weston and drive. I like to drive slow, stopping for a wonderful conch chowder at The Island Grill http://www.keysdining.com/islandgrill/, This, by the way is part of the real Islamorada - not the Tiki Bar. And it's not that I'm getting old - I always hated places that reek of pre-mixed pina coladas and vomit. Always have. Even at 20.

After a satisfying pitstop to refresh and have a little chowdah....it's heading south. This is where the scenery turns brilliant. take the time to stop at a parking spot and look down into the water. You'll be treated with manta rays, grouper and lobster - fantastic! I love to look at the old railway tracks and stop at the Hurricane Memorial in Islamorada, just south of the Cheeca Lodge.

Before the Seven Mile Bridge, I like to stop into The Island Fish Company for a brewski (just one - another 50 miles to go) and some conch fritters. Yes - this trip is all about eating, drinking and walking. Soon we're on the famous seven mile bridge - where I still marvel at running it on foot. But you can drive - most people do. Then we get into kitschy territory - The Dolphin Research Institute, The Turtle Hospital (complete with turtle ambulances), and the giant pink shrimp mobile (i don't know....I just don't know).....

My next favorite is the Key Deer sanctuary area. We always pull off the road to look for these amazing little dog-sized creatures. And we always spot one or two. So beautiful.

More bridges, more islands....the islands getting smaller and the bridges more and more frequent in the lower keys. The Gulf on your right and the Atlantic (really Florida Straits) on your left. Until...Key West!

We always stay at the same Bed and Breakfast, The Popular House. It feels like home to us - large and pink with cedar walls and funky decor. Our room has a giant fake Gauguin oil as a headboard. In Key West, there is of course Duval Street - known for bars, bars, and.....bars. But there is so much more in Key West.

Look at the houses - nearly every one is a historic site with a story. There is the Little White House the vacation home of Truman. The lighthouse, The Audubon House (OK - Audubon never lived here....but he might have)....The Hemingway House where you can see and play with Ernest Hemingway's famous six toed cats.....The Southernmost Point (only 90 miles to cuba), Mallory Square with the Sunset Celebration and the amazing acts that perform every day (tips are really appreciated and well earned). You can have a margarita at the original Pan Am building, (Now Kelly's a restaurant owned by Kelly McGillis), an incredible meal at Michael's (my favorite posh spot), or go looking for ghosts (my personal favorite thing to do)....

I love Key West. I like picking a side street and getting lost among the scent of honeysuckle on a warm summer night. I like finding a new restaurant (like The Cafe) and hunkering down to a Nice lazy lunch. I like listening to a cover band at Sloppy Joe's, knowing I am walking in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams. I like visiting the cemetery and shouting a hello - half waiting and half dreading a reply. What is it about Key West that attracts the strange, the artistic, the eccentric and me? Maybe it really does feel out of touch with the rest of the country - anything goes here - the politics and the social moires of the rest of the country don't matter here. Maybe because there is sea air from everywhere and gentle breezes blow eternal. Maybe because it is so different...yet so welcoming.

And so, after a boat trip to see dolphins, some absolutely amazing clam chili at Alonzo's Oyster bar and a sunset ale, it's time to drive back to Miami....Back to life, back to reality....

Hemingway and I

I am a complete and total animal rights activist. I want animals to be protected and to live out their lives free from hunting, torturing and being caged. I could no more think of eating a burger or wearing a fur than I could eating and wearing my dog. It's that insane a thought.

So it always seems strange to me that I am so fascinated by Earnest Hemingway. There are some reasons - we share a birthday (July 21st), we share a fascination and love of Key West, Cuba, drinking and the written word. I think we might have been friends, if he could be friends with a woman (and I think he could have. In fact I think contrary to popular belief he loved and respected women. If you read his books you'll know what I mean). But he was a hunter. A fisherman. He loved bullfights. I was in Key West, as I am in Key West every July 21st for OUR birthday (mine and Hemingway's). There was a thunderstorm of biblical proportions and we ducked into the local bookstore (Island Books - wonderful place). I looked at the obligatory Hemingway section and found "Hunting with Hemingway", Hemingway on Hunting", Blood in the Afternoon" and other Hemingway books on hunting, bullfighting, etc. So interesting.

After the rain stopped, I walked over to the Hemingway House. Hemingway left a trust for his cats and their descendants to be cared for. His biography said he never got over the loss of his dog, Black Dog. And that his cats were his sole writing companions. I spoke to Hemingway (it's said his ghost is attracted by the Hemingway celebrations during his birthday and comes back to the tiny Island City of Key West). I asked him why the duality?

Well, Ernest didn't answer me (though I did get an orb in my picture), but I think I got the answer on my own. Hemingway was a product of his time and so much more. I think he loved women and animals. I think he suffered from manic depression and had suicidal tendencies. I think he was very sensitive and sad and masked that with every macho thing he could do. I think he bought into the hunting to save the animals hoo haw. To be macho. To hide the pain.

Much has been written about Hemingway - good and bad. It's been written that he hunted hyena with a machine gun, but that he respected all the large cats he killed. It's been written that he adored all his cats and dogs and tried to save the stray dogs of Cuba. It's also been written that after two failed suicide attempts, his last wife unlocked the keys to the gun chest and let him know she did it.

There are many ghost stories about Key West. In Key West it's not only possible but likely that an author who had some good years in an island paradise should want to roam the town, stopping in to Sloppy Joe's for a drink and having a good chuckle about the Hemingway lookalike contests and the riding of the bulls down Duval Street even years after his death. If Hemingway does roam Key West, we'll meet someday. And I'll finally get to tell him my theory about him - that he felt way too much.....