Florida Keys, Part IX: Key Largo splendor, despite key setback

Under the original plan, we were supposed to return to Indianapolis from the Florida Keys on the night of Jan. 21. But halfway through the first week in the Keys, Lee Ann had the itch to extend the stay. I was enjoying it, too, so ... in 24 hours time, we scurried to rearrange things so we could stick around another six days.

Fortuitously, the Hammocks resort in Marathon where we had been staying had an opening for five days the following week, too, but the room didn't open up until Sunday, the 22nd. Our first reservation required checkout there on the 21st. So we had to figure out where to spend the night of the 21st. We found a room at the Hilton in Key Largo, and drove up there Saturday after checking out in Marathon.

In the original plan, we were going to stop in Key Largo to take a cruise on a glass-bottom boat to enjoy the spectacle of the coral reefs in the John Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park  on the drive back to the airport in Fort Lauderdale early the 21st. Under the revised plan, we got to stay overnight in Key Largo -- then return to Marathon for five more restful and tropical days. 

As it turned out, that one day in Key Largo was memorable in several respects, even though we couldn't take the glass-bottom boat cruise (by the time we got there in the mid-afternoon, the operation shut down the cruises because of high winds). 

The Hilton in Key Largo was a great place; it sits along the gulf side (Florida Bay, actually), has its own beach and has a wonderful restaurant, the Treetops Bar and Grille, which is on an upper floor to allow diners to overlook the water. I believe the name of the restaurant is a misnomer; my impression of what I observed and enjoyed there could qualify place the restaurant under "fine dining," not a bar and grill. The menu items for our dinner were quite distinguished (I had a blackened mahi and rice w/vegetables, Lee Ann had a seafood combo and rice w/vegetables, and we both enjoyed our meals very much). We also partook in the Hilton's Sunday morning brunch; our omelets (made to order) were splendid. Most of the other buffet offerings were good, too; the one exception were the mini-Belgian waffles (on the dry side). 

Our room was nice (it lacked a microwave oven, though), but the highlight of the experience were the beaches. Guests had access to the main beach, where there were ample trees nearby to allow people to stay in shade or mostly shade very close to the water. There was one section of beach closed off for a wedding (which later moved to a section of the restaurant), but there were other sections -- because of tree placements -- that enabled a few guests to relax on chaise lounges in semi-privacy -- and in shade right near the water. That's where Lee Ann and I spent much of our afternoon Saturday and a lot of Sunday after we checked out. 

We never got to enjoy the Hilton's elegant swimming pools -- there is a separate one for adults-only, another one for general use (the two are separated by a nicely landscaped waterfalls) and an outdoor hot tub. And while I thought the facilities were on the elegant side and the grounds very nicely tended, we learned while we there that the Hilton planned to begin a major remodel this spring. I can only imagine good things for whatever turns out from that!

We managed to get our semi-private spot along the beach at night to watch the sunset, and I managed to photograph yet another. One of my shots from the sunset leads off the post; I have several views of the spectacle, and I elected to go with this one because of the water reflection ... but also because the upper tip is slightly concealed by the thin layer of clouds the sphere dropped behind momentarily before emerging immediately above the water. The sunset also was another instance where I witnessed a "green flash" spectacle ... but was not able to capture it in pictures. 

Photo geek stuff: Most of the photos in this post were taken with my Canon 6D equipped with a Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di PZD VC lens on which I mounted a 67mm B&W polarizing filter, which I swapped out with the UV filed for the sunset shots. I bracketed shots for three exposures for each composition with the intent on melding them into one during post-processing using Photomatix HDR (high-dynamic range) software. Some pictures also were taken with my iPhone 6S Plus.

As always, to view a larger, sharper image, click on any picture. This is particularly useful if you access the blog post using a mobile device. To view a full gallery of images from my trip to Key Largo,  visit my site at SmugMug.com 

Above: One of the first scenes I came upon when inspecting the beach areas at the Hilton. 

Above and below: Scenes from the section of the beach that would be closed off Saturday afternoon for a wedding party. 

Above: One of the semi-private areas along the beach, the only one I saw with a hammock in place!

Above: The ground level of the Hilton's south and much of the west facades is landscape with native rock like these. I didn't make it to the north side, so this could be there, too.

Above: A tree I came across in the maze of paths (mulched and/or wooden plank) behind the hotel near the beaches. There were markings on the other side as well. 

Above: The end point of an L-shaped pier on the Hilton's beach off which I saw several folks fishing.

Above: One of the hotel's amenities is an outdoor massage (by appointment) in this hut situated in a semi-private, heavily foliaged area behind the hotel near the beaches.  

Above: A wooden-planked portion of the maze of paths behind the hotel.

Above is the start point of the L-shaped pier (which turns to the left at the far end). It was was farther out on the pier that I turned around and took the first photo below and the cloud-detail shot (second below) before lowering the camera to point into the water, where I captured these needlefish (third below). Signs along the peer indicate that manatees also frequent this area, but I didn't see any.   

Above: Yet another parasailor in a shot that I cropped on the right and left because the vignetting there was too radical to correct in Photoshop Elements. The pier would be to the immediate right of this crop. 

Above: I struggled a bit with this shot in my sunset series, but I really liked the framing, reflection and water post composition elements. I was still working on finding proper exposure settings when I took this, so I'm not sure whether to attribute the interesting bright burst of solar light to dumb luck of the settings ... or because of slight overexposure. I'm going to go with the former.  

Above, the sun just as it began to slip behind the thin layer of clouds, then (first below) as it began to emerge below the cloud line, and (second below) moments below total disappearance. It was at this point that I saw the green flash, but obviously (and sadly), the picture didn't do it justice. But I got some wonderfully rich sky hues in the trade-off.

Above: A view of Florida Bay from the waterside seats in the Treetops Bar and Grille on Sunday morning. 

Above: The area between the tree in the foreground and the tree in the backgrounds is roughly the space of one of the semi-private beachside areas where we sat. The beach is immediately to the right.

Above: A closeup of the lapping waves along the shoreline. I made a video of this that I turn to from time to time to remind me of that serene place ...  

Above: My spot in one of the semi-private coves along the beach in back of the Hilton. Just a smile-conjuring (hopefully) way to put a wrap on this post about Key Largo.

Next up: Marathon 

Previous posts in this series:

Part I: Not bad for 'almost paradise'

Part II: Sombrero Beach strikingly beautiful

Part III: Key West packed with sights and attractions

Part IV: Ernest Hemingway house is worth the tour

Part V: Getting a panoramic view of Key West

Part VI: Sunsets and sailboats at Mallory Square

Part VII: Enjoying a sunset cruise on a catamaran

Part VIII: Beaches, beauty at Bahia Honda State Park

Florida Keys, Part IV: Ernest Hemingway house is worth the tour

When Lee Ann and I arrived at Ernest Hemingway's house and museum around 5:30 p.m. the night of Jan. 17, and we realized that the attraction had closed for the day a half-hour earliar, I knew I'd have to come back. I was a career journalist, and out of all of Key West's attractions, I wanted to explore Hemingway's house foremost.

On Thursday, Jan. 19, we made a point of setting out for Key West several hours earlier in the day, and it made a difference. We accomplished a lot more than we had two days earlier. Tuesday's trip had been leisurely; we had been "assessing the situation," as the saying goes. Thursday we were mostly all business (sprinkling in lots of fun along the way, of course). What's more, we got over to Mallory Square, on the opposite side of the island (from where Hemingway's house, the Key West Lighthouse and the southern-most point on the continental United States were located), in plenty of time to photograph the sunset. Missions accomplished!

Hence, the Jan. 19 trip to Key West will be broken into several posts, this being the first. I'll also devote one to our visits to the lighthouse tour and southern-most point, another to Mallory Square and the sunset, and possibly another to everything else (this latter one is in a state of flux).

The Hemingway house tour is worth the $14 cash-only admission (no senior or military discounts offered) for a several reasons. One is that you get access to everything on the grounds, with one important qualification. "Access" to the upper-floor carriage house that Hemingway used as his writing studio is limited. You can peer into the room from the doorway, which enables you to see his desk and typewriter, as depicted in the photo leading off the post. But a velvet rope stops you from entering. The photo at left is a closeup of the typewriter, taken at maximum zoom (300mm) on my Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di PZD VC lens.

Thus, only two or three people can actually appreciate the sight at a time, standing at the rope. Museum operators don't want folks trampling through the room.

Another reason the tour is worthwhile is that a tour guides provides good information about the house and Hemingway family,
including the story about his six-toed cats and their descendants, many of which still roam the grounds. (If you look at my Hemingway house picture in yesterday's post, you can see a couple of cats in the foreground). The two photos you see here were my best chance at a closeup of one of the cats' toes. After shooting the full-cat and paw shots, I moved delicately to my right to see if I could face the cat squarely for a closeup of all of a paw's toes/claws ... but the cat bolted. So, I failed in documenting that fact, but hey, being wickedly allergic to cat dander, I think I soldiered pretty well to at least try for it, all things considered!

And thirdly, there are no photograph restrictions on visitors. The tour guide simply asks that visitors wait until after the tour to do their photography so as not to interfere with the guide's movements and/or with the sight lines and attention of people taking the tour, which I thought was a perfectly reasonable request.

Here's a quick run through some of the more important facts about the house. The French Colonial style residence at the corner of Whitehead and Olivia streets was built in 1851 and designed by marine architect Asa Tift, whose image and biography (right) is presented in a display in the house.

Tift picked the highest available spot on the island -- 16 feet above sea level, which also happened to be the second-highest point on Key West (the highest, at 17 feet, our guide told us, is in one of the cemeteries).  It was built, including a full basement, with extremely thick walls and foundation using limestone mined from the quarry on which it was built. The walls' thickness is substantial enough to have prevented any flooding or structural damage from the sundry hurricanes and/or tropical storms that have hit the Keys through the years.

Hemingway lived in the house only for nine years, but he held onto its title until his death. Only one of his four wives, Pauline Pfeiffer, lived there with him, and it was her uncle who bought the home for the couple in late 1931 for $8,000. Ernest and Pauline were divorced in 1940, not long after he moved to Cuba, where his third wife, Martha, would join him. the Key West residence was sold by the Hemingway family for $80,000 shortly after Ernest committed suicide in Ketchum, Idaho, in July 1961.

While Hemingway was out of the country in the early 1930s, Pauline had a pool installed in front of the carriage house (Hemingway writing studio). When Hemingway returned and saw the pool, he was not pleased. He asked his wife how much it cost, and after she responded, he derisively tossed a penny at her as a way of showing that her decision had drained him financially. The pool continues to be maintained, and the penny is encased in a square in the concrete walkway near the pool, very close to the carriage house.

Early in his years at the home, Hemingway had a 6-foot-tall brick wall built along the property's borders to keep away tourists and local gawkers. At some point, another foot and a half of wire was installed on top of the bricks.

The books Hemingway wrote while living in Key West were "Death in the Afternoon" (1932); "Winner Take Nothing" (1933), a collection of short stories; "Green Hills of Africa" (1935); "To Have and Have Not" (1937); "The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories" (1938) and probably most of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1940).

Photo geek stuff: Everything in this post was taken with my Canon 6D equipped with a Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di PZD VC lens. Most outdoor shots were taken with a 67mm B&W polarizing filter, which I ceased using near dusk. I bracketed most compositions for three exposures that I processed in Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software.

And as usual, if you'd like to see a larger, sharper version of an image, click on the image. This is particularly important if you access the blog using a mobile device. To view a full gallery of photos I took at the Hemingway House, follow the link in this sentence. 

Above: A view of the southeast side of the house overlooking the yard, the view Hemingway had from the balcony outside his bedroom.

The pool (above) that Hemingway's wife Pauline had built in front of the carriage house while Hemingway was out of the country in the early 1930s, and the penny (below) Hemingway threw at her mockingly when he found out about it upon his return. The penny is preserved in an encasement embedded in the plaza at the end closest to the viewer in the picture above. 

Above: The grounds have a heavy amount of green landscaping and foliage.

Above: Agnes von Kurowsky Standfield was Hemingway's first love. She was an American and Red Cross nurse who tended to Hemingway in Milan, Italy, while the writer recovered from injuries suffered in World War I. They had promised to marry, but after Hemingway had returned to the United States after the war, Kurowsky wrote to him to say she had become engaged to an Italian officer (she would not marry him, either). Our guide told us it was likely that Hemingway left all of his wives first because he never again wanted to be jilted or rejected by another lover. It is believed that Kurowsky, who died in 1984 at the age of 92, inspired the character of nurse Catherine Barkley in Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms.' 

Hemingway's bed (above) on which lay two of the descendant cats (below). 

Hemingway's bedroom had glass doors that opened to a wide balcony (above) overlooking the southeast side of his property (below). 

Above: A piece of wooden sculpture in his bedroom. I don't know if this was authentic to the period, but given that Hemingway made at least two safaris to Africa, it's possible it is something he brought back. 

On the ground level, the main room (parlor), above, is to the left as you enter the house, and the dining room (below) is to the left. 

Above: A closeup of the wall display at the end of the parlor pictured two photos above this. 

Above and next two below: These are samples of the many wall photos and displays visitors will find throughout the house. I have many more of these in pictures at the full gallery at SmugMug.com. The ones above feature actress Ingrid Bergman, whom Hemingway strongly lobbied for (successfully) to play the role of Maria in the motion picture adaptation of his "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1943). She received a best actress Academy Award nomination for the performance.  

The kitchen (above) and a bench (below) whose back support, if I remember the guide's information correctly, was crafted from the head board of a bed frame.

Above: Stairs to the upper level. 

A tub in one bathroom (above), and a mostly full-view shot of another bathroom (below).

Above: Another piece of artwork in the house. I'm not positive where in the house I found this, but it might have been in the bathroom with the tub pictured two photos above. 

Up next: Key West Lighthouse and the southern-most point

Previous posts in this series:

Part I: Not bad for 'almost paradise'

Part II: Sombrero Beach strikingly beautiful

Part III: Key West packed with sights and attractions