Winding Down in Key West

Key West - Days 126 - 131

Tuesday March 11th - Sunday March 16th

The Little White House

Tuesday was a rainy day, the first one in a long time. We became tourists once again and met our good friends Sheila and Jim to tour The Little White House. The building, constructed by the Navy in 1890, was originally quarters for naval officers. The navy has played many roles in Key West. During that period, the Navy’s mission was to rid the Florida Keys of pirateering.

The Little White House has been used by a number of Presidents, most often by Harry Truman who used it as a vacationing home and functioning White House between 1946 and 1952. The building has been restored to that time period.

The tour was well done, educational, and very interesting. Harry Truman, although very well read, never went to college. He adopted the slogan, “The Buck Stops Here,” after seeing it on the desk of a warden at a Federal Penitentiary he visited. He liked the slogan so well, he asked where he could get one like it. The warden said the prisoners had made his and he was sure they would duplicate one for the President. The sign arrived several months later with a hand written letter from the inmates that described the origin of the slogan. Playing poker in the old west, the dealer had a buck knife next to him. When he passed the deal, he passed the buck knife with it. The cards and knife were passed around the table until someone accepted the deal – hence – “the buck stops here.” Truman, an avid poker player, adopted the slogan for himself. Truman was an exceptionally honest man. Upon leaving the White house he wrote a letter requesting that he be allowed to take the desk sign with him since it had been a gift to a President. He was granted permission. It was the only item he took when he left.

While at the Little White House, he and one aide would sit at a small desk each morning and conduct all of the business of the White House. He once wrote to Bess that he signed his name more than 300 times most days. Hardly the staff that accomplishes the work today!!

His salary was only $75,000 a year while in office. All of the entertaining he did came out of his own pocket. Several times during his term he had to take out a personal loan to meet his expenses. When he and Bess left the White House, his popularity had plummeted to an approval rating of only 27%. There was no pension for a President. They purchased their own train tickets and quietly traveled back to her family home in Missouri. He never owned his own home.

Despite the lack of public support when he left office, in February of 2000 Truman was ranked 5th in a poll done by a group of 58 leading Presidential historians. The historians ranked all 41 Presidents on the basis of public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, vision, human rights, and overall performance. Ranks one through four went respectively to Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, and Theodore Roosevelt. Quite a well earned honor for Truman.

During his two terms in office, from April 12, 1945 to January 20, 1953, his accomplishments were noteworthy. He signed the United Nations Charter and dropped the atomic bomb to end World War II in 1945; in 1947 he created the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan; he recognized the State of Israel, supported the Berlin airlift, desegregated the military, and proposed the Fair Deal in 1948; in 1949 he created NATO; he waged the Korean War from 1950 – 1953; and fired General MacArthur in 1951. Few Presidents have done so much in such a short period.

After a great lunch with Jim and Sheila at Kelly’s, the original home of Pan American Airlines, we spent the afternoon at the Key West Eco Center. Bob thoroughly enjoyed that. Their displays and movie depict the formation of coral reefs and describe the variety of corals and fish living on them.

March 12 – Bob’s 69th Birthday

For his birthday, Bob wanted to sail out to one of the reefs to snorkel. Theresa and Andrew, from Freedom, joined us for an afternoon that will not soon be forgotten.

Patti, Sheila, and I had planned a surprise birthday party for Bob for the evening. Word spread during the week, and by the time the day arrived, many of our dock friends had joined in. Everyone contributed something. We had a four course dinner on the dock complete with Key Lime Pie and birthday candles for dessert. Bob was totally and completely surprised.

March 13th – Sailing and Dining

Patti and Carl, from WindStar, invited Sheila, Jim, Bob and me to sail with them. The water was strikingly blue, the color I’ve only seen here and in the Caribbean – absolutely beautiful! We had a great afternoon followed by dinner at Mango Mama’s. Once again the food was outstanding!

As I write this, I am thinking – this is a pretty good life! Now mind you, there are all of the humdrum monotonous things we do on a weekly basis – like laundry, cleaning, paying bills, shopping, filling water tanks, emptying holding tanks, and routine boat maintenance. Since they don’t fall into the category of memorable experiences -- I’m not choosing to write about them.

March 14th – Hogfish Bar and Grill and The World’s Worst Waitress

The New York Times carried an article on Key West this week that described the Hogfish Bar and Grill as “a lively roadhouse-style joint at a marina a few minutes outside Key West proper, on Stock Island.” The reporter continued, “I came to talk with the owners, Bobby and Michelle Mongelli, about their reputation for nabbing more hogfish than anyone in town. The motto around Key West on hogfish, a flaky, delicate, white-fleshed fish, is “we have it when we have it.” It’s indigenous, but it’s hard to come by: not only does it have to be speared by a diver, but it’s also seasonal.

“There’s a mystique surrounding it,” Mr. Mongelli said. “You know how it is. The harder it is to get, the more people want it.” As an ex-diver with enough connections to make a small-town mayor blush, he gets about 30 to 40 percent of the local pull, but even he runs out sometimes. (He’s been known to spear a few himself, if complaints get too loud.)"

The next section may be of entrepreneurial interest to Steve and Stephanie!!!

"The marina where the Hogfish sits is one of the last undeveloped deep-water ports on the East Coast, and talk turned to the future. There’s a lot of buzz about what will happen to Stock Island if and when Cuba opens up. For now, though, Stock Island remains a quiet refuge from bustling Key West — a place where locals come to show out-of-towners what Key West used to be like, where commercial shrimp boats still pull in from three-week journeys at sea. “That’s Ricky Toomer’s boat,” Mr. Mongelli said, pointing across the marina. “He just came back with $50,000 worth of shrimp. It’s loaded to the gills with shrimp.”

So… having just read the New York Times article on Hogfish, and having had two wonderful meals there, we headed for one last taste of Hogfish before leaving the Keys. Arriving just ahead of the dinner crowd, we got the last table – a picnic table on the water.

A middle-aged burly, broad, blonde with a surly attitude accosted our table. Lucky us – she was our waitress!! She plied us with, “We can make anything you want, any way you want.” What she didn’t say was – do not ask me ANY questions! Each inquiry brought a brusque “Point to it on the menu!” Not having received the answer to his 1st question, Carl had the audacity to ask her a 2nd! Not the right thing to do! She replied, “I said point to it on the menu!” After a few seconds delay, undaunted, she attacked the next person with, “Since he can’t make up his mind, I’ll come back to him later. Point to what you want on the menu!” This scenario was repeated around the table. She was taking no prisoners! We all finally managed to order something by following the Witch’s Rules - pointing to it on the menu. Patty was the only who complied with her demands and pointed to barbecued spare ribs. When the meals came, the waitress brought her barbecued shrimp! Despite the rude and slow service, the food was delicious, and the sunset spectacular.

March 15th – Another Small World Experience

This morning we bid our friends Sheila and Jim a sad farewell. We’ve spent a great deal of pleasurable time together over the past few weeks and developed a real liking for one another. They plan on flying to Maine this summer (Jim is a retired American Airlines pilot) to sail with us. We are looking forward to that!

A new boat arrived at Boca Chica Marina yesterday, with a Maine registration. It’s in the slip next to ours. “Walkabout” is a 1980 Cape Dory 26 trawler. Being the gregarious person I am, I went over and introduced myself to the couple and asked where in Maine they are from. Betty replied, “We’re not from Maine. We bought the boat in Maine and had it hauled out in October to have work done on it – then we had it trucked to Maryland.” I said, “My son and his wife have a marina in Maine, where did you have the work done?” Bob said, “Harpswell.” You can see where this is going! “Which marina?” I asked, to which he replied, “Great Island Boat Yard.” What a small world!! There are extremely few boats leaving Maine that end up at the Naval Marina in Boca Chica in the Keys! Prior to their buying it, the boat had actually been kept at GIBY since before Steve and Steph bought the business.

March 16th – Dolphins and Tarpons

This morning we were treated to three large dolphins playing and fishing between our dock and the next one. Fish hide underneath docks and boats to find shade and escape the sun. Bob was fortunate to get the best show when he saw one of them chase a fish on top of the water a few seconds – just long enough to dash across the channel and catch his prey! After the dolphin, two large tarpons (one was 4 ½ feet; the other 6 feet long) swam under the docks – again looking for their breakfast. Haven't seen many small fish this morning - they've probably been ingested! Today is a quiet down day for us, writing the blog, beginning to plan our route north, and looking at navigational charts.
We talked with our friends, Mark and Pauline Wells this morning. They plan to join us for a few days of sailing in April, which we are looking forward to. Later on our cruise north Mark has committed to do the overnight(s) with us from the Delaware Bay to an as yet undecided point north.