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Over-Dressed In Key West

Padma Ramachandran

The leap into the depths of the sea, even though it was only 15 feet at that point, was like a leap unto death to me.

At 62, I was trying snorkeling for the first time in the limpid green waters of Key West.

Around me, my grandchildren were snorkeling as if they had done it all their lives, chatting about the sting of the jellyfish and the large number of fish they had seen.

For one panicky moment, as I managed to float in the water, I peered in and saw a wee bit of sea life in the form of a fish. Enough was enough. I clambered back on to the safety of the boat.

There is plenty of snorkeling to do in Key West, even if you do not count all the other water sports they have. The more adventurous you are, the more you can enjoy the "wet and wonderful Florida Keys". It was certainly an unforgettable experience for me. But you can savor the charm of the place even without being interested in sea activities.

Do you like to ride a bike or a scooter? Brightly colored cycles and scooters are available in purple, red, and yellow for hire. You are reminded of the large number of scooters available in India, which add to the noise, if not to the color of the street. What a lot of traffic hazards they pose, though they are truly the vehicles of the masses.

Key West was very famous in the past for ships getting wrecked. Business flourished around their retrieval and disposal of the stuff they carried. Asa Tift was a great ship wrecker, from whom Ernest Hemingway of Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner bought his house in which he lived and wrote for many years.

Key West has also been home to some famous authors, the most famous among them being Hemingway, Tennesse Williams and Robert Frost.

Hemingway's house is preserved as a 'heritage house'. It also is the residence for more than 60 cats, said to be the successors of the many cats Hemingway kept.

But don't look for the big banyan tree under which he sat and wrote parts of his many novels, such as A Farewell to Arms. It was uprooted during a hurricane. He bought the house for a princely sum of $ 8,000. It is said the first swimming pool in Key West was built there by his wife at more than double the cost of his house and garden, that is, at $ 20,000. Since she got it built when he was away, perhaps it was the cause of domestic disharmony later.

Though he was a gifted author who won the highest recognition in his lifetime, he was prone to depression and committed suicide in his sixties. In India, Hemingway is well known for his first book,The Old Man and the Sea.

Key West has many quaint old houses and history seems to come alive when you drive through or take the "trolley" tour around the island. One of the most famous streets is Whitehead Street which houses Ripley's Believe it or Not 'Odditorium', full of 'odd' bits of information, including one about the number of yards in a Sikh turban.

Duval Street runs parallel to Whitehead Street. Here there are many restaurants, surrounded by ambling cycle-rickshaws and whizzing scooters. There must be a lot of sea food available -- don't ask me more, for I am a vegetarian and had to resort to Wendy's and Mcdonald's for French fries and milk shakes.

Bounded by the Gulf of Mexico on one side and on the other by the Atlantic Ocean, and just 100 miles north of Cuba, Key West is strategically located. It was President Truman's favorite place to visit whenever he got the chance, and there is a navy presence there now.

Like south India, Key West knows only three types of climate -- hot, hotter and hottest. Therefore, it has tourists throughout the year.

All you need by way of clothes, is your swimming gear and a minimum of clothing. It was such a contrast -- while most of the tourists were hardly clad, there was I, ludicrously over-clothed in the sari. If not a sari, then a salwar-kameez, undoubtedly with a long dupatta.

Padma Ramachandran is an educator, author, women's rights activist and administrator in India. She has written for The Indian Express, the Times of India, Swagat, The Hindu, Financial Times and other publications. She is also the author of a book on public administration in India.

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