#147 Hemingway’s Hangouts

What you should know about Hemingway’s hangouts is that they are all bars.  Dude loved a good bar and spent a lot of time in them. 

Hemingway spent most of the 1940s and 1950s in Cuba and his favorite bars provided the inspiration and local color for The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in the Stream.

La Bodeguita del Medio (The Little Bar in the Middle) is famous for its mojito.  This bar is little and in the middle. It was also so crowded that we actually had to drink in the street.

La Floridita is famous for its frozen daiquiri which “Papa” is said to have helped to perfect.  There is also a statue of him in where he normally sat, and again, this bar is crowded! (So crowded that I did not take a photo of the statue.)

Hemingway’s home, La Vigia is about 10 miles outside of Havana.  His wife donated it as a museum and it is preserved the way he left it. He lived there until 1960 when he moved to Idaho – dying by suicide just a year later.
















View from the back porch:






They built this tower for Hemingway to use as an office, but he didn't like it and it ended up basically being a house for their cats.


The pool was undergoing deep cleaning while I was there:


His boat, The Pilar:


The Pilar was docked in Cojimar while Hemingway lived on the island.  We also visited his favorite bar in Cojimar (because, of course, he had a favorite bar there.)







Hemingway's table is roped off:

#146 Key West

The original name of Key West was Cayo Hueso (in Spanish) and translates to Bone Island.  It is said that when the Spanish settled the island it was strewn with the bones of previous inhabitants.  Which is probably true considering the island is actually a coral island and had basically no topsoil and so you weren't able to bury anything.

Key West is closer to Havana (106 miles) than it is to Miami (127 miles) and the inhabitants embrace the unique culture of being not quite the US and not quite the Caribbean.  In 1982 they even briefly declared themselves an independent nation the "Conch Republic".  The Conch Republic is still loud, proud, and celebrated every April.

Harry S. Truman spent a total of 175 days in Key West during his presidency and the Little White House and Truman Annex are a testament to how much time he spent there. 

Many homes have their porch/veranda roof painted "Haint Blue"

Haints are restless spirits of the dead.  Haints can't cross water and the blue is meant to look like water to trick the spirits into not being able to cross into your house.

Ernest Hemingway in Key West




The Hemingway House is famous for its 6-toed cats, all descended from an original white kitten bought for his children, the cats have free reign to the property. The cats do not care about the visitors, at all.  They basically are just quietly resigned to having their picture taken, but please no picking up the cats!

Ernest had mentioned that he wanted a pool (the first on the island), and had even picked out the place for it.  It would be well-fed from a deep cistern.  While Hemingway was away covering the Spanish Civil War his wife, Pauline, had the pool built for $20,000 (about $350,000 now).  When he returned and learned the cost, they argued and he shouted "Well, you might as well have my last cent!" and threw a penny at her.  They embedded that penny in the cement where it fell. 



I did not go to the southern most point and take the obligatory picture.  Maybe if I go back I will, but instead I walked by the original Sloppy Joe's.  When the lease was canceled (or the rent went up; I'm not clear on the specifics), Joe let his patrons basically take everything out. Hemingway ended up with his favorite urinal.  It's at the Hemingway House, but yeah, I'm not getting a picture of that.


Anyway, Joe reopened his bar a block-ish away.


Our guide told us that lots of people go to Sloppy Joe's, but he thinks it is mostly crowded and overrated and pointed us toward some better places.  I ended up at the Hog's Breath.





And then strolled to the original Key Lime Bakery






And strolled around Mallory Square before heading back to the ship.

#145 Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta

In 1972 thirteen balloons ascended as part of the first Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The Fiesta is now the largest balloon event in the world.  In 2018, 567 balloons from 16 countries were registered to fly, and most of those launched from the 78-acre launch field at the opening session.

I was in Albuquerque for work, but arranged my schedule to fly back a day late so I could attend the opening session of the two week festival.

The weather Saturday morning was perfect.  Although high winds, and showers were predicted for the evening (and indeed forced the cancellation of the evening balloon glow), the morning was crisp and clear and perfect for balloon flying.

My Albuquerque colleagues encouraged me to take advantage of a park and ride which provides a roundtrip bus (in priority traffic lanes) and entry to the park.  It cost about $15 which seems like a pretty good deal.  The bad part of the deal is that hot air balloons like to launch early in the morning.  So, I got up about 4 am.  NOOOOOOOO!

When I got to the park it was still dark and just about 6 am.  Dawn Patrol was just starting.  Dawn Patrol began in 1978 when two California based balloonist developed a position lighting system that allowed them to fly at night.  The Dawn Patrol pilots at Fiesta take off in the dark and fly until it is light enough to see landing sites.  Other balloonists watch the Dawn Patrol and get an early idea of wind speed and direction at various altitudes.  

On Mass Ascension days about a dozen Dawn Patrol balloon do a choreographed inflation and launch set to music.

The Mass Ascension is exactly what it sounds like.  All the participating balloons launch in two waves.  Zebras (wearing black and white uniforms) serve as traffic cops and launch directors making sure the balloons leave the field in an orderly, safe fashion.  And by safe, that also means they corral the observers on the field so they don’t get run over by a balloon or gondola!





I seriously, cannot take a non-derpy picture.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is crazy.  Because of their safety record they allow everyone to be on the field walking amongst the balloons. There are balloons everywhere – in every state of inflation.  And once the Ascension starts, the sky is full of hundreds of balloons.  

I didn’t walk the entire 78-acres, and still felt like it was an overwhelming, crazy amount of balloons.






My advice for attending – get there early, and leave at an off-peak time.  When my bus arrived, there was no line – we just walked right in to the field, and we I left there were only 2 other people on my bus. But by the time I left, the line to get in was winding through a Disneyland ride-like maze, and I heard people saying that the lines to go back to the park and ride were also crazy long.  If I happen to be in Albuquerque during the first couple of weeks of October again, I would definitely go, but I might just try to get tickets to the Chasers Club!