Key West, Part 3

We left Kermit's and headed further up  Green. There was a small shop selling various types of hot sauce where we went in and had our tongues scorched by 2 million scoval units. There were a few cigar places, too...

Once, when I had been to the Keys years before, I came upon a cigar shop of no brand names. Inside, I met a gray-haired man who rolled his own cigars. In dozens of boxes along the walls, he separated the cigars: Churchills and pyramids and perfectos and chisels. He was an artist. I spoke with him for a long time about Florida and cigars and life. 

Such an impression he gave me that, in my imagination, I'd made up a story about him: A sea captain of no famous repute sailed across the Caribbean. He bore a scraggly beard and a second-hand cap that he'd obtained from a swap-meet in Merida. On an evening in August, 1979, he'd made a fateful, drunken decision to sail to Cuba from a small port in the Yucatán. The captain was caught-up in a storm. His sailboat was crushed by the waves, it capsized and was sunk at sea. The captain survived. In the morning, he found himself upon the beaches of Key West, and with nothing much else to do, and no boat, he walked into a small cigar shop and asked for a job. 

I have an immense respect for people who do what they love for a living. I never found that cigar shop again, but I did stop at a more typical shop and picked-up a Montecristo. 

We took our time and strolled leisurely through the crowded streets, making our way toward the northwest part of the island, again. We stopped at Sloppy Joe's. The place was one big room, and it was packed. It was dark inside, only lit by the blinding sun bouncing off the pavement and entering the open doorways. The band was loud and the crowd was noisy, already roiling hard, many of the people obviously annihilated, throwing-down on fat burgers and cold beers. The air was thick with that familiar oaken smell bars have, charbroiled meat, french fries, condiments, and suntan lotion. 

 

We sat at a table in the center of the room and ordered the Havana Nachos, fish tacos, SJ's wings, hot, a Papa Dobles, and a Sloppy Mojito. The band's leader worked the crowd, many people singing along to old tunes. We sipped our drinks while my wife posted pictures of our day. There was one of me kissing a cockatiel on the street and another of my son crying over habanero sauce at Peppers of Key West. 

When the food came, we dug into the nachos. They had the flavor of a sloppy joe, plus sour cream and olives. Lettuce and tomatoes were crisp. The chips were the large, restaurant-style variety. With its beef, black beans, and cheese, the nachos made for a heavy appetizer. 

The wings were the right level of heat for "hot"--not blazing, but not too tame. They had the usual buffalo flavor going-on, decently sized. The fish tacos were tasty--corn tortilla, battered fish, a squirt of Baja-style sauce, cabbage. The plate is a generous serving for one person, but, like most of the other menu items, it's the usual bar fare. Okay, the place is kind of a Key West, touristy, Hemingway-had-something-to-do-with-it destination and it's not designed to be a 4-star restaurant. It's a fun place to grab a snack. We finished our drinks and left.