050102, 2200hr, florida time.

i'm at the southernmost part of america right now - key west.

during the mid 19th century, this city was one of the richest in america, due to a combination of both the cigar industry and the wrecking industry. after the great depression, the city almost went bankrupt, but is right now making its living in tourism. if you don't know why the cigar industry, let it be known that key west is barely 90 miles away from cuba, the land of tobacco. ahem. as for the wrecking business, i didn't know till today too. see, about 5 miles off the coast of the island, there is this huge coral reef [2nd largest in the world or something, i think, just after the great barrier in australia] and navigation around the gulf of mexico for trade during those times was really tough. when the weather conditions got bad [think hurricanes], a lot of cargo ship got wrecked on the coral reefs. the locals at key west rushed out to save the crew, and salvage the cargo. the law then was such that these "wreckers" would have a share of these goods [like china, cotton, tea, liquor and furniture even] when they get auctioned off. man, it was a fortune. but of course, there were also risky tradeoffs. firstly, these divers were bareback divers - obviously no deep diving aparatus back then. and often, the boats that rushed out to rescue the wrecked ship ended up wrecked or overturned by the rough seas too. so in many ways, these men deserve the rewards. one of the men, was apparently blinded by the sea water surrounding one wrecked ship, because the ship carried a large quantity of liquids like hard liquor, champagne, beer, and even steak sauce. every cent he earned came with a price.

we also visited the house of ernest hemingway - he spent quite a number of years here at key west - he fell in love with the place when he came down here to pick up a car he ordered and ended up waiting a week for it. you find out all these interesting things about him, his colorful life - he loved fishing. he loved cuba and the spanish culture very much - his best drinking and fishing buddy is still living in cuba right now, age 104. he loved cats - he had 61 cats in his residence the whole time he was there. he had 4 wives - apparently quite a lady's man. he was an ambulance driver in the first world war, fell in love with a nurse and got spurned. this nurse turned out to be the only woman in his life that he's ever liked but didn't get. haha. i think the guide for the house was really funny - hemingway's 2nd wife pauline was the only one out of the 4 who lived at the house at key west, and the guide told many funny stories about her. like how she demanded all the ceiling fans to be removed and replaced with french chandeliers - not a good idea for key west weather, especially in summer. and how she ordered a salt water swimming pool to be built in the house compounds [when the house was just a couple of miles away from the beach] for $20000, though hemingway bought the whole house for just $8000. and how she got really pissed off with hemingway when he carried home a urinal from the local bar when the bar moved. man, it was hilarious.

in the evening, we went to the bayside mallory square, where they hold a carnival type thing every night. i didn't think it was too fun at first, but the last show we saw was just so humorous, the performer really had me laughing till my sides hurt. he was basically a juggler and tightrope walker. actually, come to think of it, he did more talking than any of the stunts, but probably that's a good thing. a lot of sex-related jokes. at one point, he took a woman's camera and took a picture of his crotch. ok, that doesn't sound too funny right now, but it was cracking me up then. heh. plus, tk bought each of us a balloon flower. it was so incredibly sweet of him, my goodness. i really had a good time.

and that's not the end of it! after dinner, we realised that we could still make it in time for a night ghost tour. the guy basically brought us around to hot ghost spots in the town, and told us the stories. about the doll called robert that was possessed [and actually still locked in a glass chest at a local museum, which i absolutely refuse to visit. the doll looks creepy enough in pictures, ain't gonna pay money to go see it in a box.] about the hotel waitor boy who fell to his death in a malfunctioning elevator shaft. about the 8 children who died from a fire in a church. about the woman in blue who wasn't hanged [as in execution hanging] properly and died a painful death. eeeeek. i got really freaked out, i guess i'm just very sensitive to paranormal stuff like that. which is why i refuse to visit that darn doll.

considering how i'm really not a touristy person, i'm surprised i had such a good time today at a town so blatantly out to earn your tourist dollar. i guess it's the people's sense of humor. this town is simply weird - even the locals say so. in some dispute with the federal government, the city declared independence and called itself the conch [prononced konk] republic. [conch is a kind of shellfish.] it printed its own currency and flag, but surrendering very quickly and demanded foreign aid and damages. hahaha...till this day, the locals called themselves conchs. if you're not born in key west, you'll have to spend at least 7 years here, before you can be considered a conch and buried in the city cemetary when you die. the tour guide on the city train tour said, tongue-in-cheek, "see that white stuff the pavement is made of? it's conch-krete." hahahhaa....i think they have this very unique honesty and humor that is very refreshing.

i love this place! man, i had so much fun today, i think this has got to be the best day of the whole winter trip, if nothing else surprising happens next week. i loved the beaches i visited, i enjoyed myself in orlando, yes yes. but this place is just unique. it's weird. it's humorous. it's sunny. i feel so happy. *big fat grin* it's great.