In Search of Ernest Hemingway

One of John's most respected writers is Ernest Hemingway. The iconic writer led a larger than life existence. This sometimes raucous man seemingly had it all: fame and fortune. Hemingway experienced numerous lifetimes all wrapped up in one.

'Papa' Hemingway's framed photograph in his Key West home.

'Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.' Ernest Hemingway

The quotation above embodies the life of this writer - all lives end in death, but sometimes the way a person dies, does make them different from others. Hemingway proved that by choosing the manner of death, committing suicide on July 2nd, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho.

Traveling the Florida Keys, allowed John and Laureen, to truly slow down and discover many things they had no idea existed. It's a laid back sort of lifestyle - the Keys. Beaches everywhere, bars and restaurants located alongside Highway 1, and the residents very friendly.

So, how does this driving end up with a blog on Ernest Hemingway? Well, it isn't really about him, but the influence he had in Key West, during the nine years he lived there full-time. Attention-getting was not something Hemingway had to work at, but attention was certainly something he got. As one of the world's best known writers, both short stories and novels, wherever he went, news soon followed.

As we drove through the city/key of Islamorada, we noticed a beautifully appointed Bass Pro Shop, located on the Overseas Highway (a fancy title for the 113 mile road, also known as Highway 1). Being fans of the chain (strange since neither of us have any interest in fishing), we stopped and ventured inside to have a look-see.

There, in the center of this huge outdoor sports supply mecca, stood a thirty-eight foot trawler with the name Pilar boldly emblazoned on it's hull. John instantly got goosebumps. It couldn't be...could it?

Looks like the Pilar!

Was this the Pilar, that Hemingway had built for his time in Key West? Turns out it wasn't, but a cleverly created duplicate (sister-ship), built at the same place and same boatyard as the true Pilar -  now located in a museum in Cuba. This boat is almost identical to the one Hemingway had owned - down to the same exact model typewriter the writer had used for most of his prose in the southern most city in the United States.

John at the keys of Hemingway's typewriter? In the Keys.

Not disappointed at all that this wasn't the exact boat, no, in fact, it only made John that more fired up to get to Key West and tour the house and haunts that Hemingway lived and visited.

Well, Laureen wasn't in that much of a hurry -
relax a bit on the veranda and then hit the road. Island Time.

Key West, is to Florida what New Orleans is to Louisiana, an eclectic group of stores, bars, restaurants, residences and residents. As mentioned in the previous blog, In Search of Jimmy Buffet, Key West is a must-see destination. It is crazy fun, with so much to see in the narrow streets bordered by the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

Hemingway thought so too when he moved with his wife, Pauline, and their newborn son, Patrick. It was here in Key West that the author found his true success in writing, knocking out nearly 70% of all his combined works. A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon, and Green Hills of Africa to name just a few of the great works he tapped out during his Key West Days. In fact, Hemingway was probably, according to research, one of the first American novelists to have his work appear on the silver screen. At least eleven of his novels and short stories were turned into block bluster films.

His own life was an ongoing film. Married four times, wounded in World War I as an ambulance driver, he had traveled the world and even lived in Paris with the likes of James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and the Fitzgeralds. He embarked on lengthy deep sea fishing and explorations of the Caribbean aboard the Pilar, went on Safari into Africa, wrote about bull runs in Spain. He was a reporter during the Spanish Civil War, and during World War II, earned the Bronze Star for his  journalistic work. Rumors and myths are still alive today, that Hemingway informally led a small platoon of soldiers at the retaking of Paris from the Nazis. He wasn't supposed to do that, being simply a journalist, but that couldn't stop Papa Hemingway. Adventure was in his blood - a few German soldiers were not likely to scare this man.

He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1952 and the Noble Prize in 1954. He did it all.

The house which the Hemingway family called home, is located at 907 Whitehead Street, a quaint and beautifully quiet section of Key West, just blocks from the sea which the writer loved so much. The white and black, two story abode rests comfortably on nearly an acre of land - the largest privately owned residential property on the island.

John, standing at the entrance to the Hemingway house

The house is stately, but not overly flashy. A place where the writer and his family would be comfortable and afford Hemingway a hidden oasis to write. His fame, and his drinking in town, especially at Sloppy Joe's, caused Hemingway to choose to have a tall wall built around the home. People would often just walk up to the front door to see Hemingway at all hours of the day or night. He needed his privacy.

How Hemingway looked while living in Key West

Office where Hemingway wrote

One truly interesting item about the house is the number of cats roaming freely. You'd think Hemingway, being muy macho and all that, would have a love for large beastly dogs. Nope. He liked cats - and they are everywhere about the home. He had been given a six toed feline when they first moved to Key West from a ship's captain. This first polydactyl (six-toed) feline was named Snowball - and all of Snowball's descendants, nearly 50 of them, still reside around the property.  There's even a kitty cemetery on the grounds.

Cats own the house and the master bed

When Hemingway had returned home from covering the Spanish Civil War, he found that Pauline had torn down his beloved rear yard boxing ring. In its place was the largest privately owned pool south of Miami.

It seemed, Pauline had learned that her husband had taken up with her friend, Martha Gellhorn during the Spanish Civil War, where Martha was also working as a journalist. So, as payback, Pauline had Ernest's boxing ring torn down and a pool put in.

The largest pool in the Florida Keys - of course

Not to be outdone, Hemingway got drunk at Sloppy Joe's, which was being remodeled and dragged a urinal all the way home in the dead of night. When Pauline saw it in the back yard, she asked what it was. He told her, "You have your pool, and now I have my own."

The urinal pool - laying sideways

The couple didn't last long after that, which was truly the way Hemingway's marriages usually went. Get married and get divorced. Interesting, he tended to marry the women who were introduced to him by his current wife at the time.

His first spouse, Hadley introduced Pauline to Ernest - soon there was an affair and a divorce. Pauline, his second spouse, introduced Martha to Ernest, soon there was an affair and a divorce. Martha, his third spouse, introduced Mary to Ernest, soon there was an affair but this time no divorce. Mary made sure not to introduce any of her female friends to Ernest - safer that way.

"I don't mind Ernest falling in love," Pauline once wrote, "but why does he always have to marry the girl when he does?"

So, the search for Ernest Hemingway in Key West was complete. We learned a lot more about the author than what was available simply in material research. We walked where he walked. We had a drink or two at his favorite watering hole, and learned why he had moved to Key West in the first place.

Key West is an Ernest Hemingway mecca for millions of his fans. His influence can be seen and felt throughout the city. There's even an annual Hemingway Days each July - many white-bearded gentlemen (not Santa) arrive, trying to look like the writer himself.

He  moved from Key West to Cuba in 1939, when he married Martha. He'd spent only nine years in the keys, but left an indelible mark nearly a hundred years later.

Though Ernest Hemingway was larger than life, in many ways, he was still simply a man. At the end, he was suffering from severe depression, the inability to write, and overall tiredness from an excess of adventures. Severely wounded during World War I, continual pain from two plane crashes, liver issues (hmmm, wonder why), weight issues, and other maladies collected, over a lifetime of abuse - both mentally and physically.

He lived life on his own terms, and on that summer morning in Ketchum, Idaho - he decided to go out on his own terms, as well.

As a tour guide stated at the Hemingway house - "We can't judge him for committing suicide. It was his choice, as was his entire life. He decided how and when the whole adventure would be over."

We may not agree - but then again, it's okay to agree to disagree.

For further information:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway

https://www.hemingwayhome.com/

https://fla-keys.com/hemingway-days/

Going to the Birds

An unexpected hit which helped the Horror genre

In 1963, a film was released that turned a sleepy little town on the Northern Coast of California into a mecca for film buffs the world over. Overnight (well, actually it took nearly three full years in which to write, develop, produce and release the movie), Bodega Bay became a household word and ornithology was looked upon with a new respect – or fear perhaps.

Director Alfred Hitchcock’s first attempt at a horror movie, actually a precursor to that genre in the future, proved to be a mighty success. The film received a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 96% with the comment; “Proving once again that build-up is the key to suspense, Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying villains in horror history”.

From the folks of Rotten Tomatoes – that was quite a compliment. Hitchcock had a flying success – yes the pun was intended.

We at J and L believe that there is not a person alive who once had the chance to view the film ‘The Birds’ hasn’t had at some time in their life a slight sense of apprehension when noticing a grouping of winged creatures alighted on telephone lines.

Nothing wrong here, move on without fear - if you can???

“Just birds.” Yeah, but looking over the shoulder cannot be stopped. Hitchcock, you truly scared us with that gem – thanks a lot!

Alfred came up with the idea after reading a novella by Daphne du Maurier “The Birds” which actually takes place in Cornwall, England right after World War II and was published in 1952. Along with the writing by du Maurier a slight disturbance had gotten the director’s attention in 1961 in the town of Capitola, California. On August 18, 1961 the residents suddenly found their small town being ‘attacked’ by thousands of birds who were flinging or flying themselves to death against windows, rooftops and anywhere else they could spread their wings for the last time. A local newspaper in Santa Cruz wrote that the citizens believed the birds of demise were possessed by demons or perhaps drugs – it was the sixties after all. Anyway, Hitchcock had an epiphany– that’s how genius directors think – death, disaster, scared people all equal to a hit film.

Roll the celluloid!

Hitchcock hired Evan Hunter in September of 1961 to write the script after working with him on earlier projects and knew her style well as she knew what her boss wanted also. They worked together and finished the script. 

The always famous cameos of Alfred Hitchcock

Now for the actors:

A good looking lead male – Rod Taylor as Mitch Brenner hit the mark as the handsome attorney from San Francisco who made it a tradition to be home with his widowed mother and younger sister every weekend in Bodega Bay.

An attractive leading lady – Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels truly made the right statement as a beautiful and spoiled socialite from San Francisco who happened to bump into ‘Mitch’ in a bird shop in San Francisco (coincidence) and decided he was to be her next boy toy – so a short drive to Bodega Bay in her silver Aston Martin convertible wouldn’t be such a problem. Really, watch your hairdo ‘Melanie’!

What every woman wears in a boat -  a mink coat!

The rest of the cast – Jessica Tandy (as Mitch’s mother), Suzanne Pleshette (as Mitch’s platonic friend – yeah), Veronica Cartwright (as Mitch’s younger sister), and the others were more than enough talent to get the point across to the audience – these were real people living in a small oceanside town seventy miles north of San Francisco and they were scared out of their minds with the winged demons dive bombing anything that moved. Poking heads and eyes with their pointed beaks made movie viewers scream in the plush seats and look into the skies as they left the movie theaters.

As stated earlier – once viewed, once warned.

Now, this is Hollywood after all so reality has a lot of help from fantasy and trickster maneuvers. The actual shooting of the Potter School House, the church and the children running from the birds – as well as the wonderfully attractive shot of Suzanne Pleshette sans eyeballs was actually filmed in the town of Bodega which is five miles southeast of Bodega Bay. An inland tiny town which fit what Hitchcock and Hunter envisioned as the perfect look.

Suzanne Pleshette with eyes - for now before the angry birds

Bodega Bay was used for filming other integral parts of the film including the rather sad but funny scenes in the Tide Water Bar where the patrons were eating, drinking and thinking why were the birds acting so aggressively. Ethel Griffies, who played ornithologist Mrs. Bundy poo-poos the ideas of birds being nasty to everyone in the establishment when in the next instance birds are on a free-for-all swooping here and there tearing the eyeballs out of anyone on the street.

“Oops, my bad,” she retorts after looking out the window and seeing a man being blown up at the gas station across the street after a gangster bird came in low and took him out.

Right - very friendly birdies!

Okay, perhaps that’s not how it truly was in the script but could be if a sequel was made today.

The rest of the film had various smaller locations and the special effects were created at Disney Studios but it was and is Bodega Bay which will always be the place where birds lost their minds and beat the daylights out of humans for a couple of days. That’s all it took to make a legend – two days of ducking, diving, scratching, and poking to put a town into the annuals of movie history.

How the school and church look from the same angle today

J and L, on our trip driving the Highway 1 north of San Francisco came across Bodega Bay and being fans of Alfred Hitchcock’s work decided it was time to delve a little more into this film phenomenon.

John in front of Potter School which is a private residence now

With a little research and exploration, the truth of the filming made it clear this is where we needed to be. With an almost cult following “The Birds” has made this coastal city a must see by movie buffs and each year the town hosts a festival in honor of the filming and Tippi Hedren actually visits and talks to fans and does autograph sessions.

 Rumor has it that this coming Labor Day may be her last visit but we all know those Hollywood types – they like final statements so they can come back the next year and have larger crowds.

Laureen discussing techniques with Alfred in Bodega

Traveling can bring unexpected and wonderful experiences and that’s why J and L travel – to see things, read about them and smile together.

That’s what exploring is all about isn’t it?

It could happen again - who knows?

Cruising the Time Machine - Part One: Fort Ross

Cruising the Time Machine – Part One: Fort Ross

Our keyboards don't have those letters - is it really Russian?

 Overlooking the cold dark blue waters of the Pacific Ocean from a grassy cliff, stands the refurbished but authentically accurate Fort Ross where the Russians first invaded the United States. Actually, there was no invasion since in the early 1800’s the United States was not the country it is now with expansion not even past the Mississippi River. California was not much of a thought and the gold rush which would change that concept forever was still at least 37 years away.

View of the Pacific Ocean from Fort Ross

Fort Ross is an easy drive along the narrow and dangerously breathtaking Highway 1, approximately 8o miles north of San Francisco. The passengers will have a great time staring down at some of the most majestic and beautiful coastline in the world while the driver will get blurry eyed gauging the roadway and wondering if the whiteness in his or her knuckles will ever go away.

Nice setting for a Russian Fort on American soil

The Russian-American Company (RAC) whose main function it was to collect seal and otter furs, built the fort in 1812 and carried on business there until 1841 when the decline for such furry clothing made it non-profitable. Bad for the RAC but good for the little creatures of the Northern California coastline. A secondary priority was growing food for the employees of RAC who were stationed in Alaska – this too turned out not to be good as the growing season was rather short and the amount of gophers in the farmland proved too much bother to deal with.

Looking north from Fort Ross - nice view

J and L took a short four day cruise up the northern coast of California in their RV though it should be noted here that it is not recommended to drive such large vehicles on the winding stretches of asphalt. But since the drive and scenery is a must, just tow a smaller vehicle if a RV is the mode of travel. Our rendition of the ‘Herbie the love bug’ is our go-to transportation for daily excursions away from the RV. Light-weight, funky looking, and fun to drive.

John pointing - always looks good in photos

Now that's a Russian design

The rather large wooden fort was built on an ancient Kashaya Village site and is considered one of the truly first International communities in North America (some of the Russians married the local natives which were then referred to as Creoles). Located on the Spanish Frontier and occupied by Russians, Native Alaskans, Kashaya, Miwok and Pomo Indians living together as one large ‘family.’ Almost equal number of males and females made up the population which was documented by Father Ioann Veniaminov who conducted a census of the community in 1836: 260 residents made up of 154 male to 106 female (120 Russians, 50 Kodiak Aleuts and 39 various other local natives as mentioned above). Besides the regular inhabitants, the fort was also the destination for dignitaries and businessmen from around the world – United States, Europe and Mexico.  At this time the Russian Empire and the Chinese Empire did not get along too well so the Americans were used as go-betweens to sell the fur to China which was the highest market for the little furry creatures. Because of the location of Fort Ross deals were made with the Hawaiian King Kamehameha during that time period making this a true community of diverse cultures.  In fact, the people got along so well that the Pomo baskets which are some of the sturdiest and decorative native handicrafts from the area were so admired by the Russians that the largest collection in the world is in Russia today.

Replica of California's first windmill - Russian made

Wow, if only that were the case today – maybe not the baskets but the getting along part.

Then again, the baskets are pretty nice.

The fort is also known the place to be where the first windmill to grind grain was built in California – this is a locale where firsts just keep coming.

Explorers on the explore

After the fort was abandoned and everything sold off by the RAC, the area became farm land, grazing land and even a stage stop for those folks traveling the coast of California.

In 1906 the grounds were designated a state park and is one of the oldest in the entire state of California. As any park – this one is visited by thousands of people from around the world who want to take a step back in time with a keen eye to research and exploration – that is something J and L want all travelers to do.

Sort of like a time machine just without all the handles, gizmos and electricity buzzing around. Highway 1 is enough of a thrill.

Laureen walking the beach with a jacket in July

On a side note J and L bumped into a young man by the name of Brian who is doing something pretty awesome this summer of 2015. Astride his Harley Davidson, Brian plans on hitting 48 states within a couple to three months. We chatted him up a few minutes and he even showed us his route already planned out with pit stops here and pit stops there. He plans to take paths not always taken by travelers and we nodded in agreement as in all of our travels the famous poem by Robert Frost which talks about road less-traveled should, in truth, be the one taken to influence our destinations.

Brian - on his quest of 48 states in 2 months

We wish our new friend the best in his road circuit.

Brian's trusty steed