Hemmingway House ?

[Mcshells]

I am a huge Hemmingway fan and on our last trip to Key West I missed seeing his house (long story). We only have a few hours in Key West (7:30 to 1:30) and a few things to do on our list.

 

Anyway, what can you do/see at Hemmingway's house without paying and going inside? Can you access the bookstore? Can you meet the cats?

 

If you pay for the tour how long is the tour? I really don't think my husband and kids would be interested in going inside. How long would they be waiting for me?

 

I 'think' I might be fine if I can walk by and take a few pictures. But would love some feedback on this spot in Key West

[peter_krynicki]

I am a huge Hemmingway fan and on our last trip to Key West I missed seeing his house (long story). We only have a few hours in Key West (7:30 to 1:30) and a few things to do on our list.

 

Anyway, what can you do/see at Hemmingway's house without paying and going inside? Can you access the bookstore? Can you meet the cats?

 

If you pay for the tour how long is the tour? I really don't think my husband and kids would be interested in going inside. How long would they be waiting for me?

 

I 'think' I might be fine if I can walk by and take a few pictures. But would love some feedback on this spot in Key West

 

 

You cannot enter without paying. You can pay and enter and not take the tour, though. I've always wished I could just visit the bookstore without paying the entrance fee.

 

Their web page says the tour takes 30 minutes but you may have to wait 5 - 10 minutes for enough people to que up for the next tour. I'm figuring 45 minutes waiting at the most, but they could browse around in the Bahama Village a few blocks away on the corner of Whitehead and Petronia, or go look at the lighthouse.

 

There's not much to see unless you can peek over the fence which runs along Whitehead, but you can also get some other views by walking around the corner onto IIRC Olivia.

 

And if you have time you might want to visit the Casa Antigua where he and Pauline first lived in Key West. It's $2.00 to get in and there is a recorded spoken tour while you are inside.

 

Pjk

[keywester33]

Peter, Bahama Village is the name of a whole neighborhood in Key West and not the collection of booths on the corner you mention. If you want to shop in Bahama Village, walk past this corner and go west on Petronia toward Thomas. There are far more interesting shops in this block such as Besame Mucho, Wanderlust and in One Era.

 

If your hungry, Blue Heaven, The Conch Shop, or La Creperie are all good stops in the same area (Bahama Village).

[thinfool]

I am a huge Hemmingway fan and on our last trip to Key West I missed seeing his house (long story). We only have a few hours in Key West (7:30 to 1:30) and a few things to do on our list.

 

Anyway, what can you do/see at Hemmingway's house without paying and going inside? Can you access the bookstore? Can you meet the cats?

 

If you pay for the tour how long is the tour? I really don't think my husband and kids would be interested in going inside. How long would they be waiting for me?

 

I 'think' I might be fine if I can walk by and take a few pictures. But would love some feedback on this spot in Key West

 

Pay and go in...great tour and interesting stories. You will like the gift shop....six toed cats laying on top of the counter, curled up on top of stacks of souvenir tees.....your kids would enjoy that...maybe?

 

I am not a fan of EH, but would recommend the tour anytime.

 

Btw, we bought the combo ticket for the EH house and the Mel Fletcher treasure museum. Both were great!

 

If you just want pics from outside, you might, also, pay to climb and view the place from the lighthouse that is basically across the street.

[Bostonjetset]

My other half is also a huge Hemingway fan so this is on our list of must-sees when we call on Key West in March. The entrance fee is only $13.00 if you go on your own [not through the ship] so I say just go for it since you are a big fan. :D

 

To other posters who have been here, is it possible to walk to the Hemingway house from the port? Or will we need to call a taxi?

[bhopal21]

My other half is also a huge Hemingway fan so this is on our list of must-sees when we call on Key West in March. The entrance fee is only $13.00 if you go on your own [not through the ship] so I say just go for it since you are a big fan. :D

 

To other posters who have been here, is it possible to walk to the Hemingway house from the port? Or will we need to call a taxi?

 

You can buy your tickets online and save another $.50 each and yes it is an easy 15min walk right up Whitehead Street from where you will dock at the Westin Hotel pier.

 

Mike:)

[Bostonjetset]

You can buy your tickets online and save another $.50 each and yes it is an easy 15min walk right up Whitehead Street from where you will dock at the Westin Hotel pier.

 

Mike:)

 

Fabulous! Thanks for the info! :)

[bhopal21]

Fabulous! Thanks for the info! :)

 

Sorry I meant to include a link.

 

http://www.hemingwayhome.com

 

 

Mike:)

[Keith1010]

You do have to pay but you don't have to do the tour. You can walk around in around 15 minutes on your own.

 

Keith

[Mcshells]

Thanks everyone!!!!

[peter_krynicki]

You might be interested in this work of fiction ---> Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck ...

 

"She remembered when Hemingway had planted a banyan at his house and told her its parasitic roots were like human desire. At the time she’d thought it romantic. She hadn’t understood his warning.”

 

In Depression-era Key West, Mariella Bennet, the daughter of an American fisherman and a Cuban woman, knows hunger. Her struggle to support her family following her father’s death leads her to a bar and bordello, where she bets on a risky boxing match...and attracts the interest of two men: world-famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, and Gavin Murray, one of the WWI veterans who are laboring to build the Overseas Highway.

 

Pjk

[KroozFoolz]

You might be interested in this work of fiction ---> Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck ...

 

"She remembered when Hemingway had planted a banyan at his house and told her its parasitic roots were like human desire. At the time she’d thought it romantic. She hadn’t understood his warning.”

 

In Depression-era Key West, Mariella Bennet, the daughter of an American fisherman and a Cuban woman, knows hunger. Her struggle to support her family following her father’s death leads her to a bar and bordello, where she bets on a risky boxing match...and attracts the interest of two men: world-famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, and Gavin Murray, one of the WWI veterans who are laboring to build the Overseas Highway.

 

Pjk

 

Thanks so much for posting that! I just bought a copy on ebay. I hope it arrives before we leave the end of next week for our cruise on Brilliance of the Seas which has a stop at Key West. If not, I am sure I will enjoy reading it when we return (or on our next cruise).

 

I second the suggestion to visit Casa Antigua (and the Pelican Poop gift shop) as well as the Hemingway House.

[BillOh]

My other half is also a huge Hemingway fan so this is on our list of must-sees when we call on Key West in March. The entrance fee is only $13.00 if you go on your own [not through the ship] so I say just go for it since you are a big fan. :D

 

To other posters who have been here, is it possible to walk to the Hemingway house from the port? Or will we need to call a taxi?

 

 

It seemed like about a mile walk, but we were doing so at a leisurely pace.

[peter_krynicki]

It seemed like about a mile walk, but we were doing so at a leisurely pace.

 

It's at 908 Whitehead so once you are off the docks it's 8.5 easy Key West blocks with several things to see on the way the Audubon House, Kelly's, the Green Parrot, e.g.

[sunsetbeachgal]

There are tall (maybe 8 or 10 feet) walls surrounding the HH grounds, presumably to keep the cats in and intruders out, so you need to pay the fee to see anything. We loved the tour and the grounds! Would highly recommend.

[bhopal21]

There are tall (maybe 8 or 10 feet) walls surrounding the HH grounds, presumably to keep the cats in and intruders out, so you need to pay the fee to see anything. We loved the tour and the grounds! Would highly recommend.

 

Actually the walls were built by Hemingway to keep the press out so he could write.

 

Mike:)

[peter_krynicki]

When it was decided to make Key West a tourist destination instead of moviing all of the people up to Florida, they printed up a brochure of XX number of things to see in Key West. Hemingway's house was either #12 or # 14, and while he was honored to be on the list he wrote a humourous piece about how his was between the ice house and something else on the list (as opposed to being #1).

 

Since his house was on the list people assumed the could simply walk up and enter. Afer Hemingway realized what was going on, he instructed his Jack-of-all-trades, Otto (Toby) Bruce to build a wall. Bruce had never built one but did a pretty good job but this is why the wall is so irregular which you can see for yourself. When he started he didn't know where to get bricks so he borrowed a pick-up and "borrowed" a load at a time form a construction site. He was caught about half-way through and Hemingway was fined a penny a brick.

 

Toby and his wife are the people mainly responsible for those stories the tour guides tell on the tour of the house. And his son "Dink" Bruce still makes the rounds of the Hemingway conferences telling stories about his father and his relationship to Hemingway. Dink is a very small man and it was Hemingway who gave him his nickname.

 

Pjk

Edited November 22, 2013 by peter_krynicki

[ducklite]

I caution that you shouldn't let children approach the cats. They are mostly semi-to-fully feral and don't want to be touched by strangers. We saw a woman get badly scratched by one when she cornered it to try to let it. If the cat approaches you and rubs on your legs, it's fine to try and pet it, but most won't do this.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[bhopal21]

One should never "corner" any animal and try to touch it.

 

And the cats at The Hemingway Home are not feral having been born there and are petted and cared for daily by the staff and resident veterinarian.

 

My cats at home disappear in an instant when children visit.;)

 

Mike:)

[bouhunter]

I caution that you shouldn't let children approach the cats. They are mostly semi-to-fully feral and don't want to be touched by strangers. We saw a woman get badly scratched by one when she cornered it to try to let it. If the cat approaches you and rubs on your legs, it's fine to try and pet it, but most won't do this.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

 

Cats that live in and around a house where thousands of people pass through every day are not "feral".......:rolleyes: Good grief.

[ducklite]

Cats that live in and around a house where thousands of people pass through every day are not "feral".......:rolleyes: Good grief.

 

Like I said, some are semi-feral, and yes, according to someone I know who works with the cats, there are a few feral ones lurking about. Just because there are people around, it doesn't make them domesticated.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[thinfool]

Y'all might want to end this....it's hard to see a discussion of cats having anything to do with cruising or even Key West.

[bhopal21]

This thread is not about cruising per se but specifically about the port of Key West and is entitled The Hemingway Home of which the polydactyl cats are a huge part of.

 

Mike:)

[KroozFoolz]

You might be interested in this work of fiction ---> Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck ...

 

"She remembered when Hemingway had planted a banyan at his house and told her its parasitic roots were like human desire. At the time she’d thought it romantic. She hadn’t understood his warning.”

 

In Depression-era Key West, Mariella Bennet, the daughter of an American fisherman and a Cuban woman, knows hunger. Her struggle to support her family following her father’s death leads her to a bar and bordello, where she bets on a risky boxing match...and attracts the interest of two men: world-famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, and Gavin Murray, one of the WWI veterans who are laboring to build the Overseas Highway.

 

Pjk

 

Thanks so much for posting that! I just bought a copy on ebay. I hope it arrives before we leave the end of next week for our cruise on Brilliance of the Seas which has a stop at Key West. If not, I am sure I will enjoy reading it when we return (or on our next cruise).

 

I second the suggestion to visit Casa Antigua (and the Pelican Poop gift shop) as well as the Hemingway House.

 

Thanks again for this suggestion! The book arrived before we left for the cruise. I enjoyed reading it during the cruise and left it on "the book shelf on Deck 5" on Brilliance of the Seas.