Duval Street showcases the cultural links between the Bahamas and Cuba, so the neighbourhood architecture is influenced by the cultures of both countries, with the bright red flowers of the native calla lily trees shading the Spanish-style buildings and providing shade for those dining and sipping on the sidewalk, to the accompaniment of vibrant and classical live music.

Duval Street is in the old town and generally the structures date from 1886 to 1912. The exterior of the buildings is characterised by pointed metal roofs, horizontal wood siding, gingerbread trim and soft paint tones. The oldest of these is a conch house built by Captain Francis Watlington in 1829. It is also the oldest house museum in the Key West, where visitors can see period furniture as well as maritime artefacts and family heirlooms brought by the captain!

Key West is also a treasure trove of literature and art. The first Key West neighbourhoods on the west side of the island are widely known as Old Town, not only for the homes of famous people, but also for the many famous attractions in Old Town, such as Mallory Square and Zachary Taylor Castle, to name but a few, the most distinctive of which is a small Spanish-style two-storey white building in the Spanish style, bought by Ernest Hemingway, a special building that is home to hundreds of cats to this day. These cats are all descendants of the cats Hemingway once bred. Many people who visit Hemingway’s home here always see the cats jumping around everywhere. There is also a story that Hemingway’s third wife was said to have mistreated the family cats when he was away, causing the two to go their separate ways. Throughout his life, he seems to have had few obsessive feelings, except for his love of writing and cats. Even at the end of his life, “Good night, my little cat” were his last words. The writer of the hard-boiled novel was at the end of his rope when he chose to kill himself with a gun. Before he died, he made proper arrangements for his cats: “Cats are the owners of this courtyard, they can enjoy everything here, they can play at will, they can rest in bed and have fun, they can contemplate the future in the study! ” So when you visit this white building, don’t forget that it is owned by kittens!

The Tennessee Williams Museum, located at 513 Truman Street, is also a place for theatre lovers to visit, as the playwrightcalled the island home from the late 1940s until his death in 1983, and his former home is now the Tennessee Williams Museum. By the way, don’t forget to check out the Tennessee Williams Theatre, home to the famous South Florida Symphony Orchestra. Another building worth visiting is the Harry·S.·Truman Jr. White House, where the President spent 175 days of his time in office. This time my trip was centred on the sea, so the historical buildings were put on hold. In fact, now that I think about it, I do regret not seeing Hemingway’s home.

Apart from literature and art, Key West is also a great place for food lovers. Buddha has classic Cuban dishes here such as Arroz y Frijoles Negros and Sandwich Cubano. Fernandez The Bull Cuban Grill’s roast pork with homemade black beans. For Asians the dish tastes a little salty overall, but the very slow cooking of the beans produces a creamy flavour and the ham and roast pork add a rich aroma, making it a very authentic Latin dish overall. El Siboney’s Valencia paella is a must!

Cuba still exerts a huge cultural influence over Key West. The work of Cuban folk artist Mario Sanchez (available at the Greene Gallery in Key West) often depicts the island’s food, including fruit stands, fish markets and cafes. Whatever the event or festival theme, food unique to the Florida Keys region will be found in the refreshments at any cultural gathering. Goombay, a food and cultural festival held every October in Key West’s Bahamian Village, is marked by wafting scent of curries, barbecue meats, conch fritters, Jamaican pies, Caribbean stews and vats of rum.

The time passed in a flash and as promised, I was at the pier at 3 o’clock to board the boat. If this is your first time at Key West, especially if you have not experienced snorkelling before, I’m sure the snorkelling cruise will be a memorable experience for you. You can talk and drink as much as you like on the boat, then go out on the deck to catch the sea breeze, or sing in one of the small rooms in the cabin where you can connect a Bluetooth stereo.

The boat is anchored in a clean, safe, beautiful, uncrowded area, and by now we are well away from land and out of sight of Key West, the sea level is calm enough for diving but the sea breeze is still blowing and I changed into my snorkelling gear with a new friend I had just made, she was an experienced dive buddy and I could tell by her tanned skin that she had been in the sun a lot. There are no instructors on the cruise ship, the ship takes you to the dive site and provides you with a life jacket and lifeguard, other things you are on your own. I don’t know how I got the courage to change into my swimming costume and jump in right now. A beginner snorkeller like me could start by putting on a hose – a yellow, very conspicuous thing. In case I don’t know where I’m swimming and I’m too far away from the boat, call the lifeguards so they can notice me. This was also for safety reasons. Once in the water, I put on my snorkel, which requires no skill or technique, just natural breathing and exhalation, and I was able to stay underwater for 10 minutes to watch the fish swimming freely in the water watching them run away shyly after a quick hello to me, and some bold fish who will sniff your snorkel or circle around your sponge hose, like a curious child about the world. For those like me who can’t swim, snorkelling is not difficult as with a lifebelt on, you only need to move your limbs slightly to move, except that you can’t move as you expect and who knows which way you’ll be running after 20 minutes. Snorkelling is also a physically demanding activity and I felt the hard work after my first half hour in the water, I went onboard for a cold Coke and rested next to the Coke bucket, tired but happy, which was the perfect plan to escape from Virginia! Iced Coke, snorkelling, sea breeze and the deck made for the perfect summer score. Only, with this score, there was only 2 hours of playing time – we only had 2 hours to snorkel. Within 20 minutes of our second dive, the captain informed us that we needed to get ready to go ashore and return to the pier. I rinsed off briefly in the cabin, changed into a simple, fresh look – a tank top and shorts – and got off the boat, not at all physically or mentally exhausted from the exhausting exercise, but rather happy and at ease, having not had an intimate conversation with nature for a long time. I call this “urban escape”, the act of ditching the phone and the computer and actually playing in nature and look forward to life.

When I got off the boat, I thought I would find a bistro for dinner, but I heard someone asking about paragliding, so I slowed down and listened carefully to the fact that you need five people to take part in the paragliding activity. So I went over and signed up to experience paragliding. It was a speedboat and the vest and shorts really went with the speedboat – “watersport chic!” The waves coming off the stern of the speedboat smash the heat, leaving you with a charge of energy. I was the first one to experience paragliding as the rest of the people were in groups of two. The speedboat is more like a powerhouse for the paragliders. Let’s remember when we were flying kites, if we wanted to get the kite to take off, did we need to run to help it go some distance before it would fly into the sky?

The speedboat accelerates and I go with the wind, rising into the sky at breakneck speed but there was no pulling sensation. The sky was as clear as if it had just been scrubbed, not a cloud in sight, blue and crystal clear, the air was as clear as ice as if it had been filtered. At that moment I wanted to think about nothing, do nothing. I just wanted to absorb the sun and the sensation of floating. I wanted to breathe in every breath of air kissed by the sea until I was tired. With the slow descent of the paraglider, I felt like hanging on to the enjoyment of that moment, hanging on to the blue sky, so that what remains is the satisfaction in my heart. I didn’t want to bring this kind of leisure and relaxation back to Virginia, Virginia is just Virginia, Key West is Key West, different cities mean different things and I didn’t want to confuse them, just leave the relaxation and happiness to Key West. I stayed in the hotel for the remaining two days, going through my photos and sorting out my emails from the last few days. Inevitably, it was time to return to Virginia where important things were waiting for me. And the Key West trip came to an end. This memory, due to the multiple limitations of the epidemic, may be difficult to have again, and more memories will have to be left for today’s words, and my camera memory card. But life is always saying goodbye to the past, and after the trip to Key West, I felt we should have more to look forward to when we face the unknown journey. At the end of the trip I went to watch the sunset when the tide was so high that I dipped my feet in the shallows where the fresh water was cool but the fine sand around me was still hot to the soles of my feet.As the sun sets, three or two lines of people are silhouetted in a few reflections, even the bottles in their hands, and the most common sight on the main road, on the porch and under the traffic lights of Key West, apart from the annoying seagulls, are the walking chickens. Originally sailors from the Caribbean and Cuba bred chickens for amusement and thus cockfighting, and with the discontinuation of the Cuban route, the chickens became islanders, enjoying the sand and sun and, well, popcorn with the tourists who came and went.Speaking of walking chickens, it is also interesting to note that most of Hemingway’s work was of interest only after his return from Key West, even The Old Man and the Sea, which, although set in Cuba, was written by Hemingway during his time in Key West. In those days, there was no Seven Mile Bridge, access was by passenger boat and the Tropic Cinema showed a few films.

The early morning Cuban Coffee Queen, where you have to stand for coffee and sandwiches and the Banana Café Brunch, which is not air-conditioned, but not too hot with the fan. It’s not that different from Carpe Diem Ice Cream.

But near sunset, people converge on the 0 Mile sign, or the southernmost sign in the country, to watch the sun lapping at the waves. The sounds of seagulls, waves and pelicans rise and fall, and the evening is a sum of dullness and loneliness, but the sun is falling and the waves are fretful. This is life, I think.

Ref Map: https://maps.redcross.org/website/Maps/Images/Florida/pagegen_fl.pdf

Ref Map: https://www.carfreekeywest.com/sites/default/files/partner-kit/Car-Free%20Map.pdf