KEY WEST, FLORIDA (FL), USA
Key West bed and breakfast stays in Hemingway country
Key West bed and breakfast visitors are always interested in the links the city has to Nobel-prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway. Many make a flying visit to Key West, a city which is also an island, staying over in a B&B, lodge and inn just to visit Hemingway’s former home, an attractive multi-storey bungalow at 907 Whitehead Street where as many as sixty descendants of his famous polydactyl (multi-toed) cats still reside. While he stayed there Hemingway wrote or worked on Death in the Afternoon, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. The house is open to the public as a museum. Legend has it that Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms while living above the showroom of a Key West Ford dealership at 314 Simonton Street while awaiting the delivery of a Ford Roadster. Another story about Hemingway is that a Key West hardware store owner named Charles Thompson introduced him to deep sea fishing.
Key West bed and breakfast guests like to rent a bicycle and explore the history and architecture of the Old Town Key West. Some B&B, lodge and inn hosts arrange walking tours, including a tour of the unusual Key West Cemetery, for visitors. The Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square is a daily spectacle for bed and breakfast guests who wander down that way, and of course boat excursions and tours provide a great way to view Key West from the water. The artistically inclined like to visit the Studios of Key West, founded in 2006. These are based at the island’s historic Armory building, establishing a new model for an artistic community. Many B&B visitors attend programs, workshops and exhibitions there.
Apart from various cultural attractions, many visitors to Key West book into bed and breakfasts, lodges and inns when attending PrideFest, seven days of events presented by the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Key West in the first week of June. If you plan to attend this major festival or the Fantasy Festival in February, be sure to make your Key West bed and breakfast reservations well before the time. Other major annual events attracting visitors to Key West B&Bs are the Key West Race Week in January, the Conch Republic Independence Celebration in April and the Cuban-American Heritage Festival in June.
