Political correctness not allowed. 3/25/2009
Key West must be the only place in the US where the nanny
state does not exist.
Grownups here are treated as adults. Of course this is
a vacation destination but so are many other places in the US. For example;
here traffic laws do not apply or are ignored. People are free to walk,
drive or pedal through a stop signs as they see fit. Even skateboarders ride
up and down busy Duval street, along with free ranging roosters. Everyone watches out for one another.
Also if you get thirsty walking around town, you can stop at one of the many
vendors around and purchase a beer or margarita to go. Can you just imagine
this happening in Milwaukee? Why is it that people accept this kind of
responsibility when visiting Key West, Europe or South America, but as soon
as they return home they immediately expect that someone else take
responsibility for their actions, and sue one another for any little
grievance? It must be the water.
Juan Ponce de León was the first European
to visit Key West in 1521. As Florida became a
Spanish colony, Cayo Hueso was the
original
Spanish name for the island of Key West.
Spanish-speaking people today also use the term
Cayo Hueso when referring to Key West. It
literally means "bone key". It is said that the island was littered with the
remains (bones) from an
Native American battlefield or burial
ground. The most widely accepted theory of how the name changed to Key West
is that it is a
false-friend
anglicization of the word, on the ground
that the word "hueso" (pronounced
weso) sounds as if it could mean "west" in English.
Many of the residents of Key West were
immigrants from
the Bahamas, known as
Conchs (pronounced 'conks'.) In the 20th
century residents of Key West started referring to themselves as "Conchs",
and the term is now generally applied to all residents of Key West. The
Bahamian immigrants live in an area of Old Town next to the
Truman Annex called "Bahama
Village". Our condo is in the Truman Annex behind the Harry
Truman Little White House.
Again we are fortunate to have our friend visit and stay
with us while we are hibernating in warmer climates for the winter.
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