Walkabout: Hemingway Home

On a recent visit to Key West, I paid a visit to the Home and Museum of Ernest Hemingway. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I don't know all that much about Hemingway or his work, especially with his status as an author and his ties to the state of Michigan. I did read "The Old Man and the Sea" when I was in high school/early college. It was during a time in my life when I felt that I "should" be reading classic literature. I just couldn't seem to get into his books. I'm a sucker for a good story and my favorite authors are Elmore Leonard, Robert Crais, Dennis Lehane, and Stephen King. But…that's another story and another blog post.

Back to Hemingway: I did a little background research online about him and learned/plagiarized most of the following from his Wikipedia page. Ernest Hemingway had 4 wives over his lifetime. He was also very interested (borderline obsessed) with cats, particularly those cats with 6 toes. He was a World War I ambulance driver, but, was wounded and returned home in 1918. From there he moved to Paris and was a foreign correspondent. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. His work includes 7 novels, 6 short story collations and 2 works of non-fiction. He committed suicide in 1961 just as his father did before him.

As for my personal tour, I was impressed. The house itself was bigger than I imagined. I overheard a tour guide explaining that the Hemingway home is on one of the biggest single plots in Key West. The main house is surrounded by lush greenery of manicured lawns as well as palm trees. There is another smaller coach house behind the main house. Both buildings have 2 levels and are separated by a pool. The main building has the living quarters, kitchens, and bath while the coach house appears to hold a study on the upper level and a book store on the lower level. There are lots of paintings and book collections in the main house. Not all of these belonged to Hemingway, but, some were owned by family members and friends who then made donations to the museum.

Also, the place is crawling with cats with all different numbers of toes. Some friendly, some not. Some camera shy, some divas. All in all it was a fun visit. Pics below.