KEY WEST :: FIELD REPORT :: ROUTE 1 PROJECT
1st Transmission: Tuesday, September 26, 2017: Key West, Florida
Photo: Willie T's, Duval Street, Key West, Florida: 9/25/2017
I blew the last of the Norwood Space Center dirt out of my nose in Homestead, Florida two mornings ago. Curfews prevented me from entering the Keys the previous evening. In the early morning light, the 100 plus miles of the beginning of Route 1 were walled with personal belongings as if these inanimate objects were lining up and waiting for a parade to arrive. It featured the greatest collection of mattresses, baby carriages, refrigerators and freshly cut tree limbs. That was the status quo from Key Largo to Marathon. When I crossed the Seven Mile Bridge and dropped into Summerland Key, I entered Ground Zero. It was the beginning of where Irma made her direct impact. Downtown Beirut. Tornado Alley. Hiroshima Mon Amor. I actually cried.
Flipped boats, tipped campers, crushed cars, roofs gone. How do you rebuild from here?
The curfew was lifted just as I arrived in Key West as rehabilitators, linemen and returnees all scrambled for what hotel rooms were available since most were not ready to reopen. Rates jumped twenty dollars in ten minutes. Most of the wind damage in Key West was primarily trees. It's the water that's the problem. It's so hot, mold will come soon. I paid 200 for a tiny space where I couldn't even set up a place to work.
The gods worked a miracle for me yesterday afternoon and I was the first one in to the Marlin at the Southernmost where I got me a spacious suite on the second floor for $99. I have established HQ where I will be for the next 24 hours when then I will finally embark on this journey of a lifetime.
Still no cable. Internet is intermittent.
Wednesday, September 28, 2017. Escape from Key West
Lights On, Nobody's Home. DashCam of the Destruction. Coconut Grove. Playhouse. The Taurus. Chasing the Ghost of Fred Neil.
John V from the Green Parrot is zigging when I'm zagging. Lots of folks are just returning I have to be in Waycross, Georgia by 5:00 on Friday to make it to Waycross. Met with Luther, a close friend from my Key West days. I taught him the fundamentals of the guitar and I used to drag him up to play when I played solo gigs when I was Tyvek Velvette. I planted the seed for him to write a song for me that I can use for the Route 1 Project Soundtrack.
Tony Roberts/Green Parrot
People are coming and going. BarTab Larry left for Detroit. Tony Roberts headed out to Boston.
Photos: Charles White - Key West - 2017
Conchs, Cuzzy Bubbas & Wash-A-Shores: Learn more about Key West below.
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