A Pictoral Visit to Key West

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have been saving up a fun show-and-tell from my visit to Key West almost two weeks ago. One of the best things about touring for A KILLING OF INNOCENTS has been the opportunity to see three out of my six Jungle Red blog sisters. I got to see Rhys in Phoenix (where we didn't take nearly enough photos) and in Key West I saw Hallie as well as Lucy. How lucky for me that Hallie was there teaching a writing class!

On the Saturday I arrived, Lucy, John, and I had a nice catch up over glasses of wine, then watched the sunset from Mallory Square.  This photo is sunrise, but you get the drift. Key West really is a little slice of paradise.

We had a nice visit with Lucy's friend Ron, the tarot reader who's the inspiration for Lorenzo in her Haley Snow books, and the now-retired Catman!

The next morning started with some delicious Cuban coffee, and a few Key West feathered friends.

And then it was time for brunch! Lucy took me to Blue Heaven, a Key West gem, where I had a fabulous avocado omelet and this amazing piece of pie! There was a gin cocktail in there, too, that was was so good I had to go back and get the ingredients, and there was even a little jazz band playing. It was just a perfect day.

Afterwards there was walking and shopping, in the course of which I found my terrific (and much needed) hat, and a plush chicken for Wren.

Naps all around, then dinner with Hallie! Several of us tackled whole deep-fried fish--that was an adventure!

Monday, we began with the much anticipated visit to the Hemingway House, which I enjoyed even more than the first time. Here's one of the Hemingway cats.

They are not the last bit fussed by all the people and cameras. I came away very inspired and even had to order a copy of Hemingway's letters.

Afterwards, we had a jolly lunch at a place called Moon Dog with Hallie and our friend Pat Kennedy. (Lots of food here, you're thinking, but what are vacations for if not eating?) A little more walking and shopping, then it was time for my library event.

Look at this lovely crowd!

Barb Ross interviewed me, and had such insightful questions that I suspect she made me sound a lot smarter than I actually am.

And here we are, your three Reds and Barb, all happy to be together.

For our last group lunch on Tuesday, we picked up Cuban sandwiches from this hole-in-the-wall place. It doesn't look very prepossessing, but I'm still dreaming about those sandwiches. 

You can see that our Lucy Burdette really is the very best tour guide and hostess and I can see how people get so hooked on Key West. I hated to leave, but at least I can visit anytime in my imagination. All I need is one of Lucy's Hayley Snow books!

READERS: do your travel plans revolve around food?

A Walking #Foodie Tour of #KeyWest @LucyBurdette

First, winners of yesterday's Readaholic mystery are Kristopher, BJ English, and Kaye Kilgore. You should email your snail mail addresses to LDiSilverio at comcast dot net. Congratulations!

LUCY BURDETTE: Ever since seeing the city of Adelaide, Australia early this winter on a foodie walking tour, I've become convinced that walking and eating is the best way to see any city. So when I learned of a new food tour in Key West, I signed up. Oh sure, we already eat plenty of good meals in town, courtesy of the research I must do for food critic Hayley Snow. But I was intrigued by the possibility of new places, and always in the back of my mind, plot threads for another book.

I met our tour guide, Analise, and two visiting couples in front of Camille's restaurant on Simonton Street. Camille's is an old time island staple, always busy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Our guide seated us at the bar for our first taste of Key West, infamous conch fritters. While we waited for bites to be served, we heard about how Key West natives became known as conchs, and how a new baby's sex was announced according to the way a conch shell was placed on the porch. The fritters came out hot and fresh, with a zesty lime remoulade on the side. I will never be a huge fan of conch fritters, but these were pretty darn good.
 
 
Stop two was at Anna's Cuban Café, a small takeout place very near the Southernmost Point. The roasted pork with white rice and black beans and a small fried plaintain was delicious. (Remember on this kind of tour--you don't have to eat everything, though you will work some of it off:).)

 






Afterward, we all enjoyed a little shot of strong sweet Cuban coffee, a.k.a. colata.
 






 

The tour proceeded past the Southernmost Point with a quick stop for a coconut milk. I've seen hundreds if not thousands of tourists carrying green coconuts and drinking out of a straw, but I've never tried it myself. 

Verdict: even though coconut milk is all the healthy rage, let's just say once was enough.


 
Analise then took us into the Bahama Village, formerly a segregated area for islanders of Bahamian decent. I learned new facts here, such as the existence of a white horse that walked up and down Duval Street to keep black faces from crossing into white territory. We also admired a new home renovated by Habitat for Humanity. The decorative latticework was designed in the shape of the trumpet to celebrate one of the home's former jazz playing residents. 



 

We enjoyed a fish taco at Andy's Cabana...








  

And a mini- key lime pie at iconic Blue Heaven. (LOL, this is the maxi, not the mini!)







 

 


Our last stop was Flamingo's Crossing, for a mamey flavored ice cream. This tropical fruit is the national fruit of Cuba and especially popular in milkshakes and ice cream. Although I never would have chosen this flavor on my own, we all agreed it was quite tasty--like strawberry mixed with orange.


 





Analise was the real star of the tour, a conch herself and full of interesting facts about her town.


Where would you like to go on walking foodie tour?

SEEING REDS: Where you can find us

Hallie 
Saturday 4/4 @2 PM Brookline MA Public Library with Roseanne Montillo
Monday 4/6 @7 PM Weymouth MA Public Library
Tuesday 4/7 @6:30 PM Buttonwood Books Cohasset MA with Holly Robinson
Wednesday 4/8 @7:30 PM Sweetser Lecture Series Wakefield MA
Thursday 4/9 @7 PM RJ Julia Madison CT
Friday 4/10 @12:15 PM Bank Square Books in Mystic CT

Hank
Monday, 4/6 @7 PM Brookline Booksmith interviewing Michael Sears, Brookline MA
Tuesday 4/ 7 @7 PM Newton Free Library Newton MA
Thursday 4/9 @7:30 AM Habitat for Humanity North Central MA "Women Build" Breakfast, Keynote Speaker Sterling MA
Saturday 4/11 Maynard Library Book Festival with Archer Mayor and Norton Juster
Sunday 4/12 @9:30  AM, Lyceum at First Parish Church, Bedford MA  Keynote Speaker

Rhys
Wednesday 4/8, Belmont Library, Belmont, CA 

CJ Box and COLD WIND

"He threaded his horse up through gnarled bell-shaped stands of juniper. The trees were heavy with clusters of green buds, and the scent within the stand was sweet and heavy and it reminded him of a gin martini. His horse spooked rabbits that shot out from bunches of tall grass like squeezed grapefruit seeds, and he pushed a small herd of mule deer out ahead of him. It had warmed to the mid-seventies, and as the temperature raised so did the insect hum from the ankle-high grass." From COLD WIND by CJ Box

ROBERTA: I'm so happy to introduce one of my favorite writers to Jungle Red readers: CJ Box. CJ is the author of eleven books in the Joe Pickett game warden series, along with two standalones. He won the Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Novel (BLUE HEAVEN, 2009) as well as the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award, and the 2010 Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Award for fiction. He's an amazing storyteller, but the plot is not what I read for because his character and setting are so outstanding. (And don't let the black hat put you off--he's also a really nice guy.)

Thanks for coming over to the blog today, CJ. One of the absolute best part of your series is your main character, Joe Pickett. He's a man of firm principles--so firm that he backs himself into corners because he isn't willing to compromise. And he has complex and believable relationships with his wife, his daughters, his friends, and his dreaded mother-in-law. You've written eleven books in this series and yet Joe springs to life in each book and you push the boundaries of his character and relationships a little further. Can you talk about how you manage to do that?

CJ: Thank you for the very kind words. I never set out with a strategic plan, I have to say. Joe Pickett was to be the protagonist in one stand-alone novel about the Endangered Species Act called OPEN SEASON. Not until the publisher Putnam acquired the manuscript and asked for two more with the game warden and his family did I give it much thought.

I'm a reader, too, and I know that these kinds of series can suspend disbelief. Realistically, no hero or family could be expected to put up with so much year after year and not implode. So, in an effort to make every OTHER aspect of the series as natural and real as possible, I age the characters a year with each book and draw on their experiences from past events to shape their lives. Because they age in real time, they change. Joe, for example, is still no superhero, but he has put on some bark from the many scrapes and betrayals. And his children have aged from pre-schoolers to high school and college students. It keeps things lively and, I hope, true to life.

ROBERTA: Setting is another aspect of writing in which CJ excels, as you can tell by the opening quote from COLD WIND. CJ, please tell us about your connection to Wyoming. And talk about how you weave important environmental issues into your books without killing the pace?

CJ: I start with the issue or topic the book will address, such as wind energy, environmental terrorism, property rights, etc. and do the research. Then, when I think I have a fairly good -- and balanced -- understanding of the issue I try to figure out how to pull a reader through that topic in what I hope will be an interesting, page-turning way. I don't write agenda books and my goal isn't to persuade readers that my view of the controversy is absolutely correct. I try to present both sides as best I can and let the reader come down where they wish. My hope, though, is that some readers may entertain the other side of issues as they haven't before they picked up the novel.

ROBERTA: What's coming next?

CJ: I have a third stand-alone novel called BACK OF BEYOND out the first of August. The protagonist is sort of an anti-Joe Pickett type: a sheriff's department investigator who is an alcoholic who has driven his family away and screwed up his life. He's a loose cannon. His name is Cody Hoyt and he was introduced in THREE WEEKS TO SAY GOODBYE. In the novel, he's investigating an apparent suicide in a mountain cabin in Montana when he becomes convinced it was a murder and the bad guy is currently on a multi-day horsepack trip in the ultimate wilderness of Yellowstone Park. And on that same trip is Cody's estranged son. It's a good one, I think, and similar in structure and style to BLUE HEAVEN with multiple points of view told over a tight timeline in real time.

ROBERTA: And last but not least, since it's twitter week on Jungle Red, do you tweet? Do you see a future for writers in Twitter or are there better ways to connect with readers and get the word out about new books?

CJ: I'll confess that I don't tweet but I do have the privilege of working with some fans who do so on my behalf. I do have a very extensive website which is updated daily (if necessary) and a facebook page with quite a few fans. I think there is probably a way a fiction writer can do tweets that are interesting to followers, but I'm not sure I'm capable of it and I need to spend more time writing. I do interact with readers on the website and on facebook.

ROBERTA: You can find lots more about CJ at his website. Thanks so very much for agreeing to be our guest!

CJ: My pleasure, Roberta.