He might bear an uncanny resemblance to literary legend Ernest Hemingway, but he doesn’t do any writing — except, that is, writing checks and text messages.

David Douglas (right) gets a congratulatory smooch outside Sloppy Joe's from fellow "Papa" Tom Grizzard after winning the 2009 Look-Alike Contest. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

So said David Douglas moments after winning the 2009 “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, renowned as the author’s favorite Key West watering hole.

A mechanical contractor from Texas, Douglas was one of 140 contenders in the annual contest that attracts throngs of middle-aged men with white beards, stocky bodies, and an “ernest” desire to achieve “Papa-hood.”

He won the contest on his eighth attempt, after donning a cream-colored wool fisherman’s sweater despite Key West’s 90-degree heat — much like the sweater Hemingway wore in a famous 1957 photo by Yousuf Karsh.

Though he lacks literary aspirations, Douglas admitted several similarities to Hemingway beyond the physical. He’s passionate about all kinds of fishing and has been married three times. And he loves to go drinking with friends just as Ernest did when he lived in Key West throughout the 1930s. Much of the exuberant author’s drinking, of course, took place at Sloppy Joe’s.

The bar’s official beginning was December 5, 1933, the day Prohibition was repealed.

Sloppy Joe's is thronged with look-alike fans each year during the internationally renowned contest. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Key West being a bastion of free-thinkers even in the 30s, Prohibition was regarded as an amusing exercise dreamed up by the government — and Joe Russell was just one of the enterprising individuals who operated illegal speakeasies. Even Hemingway slipped over to Russell’s on occasion to buy illicit bottles of Scotch, and the two struck up an enduring friendship.

Joe Russell was a charterboat captain, rumrunner, Hemingway’s boat pilot, and the author’s fishing companion for 12 years. In his company, Papa once caught an astonishing 54 marlin in 115 days. Hemingway called him “Josie Grunts” and used him as the model for a character in his classic novel “To Have and Have Not.”

In its early days, Sloppy Joe’s was located at 428 Greene St., where Captain Tony’s Saloon stands today, offering attractions that included gambling and pool tables in the rear. “Big” Skinner, a hearty black bartender who weighed about 300 pounds, served Sloppy’s customers for 20-some years.

The iconic bar stands at the corner of Duval and Greene streets. (Photo courtesy of Sloppy Joe's)

Hemingway and his “Mob” of cohorts were enthusiastic regular customers. The “Mob” was a blend of American literary giants and local residents: John Dos Passos, Waldo Pierce, J.B. Sullivan, Hamilton Adams, Captain Eddie Saunders, Henry Strater. They wrangled, drank, and philosophized at the bar, never knowing they were building a legend.

Sloppy Joe’s migrated across the street to its current location on May 5, 1937, after Joe Russell’s landlord raised his rent from three dollars a week to a whopping four. Luckily, the former Victoria Restaurant at the corner of Duval and Greene streets was vacant. Built in 1917, the Victoria incorporated beautiful Cuban tilework, ceiling fans, and jalousie doors. Joe Russell bought it for $2,500.

Oddly enough, the bar never actually closed during the move. Customers just picked up their drinks and carried them, along with everything else in the place, over to 201 Duval St. where service resumed with barely a blink.

David Douglas, center, beams after winning the 2009 "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)

When Hemingway left Key West in 1939, he left a number of belongings stored in a house next to Sloppy Joe’s. After the house was sold, his things were moved into a back room at Sloppy’s. There they remained until after his death, when his widow Mary claimed them.

Since then Sloppy Joe’s, like a rare Cuban rum, has gained richness and flavor while essentially remaining unchanged. In 1981, it was the birthplace of Key West’s Hemingway Days celebration honoring the author who helped make it famous.

Today, visitors and Hemingway aficionados — including 125 to 150 “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest entrants every year — still flock to Sloppy Joe’s, drawn by the legend and hoping some measure of magic will rub off on them.

For David Douglas, 2009’s proud contest winner, it did.

Topics: Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key West, Keys History, Local Color

Once, when I was young and naïve, I accompanied a boyfriend on a vacation to a lush tropical country that shall remain nameless. We lazed on white-sand beaches, snorkeled in azure seas, and danced under a romantic full moon.

Let's face it ... this is just not the kind of thing that belongs in a hotel bathtub.

On our final night in this idyllic setting, my boyfriend nearly got hauled off to a third-world prison for grilling a fish.

I was out picking up last-minute gifts. Fueled by too many frozen drinks and worried that smoke from his grill might rise from our hotel room’s balcony (where grills were prohibited), he decided to cook his “catch of the day” on a makeshift barbecue in the bathtub — a place he regarded as perfectly reasonable.

By the time I returned, our room was unnervingly full of fishy-smelling smoke and a 350-pound security guard named Raoul, who couldn’t decide whether to laugh or call the federales.

Laughter won — but when smoke alarms in the corridor began shrieking, the federales arrived even without Raoul’s summons.

Now here's a fun-filled experience involving fish: feeding tarpon from the dock at Robbie's Marina in Islamorada. (Photo by Bob Krist/Florida Keys News Bureau)

As we fled the country the next morning, I found myself reflecting that this wasn’t the way a vacation was supposed to be.

A vacation is supposed to be relaxing. Renewing. Fun. Filled with unexpected happenings (though not those involving large armed guards) and new discoveries.

And that’s what vacationing in the Keys is all about.

Sure, you can have a wonderful time partying in the local bars and doing a little shopping. But even if you think you know the island chain pretty well, you’ll create far richer memories if you take your vacation experience to the next level.

Here are three of my favorite spots in the Upper and Middle Keys for doing just that.

Robbie’s Marina, MM 77.5 bayside in Islamorada, www.robbies.com. Robbie’s is a wonderfully funky marina with a true Old Keys atmosphere — and the biggest draw is feeding wild tarpon from the marina’s dock. The gang at Robbie’s has been feeding these fishy friends for decades, and kids and grownups delight in purchasing buckets of bait to share the oddly satisfying experience. You’ll also find eco-tours and watersports excursions, fishing charters and the (wait for it!) Hungry Tarpon restaurant.

Imaginative crafts and fine art await visitors to Islamorada's Rain Barrel.

The Rain Barrel Artisans’ Village, MM 86.7 bayside in Islamorada,  www.keysdirectory.com/rainbarrel/.  This artisans’ enclave features work by scores of skilled creative spirits, and many of the finest have working studios onsite. Take a leisurely ramble through the sprawling property, watching the resident artists and chatting with them as they work. Under the spell of this center for artistry, I guarantee you’ll be inspired to launch a new exploration of your own creativity. 

Pigeon Key's restored historic structures and tranquil atmosphere offer visitors a glimpse of the Overseas Railway era. (Photo courtesy of the Pigeon Key Foundation)

Pigeon Key, www.pigeonkey.net. Just over two miles west of Marathon, nestled beneath what’s now called the Old Seven Mile Bridge, lies the five-acre historic treasure of Pigeon Key. In the early 1900s the island was a base camp for workers constructing the original Seven Mile Bridge, the centerpiece of the astonishing Overseas Railway that stretched from mainland Florida to Key West. Today, you can reach Pigeon Key by ferry or by biking or walking along a portion of the old bridge. Once you’re there, the modern world fades away beneath the true tranquility of the Keys. Spend the day touring the railroad museum, exploring the restored turn-of-the-century buildings, soaking up sun, snorkeling the tidal shoreline and absorbing the history of the early Florida Keys.

Whether you follow these suggestions or find your own adventure, let it recharge your batteries and introduce you to a new aspect of the fabulous Florida Keys.

But, please (and I speak from experience here), don’t even THINK about grilling fish in your hotel bathtub.

Topics: Arts, Florida Keys, Highlights, Islamorada, Keys History, Keys Quirks, Local Color, Marathon

Perhaps I should call you Papa, since that’s the persona you created down here in Key West, but I admire your work so much that it seems too presumptuous.

"I've spotted you in Key West once or twice ..." (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

You may think it odd that I’m writing you this letter, since you’re presumably now typing on that great battered Royal in the sky (I can’t, somehow, believe you’ve graduated to a laptop or become embroiled in the “Mac versus PC” debate that obsesses your literary legatees).

The fact is, though, I’ve spotted you in Key West once or twice since you departed this life for pleasanter Islands in the Stream — outside Sloppy Joe’s, and on Whitehead Street near your house (you were staring bemusedly at the camera-draped visitors clamoring to get in).

So I know that, on occasion, you escape the celestial realm and return to the place where you loved to raise (excuse the reference) a little hell. And I thought I should alert you about something you might want to slip away for.

Lorian Hemingway and Casa Antigua grand dame Mary Ann Worth share a quiet moment in the historic property's atrium garden. (Photo by Tom Oosterhoudt, Conch Color)

You’re probably aware that Key West has changed since your day, but you might not be aware that you’re regarded as its literary patron saint. In fact, almost 30 years ago, a fellow named Michael Whalton created a festival here honoring your work and lifestyle. Hemingway Days, it’s called. Your brother Leicester had great fun participating in it until he took your path home. 

Anyway, one of the most popular Hemingway Days events is Lorian Hemingway’s announcement of the winners of her short story competition. If you actually do use a laptop, check it out at www.shortstorycompetition.com.

Your granddaughter Lorian has become highly acclaimed for authoring three fine books (look for her memoir “Walk on Water” in that big bookstore in the sky) — though her style is lyrical whereas yours was spare to the bone. 

Critically acclaimed as an author and journalist, Lorian spends hundreds of hours each year encouraging writers who haven't yet achieved success. (Photo by Tom Corcoran)

Lorian shares your love of Key West, and for the past 29 years she’s helped other writers who haven’t yet gotten the recognition they deserve.

Her short story contest offers cash awards — useful whether you have or have not — as well as recognition. And it’s so popular that this year it got 1,000-plus entries from all over the world.

Some of the past winning stories have been downright dazzling, and some of the winning writers have gone on to earn world-class literary fellowships and major publishing deals.

Anyway, Lorian will announce this year’s contest winners at 8 p.m. Friday, July 24, at Casa Antigua (it’s at 314 Simonton St.). You’ll remember the place, though not by that name — it’s the renovated Trevor and Morris Apartments where you stayed when you discovered Key West in 1928.

These days, most of the interior is a huge atrium garden open to the sky, with palm trees and a pool surrounded by beautiful old brick walls. It’s the home of a local publisher named Tom Oosterhoudt and his mother, Mary Ann Worth, and they generously open it up every year for Lorian’s awards event.

"Most attendees, Mr. Hemingway, will believe you're there in spirit anyway ..." (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

After the winners are announced, the audience hears the first public reading of the top story and Tom talks about your history with Casa Antigua. He even gives tours of the place — and I’ll bet you’d really enjoy seeing what a showplace those old apartments have become.

But honestly, Mr. Hemingway, if you can’t get your head out of the clouds, don’t fret about missing the awards (or even Hemingway Days itself). I’ll tell you a secret: most attendees will believe you’re there in spirit anyway.

With admiration,

A Fan

Topics: Arts, Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key West

Obama celebrated Independence Day by plunging into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida Keys as about 100 people applauded and shouted, “Go, Obama!”

(From left to right) Theo Glorie, Ryan Butts, Tom Favelli and Richie Moretti say their farewells to "Obama" before setting the loggerhead free. (Photo by Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

They weren’t cheering the American president’s swimming skill, however, but that of a 215-pound loggerhead sea turtle dubbed “Obama” — who was released to freedom July 4 after recuperating for five and a half months at Marathon’s internationally renowned Turtle Hospital.

“Obama” was rescued off the Keys on Jan. 19, the day before Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

Key West resident Tom Favelli was out in his 18-foot boat with a friend, 15-year-old Gerald Hernandez, when they spotted the turtle in trouble about a quarter-mile offshore. They called local authorities, who put them in touch with The Turtle Hospital.

“The reason we contacted the authorities was the fact that the turtle was floating on the surface and it was unable to submerge itself,” Tom said.

With coaching from Turtle Hospital administrator Ryan Butts, Tom and Gerald brought the turtle ashore and turned it over to hospital staff for care — after giving it a presidential name.

“We named the turtle ‘Obama’ because we found it around inauguration time,” Tom said.

"Obama" is just one of the loggerheads successfully rehabilitated and released by The Turtle Hospital. Here at right, Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida helps release a turtle near the Seven Mile Bridge in the Middle Keys. (Photo by Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Medical tests revealed that the turtle, estimated to be 50 or 60 years old, was suffering from a severe intestinal impaction that caused a body cavity infection. The hospital staff went into high gear and began appropriate treatment. 

“Obama” couldn’t have been in better hands. The Turtle Hospital (www.turtlehospital.org), located in Marathon in the Middle Keys, is the only facility of its kind in the world. Since 1986, hospital founder Richie Moretti and his associates have been treating injured sea turtles and, whenever possible, returning them to the wild. The hospital’s other goals include working toward environmental legislation to make beaches and oceans safer and cleaner for sea turtles.

After five and a half months of recuperation, “Obama” received a clean bill of health. On the morning of July 4, the turtle was transported back to the beach where Tom and Gerald originally brought it to shore.

“The turtle came in at a historic moment and was named after the new president, so we thought it was appropriate to release ‘Obama’ to freedom on America’s Independence Day,” Ryan said.

(FYI, “Obama” traveled comfortably in the hospital’s official Turtle Ambulance — which might not be as fancy as Air Force One, but is pretty impressive nevertheless.)

After a final pat from Ryan Butts, "Obama" heads for home in the waters off the Florida Keys. (Photo by Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

“When we opened up the back doors of our hospital ambulance and ‘Obama’ the sea turtle smelled that ocean air, that turtle was so excited about getting out to the ocean,” said Ryan.

Carefully Ryan, Richie Moretti, Tom and volunteer Theo Glorie carried “Obama” down the beach between two lines of kids and adults who had gathered to watch the historic release.

When they put “Obama” down near the ocean’s edge, it was abundantly clear that the turtle was healthy and ready for freedom. With single-minded determination and a burst of speed, it headed for the water and home.

“We got the turtle down on the sand and it took off,” Ryan said. “It was so excited and swam away with all the energy it had.”

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and a few people wiped away unexpected tears, as “Obama” disappeared into the blue Atlantic.

Farewell, Turtle-in-Chief … and fare well. 

Topics: Animal Ambassadors, Florida Keys, Highlights, Keys Environment, Local Color, Marathon

When Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West in the 1930s, sparring and refereeing boxing matches were among his favorite pastimes. Until February 2000, Key West was home to one of the last living links to the author: Kermit “Shine” Forbes, his one-time sparring partner.

In this 1994 photo Shine, right, puts on the gloves with Hemingway Look-Alike Contest winner Bill Fountain. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Shine, as he was called by practically everyone who knew him, was a compact man whose body never lost the strength developed during his early physical training. Born in 1916, he was at one time an oyster harvester, a dishwasher and a fisherman. For many years, he was a cook at Key West’s Naval Hospital.

When he first met Ernest Hemingway, Shine was working with a fighter named Alfred “Black Pie” Colebrooks during a match at the Key West Arena, located in the Bahama Village neighborhood. Though the opposing fighter repeatedly drove Black Pie to the canvas, he rose and battled on — until Shine finally threw in the towel, signaling that they conceded the fight.

Author Lorian Hemingway shared her grandfather Ernest's affection for Shine, as is clearly visible in this snapshot from years ago. (Photo by Michael Whalton)

The referee, a shabbily-dressed man much bigger than Shine, threw the towel back. Shine threw it back in, only to have the referee throw it out again. After this happened a third time — and the towel hit Shine in the face — he jumped into the ring and took a punch at the ref, though it didn’t connect.

“I didn’t know who he was,” reported Shine during an interview in the late 1990s.

Later, his manager told him the man he’d tried to punch was the famous writer Ernest Hemingway.

“I went over to his house that night to apologize,” Shine said. “Hemingway shook my hand and asked me to come over the next day — and that’s when we began sparring.”

The young Shine, and his comrades among the local fighters, sparred regularly with Hemingway around the swimming pool at the author’s Whitehead Street home. According to Shine, Hemingway was considerate of his opponents during those rounds.

“He took it easy on us,” he recalled, “because he had the weight. He was a big man.”

Each year until his death, Shine was a VIP guest at Key West's Hemingway Days celebrations. (Photo by Tom Netting)

One Christmas during a party at his house, the author had Shine and the other fighters put on a boxing exhibition. Among the guests was boxing great Gene Tunney. Hemingway passed the hat after the exhibition, and the Key West fighters ended up with a substantial Christmas “present.”

Until his death at 84, decades after he last sparred with Hemingway, Shine Forbes lived in a small Bahama Village home whose walls bore hundreds of photos and clippings about the author, his descendants, and Key West’s annual Hemingway Days. Shine often took part in the festival — and, on occasion, even put on the gloves and boxed with “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike contenders.

He was also periodically sought out by journalists asking about his connection with Hemingway.

“I got kind of famous on account of him,” Shine said of the author. “If I never knew him, I would be just Shine around here.”

Shine's infectious grin and unquenchable spirit explain where his nickname came from. Here, he spars playfully with a man who looks oddly familiar. (Photo by Tom Netting)

It would have been easy for Shine to exaggerate his friendship with Hemingway or his knowledge of the author. After all, few people could contradict any story he chose to tell. But he never did.

Instead, with the integrity Hemingway admired so many years ago, he stuck to what he knew: Ernest Hemingway the boxing aficionado, the man who didn’t put on airs but respected the skills of neighborhood fighters.

Maybe that’s one reason Shine, who never regarded himself as anyone special, is now an unforgettable part of Key West’s rich history — just like the “referee” who became his friend. 

Topics: Florida Keys, Highlights, Key West, Keys History, Local Color, Profiles