![]() To get there, cruise ship tourists trudge past a glut of stores that peddle ice cream, T-shirts, jewelry and chocolate-covered Key lime pie on a stick. Since 1996, the number of tourists arriving in Key West on cruise ships has more than doubled, to more than 1 million.įor many, Sloppy Joe’s is a must stop. More than $3 billion in tourist dollars was pumped into Monroe County’s economy. The Key West Chamber of Commerce estimates 2.3 million people visited the island last year. That marketplace has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. By calling itself “the original Sloppy Joe’s,” Captain Tony’s is creating confusion in the marketplace, Miami lawyer Robert Chaskes charged in court papers. The dispute, the topic of many a well-lubricated barroom debate, escalated a week ago when Sloppy Joe’s filed suit. “Both, as far as I can determine,” Hambright said. So, which bar can boast: Hemingway drank here? He won’t even verify that Hemingway kept felines in Key West, although he says the author had them in Cuba a few years later. According to local lore, he set it up as an outdoor watering trough for his beloved six-toed cat and its descendants.īut no documents exist to prove or disprove the tales, according to Monroe County historian Tom Hambright. Others say Hemingway took the marble urinal home from the old bar, figuring he’d used it so often he’d already paid for it. Some storytellers say Hemingway fronted Russell $5,000 to buy the new bar. His patrons helped him move out - at midnight. Other names, The Blind Pig and The Glass Slipper, have been suggested.Īs the story goes, Russell abruptly moved half a block to the current Sloppy Joe’s location in 1937, upset that his landlord had raised the rent $6 a month. Whether the Greene Street bar was called Sloppy Joe’s back then is open to discussion, like so many other details in this story. Hemingway Days continues through Sunday with events including a quirky “Running of the Bulls” spoof, a street fair and the Key West Marlin Tournament that recalls the author’s passion for Florida Keys fishing.Some believe the saloon at what is now Captain Tony’s was the inspiration for a bar Hemingway called “Freddy’s” in his Key West tome To Have and Have Not. The contest’s second preliminary round is set for Friday, the 124th anniversary of Hemingway’s July 21 birth, and the 2023 winner is set to be chosen Saturday night. ![]() Many are repeat contenders who bring their own cheering sections, and most attempt to copy the “Papa” persona and appearance adopted by Hemingway in his later years. The three-night look-alike competition is held at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, where Hemingway often spent time with local and literary friends.Ĭlosely observed by a judging panel of previous winners including 2022’s Jon Auvil, of Dade City, Florida, contestants take turns pontificating and parading across Sloppy Joe’s stage. The challenge is a highlight of the island’s Hemingway Days festival that salutes the literary talent and adventurous life of the Nobel Prize-winning writer.ĭuring his Key West years, Hemingway penned classics including “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “To Have and Have Not.” Almost 140 bearded men who resemble Ernest Hemingway converged on Key West, the late author’s home during the 1930s, to compete in the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest that began Thursday evening. ![]()
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