Mallory Square at Sundown

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: Suffet
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 04:46 PM

Agreed, but I prefer Conch Republic, about 200 feet away.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: GUEST,Lizzie Lindsay
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 10:39 AM

Yes, they're the same. But the really cool place to hang out is the Schooner Wharf bar.

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: Suffet
Date: 01 Mar 01 - 08:34 PM

Is Tony's Fish Market the same as a place called Captain Tony's? It's on Greene Street just off Duvall, and it occupies the original site of Sloppy Joe's.

OK, Hemingway is spelled with only one m and tequila is spelled with only one l. But Stagger Lee, Stackolee, and Stagolee are all interchangeable.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: GUEST,Elliot
Date: 01 Mar 01 - 10:31 AM

Steve, Good story. I can't wait to hear you tell it and more tales about your trip in the flesh, next week at your place. Somehow, I managed to avoid hearing or reading much about Key West until recently. I guess I just lumped Key West in with the rest of Florida and thought I'm better off heading elsewhere when I could afford a real vacation, but now, I may have changed my mind. See you soon.

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: GUEST,Elliot
Date: 01 Mar 01 - 10:27 AM

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Feb 01 - 05:20 PM

Even the new Key West is better than no Key West at all. My wife and I spent our honeymoon there and we plan to go back on our 5th anniversary. It's a great place even when it's filled with tourists like myself.

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: winniemih
Date: 28 Feb 01 - 11:38 AM

Steve, Your post brought back memories. When I was 20 years old, in the winter of1970-71, my boyfriend and I lived for 3 months in a v.w.van that we parked on a beach near Duval St. There was a restaurant near there called Tony's Fish Market, where we both worked. Other refugees from the north joined us there periodically- we had a kind of a gypsy camp (although we didn't have open fires) and would cook some great group meals on our coleman stoves. Finally the cops ran us out of there, and we went back to Boston. I think that was the Key West that Jimmy Buffett sang about.

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 11:46 PM

Sorry I missed your performance, Steve. I was at Mallory Square in June, when it was too hot for most of the tourists. I think the Key West you sought is still there - but not during tourist season.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: Sorcha
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 09:43 PM

aw, shucks. I thought this was gonna be sorta like the Shoot Out at the OK Corral......be outta town by sundown, boy. Neat story, tho, Steve. Thanks. I'd prefer to believe you rather than ole Schooner Jack.

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: GUEST,Schooner Jack
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 09:38 PM

I was there and I heard him. He's not bad. Pretty good in fact, but not the standard Mallory Square fare. Some guy with a kilt and bagpipes kept drowning him out. From what I recall, the German was the one who asked him to play Stagolee, and the guitar player said he would do it for five dollars. He was so surprised when the German actually started to hand him the money that he said give it to the homeless guy instead.

Subject: RE: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 06:44 AM

You can't see me but I'm giving you a standing ovation! MORE, MORE!
RtS

Subject: Mallory Square at Sundown
From: Suffet
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 08:30 PM

Tuesday, February 20, 2001, a little before 6 PM. I make my way to what remains of Mallory Square just off Front and Duvall Streets in the northwest corner of Key West, Florida. The Hilton Resort and Marina have overtaken much of it, and the rest has been paved over so the endless phalanx of tourists can take in the tightrope walkers and fire-eating acts while buying tons of shlock souvenirs. Where is the Key West I had long heard about? The Iguana Man? The ghost of Ernest Hemmingway with his assortment of wives and mistresses? The old gay lovers holding hands in the sunset, knowing that at least here they would be safe from arrest? Maybe I'm naive, but I really expected to see Jimmy Buffett strolling on the beach with his guitar in one hand and a piña colada in the other. (Jimmy's lyrics to the contrary notwithstanding, down here the booze of choice is rum, not tequilla. Margaritaville is just the name of a high-priced bar he owns somewhere along Duvall!)

No matter. In a corner of the square I find a low brick wall to seat myself upon. Around me there are a handful of gents and one lady, all of whom appear to have seen better times. If this is all that remains of the old Key West, then I shall make the most of it. I take out my guitar and start off with _It Takes a Worried Man_ and then segué right into _Going Down This Road Feeling Bad_. My audience perks up. No one has played any songs for them in quite a while. One of the men asks, "Are you playing for money?"

"No," I quickly reply.

"Well that's good," he explains, "because we ain't got any!"

My next song is _San Francisco Bay Blues_. Then I do a request from the old man who said they didn't have any money. He asks, "Can you do _Stagger Lee_?" Damn, I wish they were all so easy! Now I am beginning to attract a crowd. The tourists are coming! The tourists are coming! My next number is a really loud one, _Hard Traveling_, followed in short order by _Rocky Top_, _Wreck of the Old 97_, and _Old Joe Clark_. Then I throw in an Irish tune, _Star of the County Down_, before attempting to end the impromptu set with _Rolling In My Sweet Baby's Arms__. But the crowd shouts "Encore!" and I oblige them with _Jesse James_ followed by _Billy the Kid_ followed by _Pretty Boy Floyd_.

Finally I'm exhausted and out of breath. I have to take a break. The tourists quickly melt away, but as they do one comes up to me and with some sort of European accent -- German or Austrian or Swiss perhaps -- offers me a five-dollar bill. I tell him, "Give it to my roadie," and I point to the old man who had requested _Stagger Lee_. The tourist complies with my request, and as soon as he is gone I signal the man to keep it. He thanks me.

Just then the sun finishes going down over the Gulf of Mexico. A loud cheer arises up and down the waterfront area. Someone nearby shouts, "Yea!" It's the one woman in the group. It seems she has a date tonight to share five dollars worth of rum.

Oh, the joys of being a real folksinger!

--- Steve