A Key West Companion

Rating:
Summary: Not your ordinary travel book
Review: Key West is such a beautiful place, it deserves to have a book like this written about it. Lovingly crafted by its adoring author, this series of essays doesn't comprise the ordinary "where to shop, eat and stay", advertisement-frenzied travel book. Instead, it's a languid stroll through past and present Key West, accompanied by Cox who whispers many strange and wonderful secrets of "Cayo Hueso" as you float through this weathered paradise.

Cox spent four months in the "Conch Republic", so there's nothing slick or salesman-like about his observations of this Bohemian enclave. His respect for Key West history and its influence in shaping the present community is obvious. Cox is especially admiring and engaging in his portrayal of real-life "Freshwater and Saltwater Conchs" (as the natives...and not-so-natives...call themselves), all who readily share their interesting stories with him, whether over a frenzied breakfast at a local cafe, or a quiet drink in the shade of a sheltered verandah. Fascinating tales abound in this book, the funniest of which recounts the night the Navy burned confiscated drugs in the City dump on Key West Bight: prevailing winds made this event especially memorable for the natives. Cox goes on to say, "Since then, the government has burned its dope somewhere else."

Even though the book was published in the 1980's, this first-time 2001 traveler to Key West found it to be a fascinating read about a fascinating place. Its many wonderful treasures, from the carefully restored homes, broken-down military establishments, lazy beaches, historical landmarks and museums, haunting cemeteries, homey bars and saloons, and flourishing retail markets - not to mention the colorful "Conchs" who call the place home - don't seem to occupy a static place in time. Instead, Key West meanders through the years like a lush, tropical, untended garden, changing here and there occasionally, but always maintaining a character that makes it the most intriguing and unexpected pleasure to be savored. Cox's "companion" to this unexpected pleasure is indeed just that - a warm tribute to an old friend. An unexpected pleasure in and of itself, "A Key West Companion" will transport you to that beautiful island for a vacation of the mind, with Cox as your own personal tour guide...and will probably spur you to plan a trip of your own to this weird and wonderful place, even if you've already been there before.