Key West:
Eden House: "About Eden House and Key West"
Date: September 10, 2004
Reviewer: A TripAdvisor User, Houston, TX
Writing a review about Eden House is like trying to describe the White Cliffs
of Dover in one sentence. It's a sensory experience, not a tangible one--and to convey that is almost impossible. No one really
understands it until they see it for themselves. I always like a good challenge, and the subject matter is dear to my heart,
so I shall try my best to do justice to this lovely place.
It (Key West, that is) is merely a different world from
what you and I know. I mean that in the truest sense. What may be very important to you outside this environment of tropical
bliss--your cell phone, a client's fax, your car note, your job...is forgotten here. These things are unnecessary to a native,
so they don't fuss about them as we do. They cannot understand our rat race and survival of the fittest. They'd rather sit
on a creaky front porch with a cold margarita, listening to some Buffett and wonder why the rest of us haven't figured out
what they've known for years. And so it goes at Eden House, from the moment you step in the door.
The rooms are clean,
the staff is laid back but attentive and friendly. Fully expect them to become your new buddies. They will all know you and
remember you--one of the best qualities of this marvelous inn. Invite stories, and you will get plenty; have lots of free
time, and sit down and listen. Many life lessons to be learned. I found that out my first visit! If it is privacy ye seek;
ye shall find...the staff also knows when to be at your beck and call without sitting on top of you.
There is much
to see and do in Key West. However, in order to do that, you actually have to leave Eden House. That is a surprisingly difficult
thing to do when you're wading in a tropical pool with a waterfall, encircled by palms of various species, listening to local
music piped in to the patio area. When you first approach the pool and its surroundings, your initial thought is, "THIS is
EXACTLY what I want my backyard to look like!!" ...and since Coconut Palms can't grow in chilly conditions, you decide you
simply must come back no matter what. You begin to plan in your mind how to earn the extra bucks to bring you back here as
soon as possible. It is only later that you realize the reasons why you must return have little to do with the semantics and
everything to do with how you feel while you are there.
For me, I have been six times, and every time, it is like going
home. I feel like a different person when I breeze through the door. I like to sit on the front porch in their vintage rockers
and just watch bicycles go by. It reminds me that I don't have to go to Duval Street and get plastered to have a good time
on the Island. I don't feel like a visitor; I feel like I belong. It's as close to being a "conch" (native) as one can possibly
get without being born there.
I do like to visit my old faves when I am there, so I will usually rent a scooter from
Moped Hospital my first day, and go putter around.
My morning starts with breakfast at Blue Heaven. The blueberry
pancakes are sinful--and the chickens walk freely, like they do in most of Key West. The cats don't mind, and neither should
you. ;-) Sometimes I will go to Camille's or Pepe's as they are very good for breakfast, but my fave is Blue Heaven
I
then like to just putter around on my scooter and look at the Architecture or check out the art scene until lunchtime, where
I will go to Sandy's Cafe and get an authentic Cuban Sandwich (YUM!) or head to Half Shell Raw Bar and get a shrimp PoBoy.
The Key West Cemetery always gets a visit from me, because you cannot possibly get through the whole thing in one day. It
is a remarkable place. Despite the fact that everyone in it is dead, the cemetery itself is still a living, breathing entity,
thanks to some creative and wacky epithets written by some creative and wacky people.
At this point I usually head
back to Eden House and take an afternoon dip. Once I am waterlogged, I will take my new book (Hemingway would be appropriate,
heh heh) and head for the hammocks...which are tucked in the back of the property, lushly landscaped and an oasis in itself.
I have fallen asleep many times in those hammocks. It's almost impossible not to.
At Sunset, of course, you can do
the traditional thing and head to Mallory Square with the rest of the tourists. You can also take a boat out, the Sebago or
there are others, and have a sunset cruise. I personally like to watch it from the balcony of the La Concha, or from Latitudes,
a restaurant on private Sunset Key. But, even if you don't, the sky deck at Eden House has been the site for many a beautiful
sunset. It can also be much quieter.
If I am interested in the nightlife I will head down to Duval Street, but more
often than not I like to walk the streets at night. You can steal glimpses of real Key West and some beautiful home interiors
if you're lucky enough to catch a house with the curtains still open. I love going for a quiet stroll at twilight with the
ocassional cat following me to the end of a block; the sound of a dog barking, an occassionally, a bike bell. With a canopy
of Poinciana overhead and the swaying palms it can get quite cozy and you begin to feel like you're smack in the middle of
a Tennessee Williams play. You're just waiting for some drama to play itself out in a yard, or on a porch...and sometimes
it does, sometimes it doesn't....sometimes it's lovers arguing, and sometimes it's a chicken and a cat battling for territory...but
it's all part of the island and you accept it for what it is. You embrace it.
Dinner can be a blackened grouper sandwich
from Good Food To Go (they deliver 24 hrs. a day) al fresco at Eden House, or something fancier--dressing up and heading to
A&B Lobster House for some 5 star dining. Either way you're going to love it, so go with what you like. Don't forget to
stop by the Blonde Giraffe on Truman and have a nice slice of Key Lime Pie. A tip--get a bottle of water with it. You'll need
it. It's delicious, creamy, and very tart! The best on the island, in my opinion.
Since I got married on the beach
at Ft. Zachary Taylor, I really enjoy going back there. It is such an interesting, ghostly place, and when it was being restored,
the Navy found a Civil War arsenal--the largest found to date, at any Fort. There is still much work to be done on the fort
as far as renovations go, and I think that's part of the charm of it. It's still somewhat "real", much like Ft. Jefferson
out at Dry Tortugas (which I highly recommend as well). You can almost see the soldiers walking past you. It is eerie, but
a wonderful glimpse into our history.
There are so many things to do when you are in Key West. I could probably name
a million, but that's not what Key West is all about. The point in being here is making sure you take plenty of time to do
NOTHING. You will find later on, when you are back at your job, behind your desk, pondering the meaning of life, that you
ache to go back there for one last chance, to do just that...absolutely nothing. That is known as having "Keys Disease". :-)
Enjoy your stay and be sure to tell Mike and the folks at Eden House that Polly sent you.
Polly and Matt McDonald
Houston,
Texas
This review is the opinion of a TripAdvisor
user and not of TripAdvisor, Inc
Thanks to Polly and Matt (whom I have never met) for writing what I could not.
