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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:	Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:	FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:	MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO

Created:	Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:	Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5089
Total number of notes:	60366

3694.0. "Hemingway House" by XNOGOV::KAREN (when you wish upon a star...) Tue Jun 12 1990 07:15

 I wondered if anyone had visited Ernest Hemingway's old home in Key 
West?  There are forty two cats resident in the grounds there.  They 
are named after the great movie stars eg Marilyn Monroe.

These cats are descendents of Hemingway's original cat, and many of 
them have six toes (I forget the technical term for this!).  It's 
wonderful to see them all in all parts of the grounds, and they are so 
tame.  Only Marilyn is allowed inside, and she's often found curled up 
on the master bed.  

They are extremely well looked after and once a year the vet is called 
in to check them over and give them their shots etc.  I was very 
impressed by what I saw as we did our tour of the house and grounds. 

Apparently Ernest Hemingway was a profound cat lover.  And one amusing 
story the guide told us was that he'd even "borrowed" the urinal from 
his favourite bar, "Sloppy Joe's" to provide the cats with a drinking 
fountain!  This horrified his wife of the time, who had it disguised 
with Italian tiles.  It's still there today, and still being used by 
the cats.   

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit there (being a bit of a Hemingway fan), and
the cats were the icing on the cake!  I left there with a very warm 
feeling inside.  But it did make me miss Georgie even more than I 
already was!  
 
Best regards,

Karen (and Georgie)

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
3694.1	Thanks for the memories.....	ELMAGO::RSTOLL	If it ain't one thing, it's another	`Tue Jun 12 1990 10:02`	25
	Karen, What a wonderful note. You must have been there recently as my husband & I were stationed in Key West for the last 4 years. We lived about 25 mins. from the Hemingway House and use to go there all the time. Yes, the cats are beautiful and all of them with 6 toes. Come on you experts, what's the proper name? I had to laugh about the part about the urinal cause it was there also when we were there. Only then, the birds AND the cats were sharing it....heh, heh! BTW, did you ever end up at Sloppy Joe's?......;-} I was also impressed about how well the cats cared for. And such hams....We also visited the gift shop inside and brought home alot of "stuff". All in all, a wonderful experience. Thanks for the memories. Robyn, Rocky & Smokey (P.S.-BTW, Rocky and Smokey are from Key West and miss "Kokomo" very much.) ]
3694.2	and then there's the Cat House	XNOGOV::KAREN	when you wish upon a star...	`Tue Jun 12 1990 11:02`	25
	Hi Robyn Glad I found sombody who loved it as much as I did! We were there only last month. I have a lovely picture taken on the veranda with about half a dozen cats. One of them even came and sat beside me and actually posed for the photo! I was in raptures! Lucky you being able to visit it so often. I bought a lovely sweatshirt there - it has three or four cats on the front and the legend "Hemingway House" and then the back shows the backs of the same set of cats and the legend "Key West". It's pretty cute! Sloppy Joe's? Well, we had our pictures taken outside there too! And Captain Tony's, the original Sloppy Joe's! But what about the Cat House....? I guess you must know THAT? I loved it!! All those pictures on the wall of cats from all over the world. I literally had to be dragged out of there! I could go on...and on... Karen
3694.3	Whoops, almost forgot.	ELMAGO::RSTOLL	If it ain't one thing, it's another	`Tue Jun 12 1990 11:26`	18
	Ah yes, The Cat House, I got earrings, t-shirts, cat coasters, you name it. When we used to go there, the owner, (I guess it was the owner) always had this cat (darn, forget her name) and she would always be snoozing near one of the statues and looked just like one of them. It use to fool my hubby alot and he would always crack up when he got caught. Wonderful place. Captain Tony's.....ahem, he bought me a drink when he was there one day because he overheard me order a Jim Beam and "that's a good poison"...he's a wonderful man (kind of a horn-ball) nice, and finally won Mayor of Key West. So glad someone else has visit "The Rock" as we sailors use to call it. Was Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville" there when you were?? Robyn
3694.4	'that term'	TOMLIN::ROMBERG	how long 'til the next holiday?	`Tue Jun 12 1990 12:41`	1
	Cats that have extra toes are polydactyl.
3694.5	Thanks for the answer ;-)	ELMAGO::RSTOLL	If it ain't one thing, it's another	`Tue Jun 12 1990 13:11`	1

3694.6	I vote for more cat houses	XNOGOV::KAREN	when you wish upon a star...	`Wed Jun 13 1990 07:34`	25
	Yes, thanks for the technical term! I just loved the Cat House! The cat was in when we went there. Can't remember her name, either. There was a little blackboard behind the counter which said whether "madam" or was it "missy" was in or out. I thought this was cute. I got tempted by all sorts of things, but in the end bought Georgie a mouse* and myself a bumper sticker which says, "I've been to the Cat House in Key West" on it. I've stuck it to the wall of my cube to remind me of those glorious Florida days. I also saw my very own coasters in there that I'd bought about a year ago in England. Couldn't believe this! Afraid I never saw or have heard of Jimmy Buffet's "MArgarotaville" - am I missing something here? Regards, Karen (and Georgie) PS * this was a catnip mouse, and as soon as he saw it Georgie went absolutely mad. He loved it more than any other mouse he's ever had! He's alredy turned it into a bedraggled mess without ears or whiskers!