Ernest Hemingway ended up living in Key West quite by accident. During a trip between Cuba and the U.S., he stopped in Key West to pick up a new Ford Roadster that his wife’s wealthy uncle had purchased for them. As usual, things were happening on “island time” – the car had not yet arrived. The Ford dealership insisted Hemingway stay in the apartment above the showroom while waiting for it to arrive. By the time the Roadster hit the docks, Key West had worked its magic on Ernest.

Historic Home of Ernest Hemingway

When the same generous uncle purchased a Key West home for the Hemingways two years later, they happily settled into the community on a full time basis. Ernest spent mornings writing and afternoons on a bar stool at Sloppy Joe’s Saloon, gathering fodder for his books. From from wealthy merchants, to the down-on-their-luck fishermen and wreckers, Hemingways books are filled with Key West characters. Hemingway contentment was so great in Key West that more than half of his published novels were Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival is being hosted by The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, where we’re invited to “Get Social” and use this carnival as a way to start a conversation with each of the bloggers represented. Click on over to read what our group of Boomers are discussing this week – everything from Twitter to Facebook to free speech in the press.

There are things I love about Key West. The weather is awesome – my skin absolutely glows in the tropics. It is a small, eminently walkable island (only seven miles around). Key West is one of the safest places I have ever visited; I can walk home alone at any hour of the night without worry. Vegetarian food is abundant; in fact one of the best vegetarian restaurants I have ever been to – The Cafe – is located in Key West. The beaches are lovely and within walking distance. A strong arts culture ensures there is always some event going on, whether it be a gallery showing, an arts film, or a display of sculpture in the public parks.

The beach at Fort Zachary Taylor is my favorite - a lovely sheltered cove, pure white sand, and no tourists

But for all this, Key West unsettles me. After being here a few days I start to feel uncomfortable in my skin. I know that it is a real place with real people who live here year round; the problem is that the real people are overshadowed by the Read the rest of this entry »

The recent elimination of booking fees for airfare now appears to have been just the first salvo in the war between online travel booking sites. Expedia and Orbitz yesterday announced that they are reducing fees on hotel rooms booked by July 15th. Additionally, Orbitz is now displaying the entire cost for hotel booking upfront, inclusive of fees and taxes, rather than tacking on the aditional fees at the payment screen – a practice long criticized by consumers as being deceptive. Although these latest discounts will no doubt be embraced by consumers, continued erosion of revenues in the industry could result in a round of failures, mergers, and/or acquisitions.

In April of 1982, the United States Border Patrol set up a blockade on highway U.S.1 in Florida City, at the northern entrance to the Florida Keys, and began searching every car, supposedly looking for illegal aliens attempting to enter the mainland United States. When the checkpoint resulted in a seventeen mile long traffic jam the media began covering the story. As a result the Keys were paralyzed: visitors canceled reservations, deliveries were delayed or stopped, and attractions suffered tremendous loss of business. Something had to be done.

Spectators enjoy the "longest parade route in the world," which runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico on Key West's famous Duval Street

Led by Key West Mayor Dennis Wardlow and local attorney Dave Horan, community leaders flew to Miami, seeking an injunction in Federal Court that would enjoin the Border Patrol from treating the Keys like a foreign country. Unfortunately, the court refused. As the group left the courthouse, reporters screamed, “What are you going to do, Mr. Mayor?” On the spur of the moment, Wardlow replied, “We are going to go home and secede.”

By the time the group returned to Key West, Federal agents had begun to arrive. No one knew what to expect. Would they be arrested? Would the Keys be put under martial law? The fear was palpable. Surrounded by his loyal followers, Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I was having lunch with a couple of friends when the conversation turned to repositioning cruises. Not being familiar with the term, I asked them to tell me more.

“They’re the absolute best cruise deals available!” my one friend insisted. And she proceeded to educate me.

Some ships sail the same itinerary – or at least stay in the same region – year round. Others switch routes with the seasons, requiring them to reposition the ship from one home port to another, which is by necessity a one-way trip. Rather than sail without passengers the cruise lines sell these repositioning trips at a significant discount. Although these cruises require travelers to arrange for more expensive one-way airfare, they also visit more ports of call because they are not limited by the round-trip requirement. Further research turned up some intriguing examples:

Cruise West's Spirit of Oceanus, a small luxury ship that accommodates only 120 passengers

• Cruise West’s Spirit of Oceanus is a small, luxury ship that departs from Anchorage, Alaska on September 10, 2009 for an 18-night Bering Sea crossing dubbed the Ring Of Fire. On its way to Kobe, Japan, the ship visits the Alaskan, Russian, and Japanese ports of Seward, Kodiak, Shumagin Islands, Dutch Harbor, Kiska Island, Attu Island, Petropavlovsk, Atlasova Island, Kuril Islands, Kushiro, Matushima, and Ise. The Read the rest of this entry »

At a time when fewer people are flying and airlines are struggling, Southwest recently announced they will begin service to two new destinations. Flights to New York’s LaGuardia will begin on June 28th and Boston’s Logan International’s service will start on August 16th.

To promote the new routes, Southwest is offering excellent fares. I checked on Tampa Bay to LaGuardia (my preferred airport when flying into NYC) for the dates of August 18-25 and came up with a round-trip “Wanna Get Away” fare of $257.40, inclusive of all airport fees and taxes. Not bad, considering summer is high season for NY. From Chicago to LaGuardia for the same dates the fare is $239.20. Both examples were for early morning schedules rather than some middle-of-the-night red eye flight, and while the Tampa to LaGuardia example required a change in Baltimore, the Chicago flight was non-stop.

Flights to Boston Logan were equally affordable. From Tampa the fare for a round-trip afternoon flight was $200.40 with a stop in Baltimore, and $249.80 from Chicago.

Southwest’s expansion into these two markets is intriguing. Their successful business model has historically focused on serving alternative airports rather than the major metropolitan airports. For example, prior to this recent Read the rest of this entry »

I just finished watching a 26 minute video where Senator Mel Martinez of Florida sets forth the reasons he opposes easing travel to Cuba. He provides an interesting historical overview, explaining that President Eisenhower was the first to place trade sanctions on Cuba, banning the selling of sugar, oil, and guns in response to Castro’s horrific human rights violations. When barrels of Soviet oil began to arriving on the island, U.S. oil companies in Cuba refused to continue refining, resulting in Cuba’s nationalization of the refineries without ever paying a dime of compensation to the companies.

Notwithstanding the whole discussion of whether the U.S. actually fired the first salvo by imposing trade sanctions on critical commodities, forcing Cuba to look to other sources, I believe there is a much greater issue at hand. The best way to fight communism is for people who live in a free and democratic society to interact with those who suffer under communism. Although Castro has been able to maintain power through violence and control, his most effective tool may be the policies of the U.S. government. The prohibition on travel assures that Cubans are not exposed to capitalist thought and ideology.

Additionally, our policy is not consistent. The U.S. government bans travel to Cuba, yet we are allowed to freely travel to Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and a plethora other countries around the world that either have communist governments or strong communist leanings (Colombia or Angola, anyone?). Myanmar is a case in point. For years the government successfully suppressed Read the rest of this entry »

During a recent visit to France, President Obama said, “I am always jealous about European trains. And I said to myself, ‘Why can’t we have high-speed rail?’”

The same question occurred to me when I traveled around the world in 2007. I was astounded by the public transportation systems in Europe, New Zealand, and Australia and even wrote about the possibility of building high speed maglev rail systems in the U.S. upon returning from my trip. So I was overjoyed yesterday when President Obama announced his vision for such a system in America, beginning with his opening remarks:

“What we’re talking about is a vision for high-speed rail in America. Imagine boarding a train in the center of a city. No racing to an airport and across a terminal, no delays, no sitting on the tarmac, no lost luggage, no taking off your shoes. Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination. Imagine what a great project that would be to rebuild America.”

Critics of the idea who insist that it would not work in the U.S because of the vast distances in our country miss the point. A high-speed rail system would initially focus on densely populated corridors to connect major metropolitan areas, such as shown in the following map prepared by the administration:

Proposed high-speed rail system

Although I was too young to remember when President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced his intention to build an Interstate system across America, I suspect Read the rest of this entry »