Key West Live Cam

Ernest Hemingway built his reputation as a writer in solitude. But Key West's crowded bars played an important part in shaping his work; there, with human nature on display, they were his observatories. His reputed favorite, the one watering hole permanently linked to the author, is "Sloppy Joe's."

Hemingway met "Sloppy Joe" Russell when the saloon keeper ran a speakeasy on Front Street in Prohibition-era Key West, using his boat to haul fishermen to the Gulf Stream and illegal booze from Cuba. The friendship began when Russell cashed a royalty check from Hemingway's publisher after a local bank refused it. They were fishing and drinking buddies from then on.