Whether you, enjoy writing, are a professional author or, as I am, an undiscovered one – there is one destination I highly recommend you visit in your lifetime, The Ernest Hemingway House in Key West Florida.
You really don't need any specific reason to visit Key West other than it is paradise, but The Hemingway Home is worth the entire trip. It isn't just that the house is a magnificent structure, or that the grounds are teeming with legions of cats whose lineage is traced back to Papa's very own pets.
It isn't the stories told by those whose appearance portray the older Papa, or the stunning, originally saltwater, swimming pool. Even the beauty of the flora and fauna all take a backseat to one area, one solitary room – a room that can only be viewed at a distance, from behind a wrought iron barrier. The room is decorated, but eyes are drawn to a small circular table upon which sits and old Royal typewriter.
In this writing studio, seventy percent of his works were created. A writer's imagination easily envisions a youthful, athletically inclined Papa pounding away on the keyboard, or scribbling away on a writing pad. It is in that moment, even if you don't care for Hemingway's stories, your heart pauses for a second or two, because you know this is where greatness lived and still haunts.