In the heart of Key West sits a quaint, little restaurant, its handcrafted sign still glowing with excitement and ferber despite the faded paint.
It’s an inviting and warm site to see, although there is no animosity if you fail to notice it right away due to the quite frankly bizarre site of dozens of roosters roaming the place.
They’ve been here for a while, and they know how to play the game. Once a scrap of food falls off the plate and on to the twig and leaf-covered floor, it’s theirs for the taking.
It’s a simple game, an easy one. Probably one that their descendants would have loved to play if given the chance, instead of fighting one another for the amusement and wager of others.
Of course, that was over a hundred years ago – and they’ve all gone now.
Gone. But not forgotten.
If you were to take a gander to the courtyard of Blue Heaven, you’ll notice a little gated alcove with the words “Rooster Cemetery” nailed to a faded, white fence. This is the resting place of champions, those brave roosters who fought and died on these grounds.
And weirdly enough, some of Ernest Hemingway’s cats as well. He did like to referee boxing matches here sometimes. Makes you wonder if he placed money on any of these long forgotten roosters. Which one of these were his champions?
While you won’t find mention of this place on any of our Key West Ghost Tours, there are rumors and whispers of these grounds being haunted.
When the restaurant has closed, and all the patrons and hens have left for the night, they say that you can still hear their phantom clucking from the courtyard. They say that it's the spirits of the roosters who died so tragically and violently for the amusement of others, doomed to fight and cluck for eternity.
It seems there will be no rest for these poultrygeist.
Hemingway would have probably laughed at that joke.