This is a new story titled, Island Flavor. It is 1947, Jane and Al, fictionally represented by my mom and dad, are looking for a house to purchase in Key West Florida. They find an old Victorian house and get a lot more adventure than they expected.
Island Flavor
The old house had been vacant for a few years. The once meticulously manicured yard now had a variety of knee-high non-grass plants. The faded green island’s hurricane shutters were closed, but they were still trying to do their best to protect the interior. Here and there a shutter hung crooked, a screw holding a brass hinge gave up. The stately date palms and flowering bushes continued to bear and flower. Nature seems to always take care of its own.
The yard was spacious. This house was far enough away from the center of Key West and ancient enough to have been constructed when the land was reasonably priced. Therefore, it sat conveniently in the center of two lots.
The fence was still in good condition because its builders had the foresight to use Key mahogany wood which is known for its resistance to weathering, rot, and decay. This wood was from Big Pine Key. Those trees were the small trees that remained after the early Spanish explorers had cut all of the large and valuable virgin mahogany trees down in the 1500’s.
“There’s one, dear!”
“There’s no for sale sign, Al.”
“That’s why it’s available, Janie,” he said.
“But it looks so abandoned,” she sighed.
“Janie, we just have to find out who owns it, and make an offer,” Al exclaimed.
Al and Jane Krenshaw were visitors to the island. They were looking for an investment property. It was now just a couple of years after the Second World War, 1947. People were beginning to move around again.
“Here it is on the map, Al, the Monroe County Court House. It’s down at Southard and Whitehead streets.”
“Thank you, Jane, Honey. Let’s get on down there, and see just who owns our future Key West home!”
“That’s strange,” the clerk said. “We have no record since December, 1945. What is really strange is that even the tax roll stopped! Tell you what I’m going to do, check with my supervisor, and also dig deeper in the files once again. In fact, what I found wasn’t even in the correct place! Tell you what, you may want to have a seat. There are Coke and coffee machines in the hall.”
“She sure looked perplexed. What do you think, Al?”
“Yep, she sure did. Want some coffee?”
“Here we sit, Dear, drinking coffee and munching peanut butter crackers both out of a machine. I should be sitting down and being served in a fancy Key West restaurant, enjoying some shrimp or snapper,” Jane exclaimed jokingly.
“You’re correct, Honey, but we’re on a quest to find our quaint Key West domicile.”
They saw the clerk motion to them.
“Well, here’s what you folks have to do. This is the information on the last owners. Of course it’s been three years since the taxes were paid. That interest will be accrued as part of the cost. Try to contact them, and good luck with that! Then you will have to advertise in at least three national newspapers. I would also recommend you obtain the services of an attorney for the final closing.”
“If you are serious about going ahead with this, we will hold off on doing our own advertising. We’ll give you some time to take care of this. If so, you can fill out this form of Intent to Purchase for Taxes.”
“We’ll get this form filled out, and get on our way,” Al said.
“Please keep in touch with us, and keep us informed. You will have two months to complete. That will be until August 27th,” the clerk stated.
“Thank you, Ma'am. Let’s get started, Janie.”
“Sounds good, Al. Now how about that shrimp and lobster!” Jane smiled.
“Well, Honey, what do you think? We might have a Key West house!” Al said in an excited voice.
“Do you think it will cost much?” Jane asked.
“Let’s see, the back taxes are for about 3 years, plus interest. It depends what the county’s tax rate per $100 is. It will be interesting to see what we find out when we attempt to find the last owners!”
“What about a lawyer, Al?”
“I’m going to have a talk with my friend, Mike back in Miami.”
”Honey, I have found out some historic things about our new house in Key West.”
“Yes, dear,” Jane said with a question in her voice.
“I talked to that architect and showed him the photos we took. He says that it is a Victorian-era house, built sometime between 1880 and 1900s. The style is Queen Ann. This can be seen by the turret, steep-pitched roofs, and large porch. Even though it is characteristic of the Queen Ann style, it is plain in comparison to the large Queen-Anne houses found elsewhere in the United States. The owners didn’t have the funding to both build and maintain a large stately Queen Anne in the tropics of Key West.”
We now go back in time: Date: April 18, 1942, at 1:30 AM.
A German U-boat, type VIIC,* Number U302 is at 50 meters (approximately 150 feet) below the surface of the Atlantic, approximately one mile off the coast of Miami Beach, Florida.
This boat was the main ship of the German U-boat (submarine) force. There were 568 of them manufactured between 1940 to 1945. They had a range of 8,500 nautical miles and had active sonar. For propulsion, they had two supercharged 6 cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engines. For underwater propulsion they had two electric motors. The armament consisted of four front and one rear torpedo tube. There was also a 88 mm automatic deck gun and an 20mm antiaircraft gun.
Note: The following German language has been translated into English.
“Throttle-1/4…Set of rise, to periscope depth,” ordered the U-boat Captain.
“Sir!..50 meters…40 meters...30 meters…20 meters…10 meters,” answered one of the sailors on the diving controls.
“Steady...Up periscope!” announced the U-boat captain.
The commander brought the two handles of the periscope down…looked in...focused…swung it around 360 degrees as his hands turned the handles which focused it.
“See the lights, Second. They don’t even enforce a black-out. They're all lit up! Have a look, Vermeer. Then move the boat in towards shore another 1/4 kilometer.* Keep a lookout. If all clear... bring her up. Get the men to put out the 2-man raft with Herr Schmidt’s equipment, and secure it. I’m going to get him.”
“Yes, Sir!” said Second in command, Vermeer.
Knock...Knock...“Herr Schmidt, it’s about time to depart.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Peter said.
[Peter Schmidt, 38 years old, black hair, slight build, but muscular. Born in 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin of German immigrants. Educated at Milwaukee Business College. Degree in finance. Moved back to Germany in 1933 to work for Krupp Armaments. Drafted in 1935. After basic military training, assigned to the Abwehr. (This was a German military intelligence organization.)]
“How about the equipment?”
“We’ve already got it loaded. Both the Enigma code machine and transmitter are in their suitcase, and in turn, it is in the rubber liner. The book with our coded schedule is in with the transmitter. We’ve got the liner strapped to the two-man raft.”
“Yes, thank you. I have the dollars in the waterproof container strapped under my clothes, together with my knife.”
From the Author:
My second full-length book , Florida Keys’ Watercolor Kapers is composed of 336 pages. There are 12 stories running from 6 pages to as many as 72 pages. It is fully illustrated with 88 watercolors and sketches. The watercolors I made roaming around Key West after I finished my 750 mile hike from Georgia to Key West. (See book or Don Browne’s SouthWest Florida Online News records, A Walk Across Florida.) As you read these stories you will experience Key West, the Keys, and the Caribbean. These stories span the time of the early 1800’s to 1969. bkranich.wixsite.com/bobkranich
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