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Oh man how this place has changed. For the worse.
I haven't been here in 6 years and this is pathetic. We come down on Wednesday and by Wednesday night, I am ready to leave. This town resembles nothing that it used to. Sad.
It has been over-run with people trying to turn it into another surburan American neighborhood. All these cheap cruises are dumping their equally cheap tourists off at the end of Mallory Square to roam the town. It has gotten so commercial it sucks. Banana Republic, Publix, Walgreens, Dennys, Wendy's, Burger King, and soon to come JCPenny have all invaded. Used to be Duval was a party street where debauchery of all kinds - gay and straight - occured at every red light. You could get a blowjob standing on a street corner and people walking by would not even look at you twice. I know, I did it last time. (and ended up with a black eye from my ex to show for it.) The bars have closed. I mean the really good bars, even the straight ones that were awesome to go in and get smashed up. The alcohol has gone up. Used to be margaritas for 50 cents. Now they are 6 bucks.
And the people living down here... oh lord. teenage gangster wannabees. The white kind. The black teenagers have been getting the hell out of town for the past couple of years. But the white trash... standing around playing hackeysack all day long. Beginning of dreadlocks showing. They ain't got cars, so mopeds are the new rice burners. They give them these $2000 paint jobs which is $1500 MORE than what the little bicycle costs. Then there is some kind of glass marbles that they put in the muffler to make it sound like bees in a tin can. THEN... they sit the muthafuckas up on 22's so fucking wide that with the throttle wide open, they only go 5 miles an hour and that is with them pushing off with their foots too. Poor engine can't move the shit.
These kids have defaced every national landmark, the lighthouse, the Southernmost Point, the Truman house (fence and surrounding area) with their fucked up little tag graffitti. And the thing is, their tags look like shit. Used to be there were nothing but bums and cats down here. Now the bums have been shuttled off to another key farther north or to Miami and these rag tag tweenagers have taken their spots.
About 40% of the houses here are abandoned and boarded up. Not run down places, or ones in need of work, but beautiful houses. Move in tomorrow condition. With fucking plywood over the doors and windows because the owners went bankrupt and had to sell or lost or whatever.
Used to be you could find all gay or all straight nude snorkeling trips. And nude sunset sail cruises in the afternoon. Not anymore. Even the guesthouses are outlawing nudity -men and women- inside the compounds. WTF?
We were suppose to stay until Monday, but came home early today. (Sat)
Never again.
I haven't been here in 6 years and this is pathetic. We come down on Wednesday and by Wednesday night, I am ready to leave. This town resembles nothing that it used to. Sad.
It has been over-run with people trying to turn it into another surburan American neighborhood. All these cheap cruises are dumping their equally cheap tourists off at the end of Mallory Square to roam the town. It has gotten so commercial it sucks. Banana Republic, Publix, Walgreens, Dennys, Wendy's, Burger King, and soon to come JCPenny have all invaded. Used to be Duval was a party street where debauchery of all kinds - gay and straight - occured at every red light. You could get a blowjob standing on a street corner and people walking by would not even look at you twice. I know, I did it last time. (and ended up with a black eye from my ex to show for it.) The bars have closed. I mean the really good bars, even the straight ones that were awesome to go in and get smashed up. The alcohol has gone up. Used to be margaritas for 50 cents. Now they are 6 bucks.
And the people living down here... oh lord. teenage gangster wannabees. The white kind. The black teenagers have been getting the hell out of town for the past couple of years. But the white trash... standing around playing hackeysack all day long. Beginning of dreadlocks showing. They ain't got cars, so mopeds are the new rice burners. They give them these $2000 paint jobs which is $1500 MORE than what the little bicycle costs. Then there is some kind of glass marbles that they put in the muffler to make it sound like bees in a tin can. THEN... they sit the muthafuckas up on 22's so fucking wide that with the throttle wide open, they only go 5 miles an hour and that is with them pushing off with their foots too. Poor engine can't move the shit.
These kids have defaced every national landmark, the lighthouse, the Southernmost Point, the Truman house (fence and surrounding area) with their fucked up little tag graffitti. And the thing is, their tags look like shit. Used to be there were nothing but bums and cats down here. Now the bums have been shuttled off to another key farther north or to Miami and these rag tag tweenagers have taken their spots.
About 40% of the houses here are abandoned and boarded up. Not run down places, or ones in need of work, but beautiful houses. Move in tomorrow condition. With fucking plywood over the doors and windows because the owners went bankrupt and had to sell or lost or whatever.
Used to be you could find all gay or all straight nude snorkeling trips. And nude sunset sail cruises in the afternoon. Not anymore. Even the guesthouses are outlawing nudity -men and women- inside the compounds. WTF?
We were suppose to stay until Monday, but came home early today. (Sat)
Never again.
