Before you read, know this. I am a gay man and I am not a victim of anything. What I write really happened. It was a metoo moment when it occurred. Looking back more than twenty years later I consider what happened amusing, but it still should not have happened.
I first read about Key West in a magazine in 1979 way before the internet. I didn't actually visit Key West until 1984 but instantly fell in love with this magic island.
I worked with the same Realtor for several years before I actually bought a place in Key West. I made absurd offers on several properties over the years all of which were rejected. One of my biggest regrets was failing to purchase the Sheridan Apartments located at the corner of Eaton and William Street. The main building at 802 Eaton Street was, and still is, one of the most beautiful buildings in Key West. It is a Grand Conch (or Revival Style home) with wrap-around porches on the first and second floors. Some of the porches were enclosed years ago to create more interior living space and a widow's walk was added to the top of the building. You can see the sea from there. The Key West seaport and the Gulf of Mexico are located two blocks north. A smaller Bahama style house was located next door on Eaton Street and a different two story house was located around the corner at 409 William. There was a very large rear yard behind 409 William Street where I could have added a pool.
A few years later I became a Realtor in Key West. One day in 1997 or 1998 Mr. Sheridan Crumlish, the owner of the Sheridan Apartments, invited me over to discuss listing the property for sale. He was a tall older (I believe) gay man. He must have been in his seventies. I was fifty at that time. He lived in the second floor apartment at 802 Eaton Street. I met him at the property and he showed each of the apartments. The place was as interesting then as I remembered from years earlier - a gem. His apartment took up the second floor at 802 Eaton. The windows and doors in his apartment were all opened allowing a slight breeze to cool the space naturally. I remember the white Dade County Pine walls, re-purposed furnishings, and art. The simplicity of it all was quite memorable.
We sat in his living room to discuss the property. I told him about my half-hearted attempt to buy the property years earlier. He laughed a bit. And somewhere things got uncomfortable. He was wearing a caftan that looked something like the beige outfit above. Sheridan sat opposite me. His legs spread apart and I got to see what was a very private part of him. It was deliberate. It was not an accident. I had no desire to list the place and got out of there as soon as I could. Amusing now, not then.
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