Happy Halloween from Key West!

Royal Palms Realty Wishes you a Safe and Happy Halloween!

 

Join us next year in Key West for...

Fantasy Fest:

 

 

 

 

 The Zombie Bike Ride:

and celebrate Halloween Conch Style:

All homes were photographed in the Key West Golf Club Community

~~Happy Halloween from Royal Palms Realty~~

Haunted Key West: Robert the Doll

 

For over 100 years, Robert the Doll has been one of Haunted Key West's most notorious residents

 

*Author's Note: Permission was requested for all photographs and their use in this blog post. It is written with all due respect for Robert and the supernatural occurrences described herein.

Robert the Doll

For all its tropical beauty, Key West also has a great deal of paranormal mystique. What better time than Halloween to share one of Key West's most famous ghost stories, the tale of Robert the Doll. Robert was the inspiration for Chucky of Child's Play fame, but as is often the case, truth is stranger than fiction...

 

The Artist House at 534 Eaton Street is now a guest house in the heart of Old Town Key West

The story began in 1904 at 534 Eaton Street, when it was occupied by the affluent Mr. and Mrs. Otto and their young son, Robert Eugene "Gene" Otto. The lifesize doll was given to four year old Gene by a Bahamian servant who was rumored to have practiced Black Magic. The doll was modeled as a likeness of Gene, so he called him Robert, his own given name. Robert and Gene were inseparable, but it quickly became apparent that this was more than just a childhood toy.

Strange things began to happen around the Otto house. Often when Gene and Robert were alone together, Mr. and Mrs. Otto would hear two distinct voices. When asked who he was conversing with, Gene would simply reply, "Robert."  Silverware disappeared, furniture was moved, and each time Gene was blamed for something, he would say, "Robert did it." Before long, Mr. and Mrs. Otto would awake to loud crashes and Gene's screams, rushing to his room to find him cowering in bed amidst overturned furniture, sobbing and claiming, "Robert did it." Unable to take any more, Gene's parents banished Robert to the attic, where he remained for several years.

Gene grew up to become a successful local artist, and he married a beautiful woman named Anne. He inherited the home at 534 Eaton Street from his parents and continued to reside there with his wife. At this time, he freed Robert from his attic prison, and once again the two became inseparable. Gene began spending more and more time painting in the turret room with Robert at his side, and again the two could be heard conversing. 

Meanwhile, Anne was watching her marriage deteriorate as Gene's behavior became more and more erratic. He would sometimes run screaming through the house smashing dishes, furniture, and anything else in his path. After each outburst, Gene's explanation was always the same... "Robert did it." At her wit's end, Ann insisted that Robert be moved back to the attic and remain there behind a locked door.

After a few more years of solitude, Gene became increasingly distraught, repeatedly telling Anne that Robert had become very angry while closed up in the attic. He insisted that Robert have a room with a view, the turret room, and desperate to please her husband, Anne acquiesced. 

Gene became ever more secluded, spending days and nights inside the room with Robert. Those who spent time with him there told stories of the doll's facial expressions changing and the sound of giggling in the room. Robert would often appear in different windows, and school children would rush past the house, insisting they saw him moving from window to window. A man doing work on the house ran screaming from the room after hearing Robert giggling and seeing his expression change into a scowl.

In 1972, Gene died in the turret room with Robert by his side. Heartbroken, yet understandably relieved, Anne sold the house, leaving Robert in a cedar chest buried among stacks of boxes in the attic. The family that moved in had a ten year old daughter, and when Robert was discovered in the attic, she asked to keep him in her bedroom with her other dolls. Before long, the house echoed again with a child's screams. Her parents found her shaking and crying in bed, claiming that Robert had run about the room and attacked her. She has maintained her claims through adulthood that Robert was alive and had tried to kill her.

Since 1994, Robert has lived in a glass case at the East Martello Museum, next to the airport on South Roosevelt Blvd in New Town Key West. He has continued his mischievous ways, and staff and visitors have reportedly seen him blink, nod, or change his facial expressions. Some days staff will open the museum to find the toy lion shifted to his other leg. 

Legend dictates that visitors must ask Robert's permission before taking a photograph, and must treat him with respect or he will curse them. Those who scoff at the notion of asking a doll's permission often reconsider when their cameras malfunction or their photographs mysteriously disappear. The wall behind Robert's case is covered with letters begging his forgiveness, letters sent from around the country by former nonbelievers who suffered the consequences of disrespecting Robert.

  

I'll admit, I had to work up the nerve to visit Robert and take his picture. Nobody else was in the museum that morning, so I had Robert to myself, alone in the room of a haunted Civil War era fort. I approached his case with trepidation, heart pounding in my chest. I introduced myself, explained my intentions, and asked his permission for this blog post. As I was about to take a photo, I realized I'd been looking at his feet, his sailor suit, his stuffed lion, but I hadn't really looked at his face. Was I really too afraid to look him in the eye? I slowly raised my gaze to meet his, and from that point on I felt as if his eyes never left me as I walked around his case. I took photos from different angles, all the while speaking softly to Robert, which didn't feel nearly as awkward as it does to describe it!

I told him I admired him and thought that perhaps, like many of us in Key West, he was just misunderstood. While I had expected to feel creeped out and unsettled, I felt inexplicably calm in Robert's presence. I later learned, according to his website, that he had once had his picture taken with a special camera, which revealed Robert has a blue and violet aura. A blue aura conveys love, peace, and communication, while a violet aura is associated with magic and deep spiritual understanding.

 

Robert's Aura. Image courtesy of www.robertthedoll.org

Beyond the peaceful vibe, I sensed a deep loneliness. I felt a sudden kinship with Scout at the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, when she realized Boo Radley wasn't the monster he'd been made out to be either...

"When they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things... Atticus, he was real nice..."

"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them." 

And so it was with Robert. As with many aspects of Key West, maybe an open heart and mind are all that's required to see the truth... or maybe the magic of Key West just has to be seen to be believed...

Happy Halloween from Royal Palms Realty!

A Wild Weekend in the Florida Keys

 

A Wild Weekend of Wildlife Rescue

There's never a dull moment when living in Key West, and I have learned that the term "wild weekend" can be applicable in more ways than one. This weekend is the calm before the storm of Fantasy Fest kicks off, so it was the perfect opportunity for a road trip to Sombrero Beach to spend time with one of my favorite creatures -- a sea turtle. The Turtle Hospital was releasing a rehabilitated loggerhead turtle back into the sea, so we headed up the Keys to see her release.

We made it as far as Summerland Key before our first wildlife encounter. An egret was standing on the side of the road, entirely too close to the highway. No sooner had I said, "Ooh, that's a dangerous place to stand," I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the car behind us hit it. It was a sickening sight, and we immediately turned the car around and went back to check on the bird. It remained in the road where it had been hit, long legs folded underneath it, its graceful neck tucked in, and its left wing sticking up at an awkward angle. It was calm and alert, which we took to be a good sign, so Operation Bird Rescue was on!

While I called the wildlife rescue center, my husband scooped the injured egret up with a beach towel. We learned we would  have to drive it back to the wildlife center in Key West, so I was resigning myself to not seeing the turtle's release, when a Sheriff's car pulled up. She knew of a closer wildlife rescue center on Big Pine Key, so she called ahead and escorted us there. There was some slight disappointment that our bird didn't get escorted with flashing lights and wailing sirens, but it did arrive in style! We handed it over to the experts, who said it didn't appear to be too badly injured. Hopefully the egret is recuperating well in his new temporary home!

In good hands... the egret was safely delivered to a wildlife rescue center

Big Pine Key made for a pleasant detour. It is unique among the Florida Keys, for it has a population of native Key Deer. They are relatives of white-tailed deer that are believed to have migrated to the Keys over a land bridge thousands of years ago during the Wisconsin glaciation. They are small deer, more like large dogs really, and they are now an endangered species inhabiting only a few Keys. Our bird rescuing efforts were rewarded when we had our second wildlife encounter with some friendly, inquisitive Key Deer!

Endangered Key Deer in Big Pine Key

We continued on our way to Marathon and made it with enough time to check out Sombrero Beach, one of the nicest beaches south of the mainland. The powdery white sand is formed by a special algae that thrives in the warm waters of the Florida Keys. Patches of sargassum seaweed line the sea floor and wash ashore, providing micro-ecosystems and helping the marine life thrive. What better place to release a sea turtle? 

Sombrero Beach, Marathon

Sombrero Beach is already a popular location for sea turtles to nest

Xiomy the sea turtle not only had a police escort, she was transported in The Turtle Hospital ambulance, accompanied by a film crew, and arrived to over two hundred people anxiously awaiting a glimpse of the Keys' newest celebrity.

Xiomy was rescued this past summer in Islamorada after local residents noticed her struggling to swim in their backyard canal. They contacted The Turtle Hospital, and with the help of Florida Wildlife Conservation, she was rescued on July 29th. She had a deep propeller wound and required several months of rehabilitation and treatment at The Turtle Hospital. Her shell remains deeply scarred, but the staff said that it will continue to harden as it heals. She was deemed ready for release, and today she returned home to the sea.

Xiomy the loggerhead sea turtle ready for release

Her shell will continue to heal, but she'll always carry the scar of her ordeal

Somewhere in there, Xiomy is rediscovering her world!

 

Having the opportunity to see Xiomy's release and learn her story was a humbling experience. She is an adolescent, only 13 years old, with the potential to live another 80 years. She won't be ready to reproduce for another 20 years, but when she does, she will return to this beach where she was released, as it's now her "home beach" association. It's awe-inspiring to think that in 2033, Xiomy could crawl back ashore here, still bearing the scars of her youth, and bury her eggs in the soft white sand. Perhaps her nest will be roped off and protected by some of the local children who cheered her release today; maybe they will be there with their children to see her return, and recount the story of her release.

These magnificent creatures I encountered today all taught me powerful lessons of compassion and humility. Living in the Florida Keys means living in a delicate balance with nature and the local ecosystems. It is inspiring to see a community come together to save and honor our feathered, furry, and flippered neighbors, and it's an important reminder that a "wild weekend" in the Florida Keys can happen at any time. 

Godspeed, Xiomy!

Would you like to live amongst the amazing wildlife of Key West and the Lower Florida Keys? Let Royal Palms Realty help you find your dream home! 

 

Come home to paradise and turn your dreams of tropical living into reality!