Letterpress Love From the Southernmost Point

I’m back from a relaxing, beach vacation (hooray!). It was much warmer than home. I’ve been visiting Key West for about 13 years now and it never disappoints. It's the perfect February thaw out for this Midwestern Girl. Being a letterpress business owner I always take note of print shops and anything letterpress inspired. Below is a little letterpress love from Paradise.

 I love peeking through the window of Cabanas Printing & Offset, Inc. This shop has been family owned for a couple generations. Doesn't it look magical?

They have a Heidelberg Windmill press that seems to always have pms 185 on it. We stopped in a couple years ago to talk shop. They use the press mostly for numbering, thus the red ink.

We enjoy sitting by the water & enjoying seafood at Half Shell Raw Bar. If you’ve been there you’ve seen the huge collection of license plates that decorate the walls. I spotted this one out of the hundreds, maybe even thousands of plates. Check out their clever Eat It Raw license plate inspired shirt.

A must visit is Blue Heaven. Delicious food, great bloody marys, eclectic decor, and a bohemian courtyard complete with a ping pong table, free roaming roosters and several Hemingway Cats. This beautiful dilapidated Chandler + Price Platen Press is sitting out in the elements in their courtyard. Years of salt water has taken it's toll on her. She's still quite beautiful and almost magical with the rust and tropical plants taking her over. I wonder how she got there and why.

Finally, no trip to Key West is complete without a visit to the Green Parrot. I think they have the best live music on the island and Cigar City Brewing Maduro on tap (yum…). They have an amazing Letterpress Wood Type piece above the door with their motto No Snivelling (typo intended). Unfortunately, my photo didn't turn out but you can check it out on here.

There you have it, a little letterpress love from the Southernmost Point in the Continental United States.