90 Miles to Cuba

90 Miles to Cuba is an antiques shop and gallery on Greene Street in the Historic Seaport district, and the building is part of the pitch. It is an old weather-beaten Key West shell-cleaning shack, one of the working structures left over from the days when the waterfront ran on sponging, shelling and whatever else came off a boat, and it has not been smoothed over into a boutique.

What is inside is a genuine jumble rather than a curated theme. Nautical antiques, ships' models, portholes, old anchors, vintage fishing gear and old lighting fixtures sit alongside vintage Key West signage, handmade modern and antique jewelry, selected books, and antique postcards of both Key West and Cuba, which is where the shop's name comes from and roughly how far away it is. There is original and reproduction graphic art, and the shop carries work by Key West artist Linda Rieke, whose subject is the Old Key West that the rest of the island keeps paving over. It is the sort of place where you go in for a postcard and leave having thought seriously about how to get a porthole home in a carry-on.

One practical note. This is a small independent shop and the hours are short, generally a few afternoons a week toward the end of the week. Call ahead or check before you make the walk, because the schedule is genuinely limited and the shop is honest about that on its own site.