As one of my esteemed colleagues pointed out, the craziest thing about a man named Dave Hemingway winning the 36th Annual Ernest Hemingway lookalike contest in Key West is the fact that people have been gathering for 36 FUCKING YEARS in Key West to compete for Hemingway’s doppelganger. That’s exactly what went down last weekend though at the world famous Sloppy Joe’s bar in Key West, one of Ernest Hemingway‘s favorite watering holes back in the day.
That’s right, for the 36th year in a row 140 contestants converged on Sloppy Joe’s last Saturday seeking the title in the “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest. When the dust had finally settled one man reigned supreme, and Dave Hemingway was named winner thanks in part to his cream-colored wool turtleneck sweater that rendered him a spitting image of the one and only Ernest Hemingway (seriously, he wore this shit in the middle of a Florida Summer!).
Best story of the day: Hemingway wins annual Hemingway lookalike contest.https://t.co/h6H8FSiD9E pic.twitter.com/5dVUEOnupV
— Laurie Hanna (@LaurieHanna) July 25, 2016
via CBS News:
Dave Hemingway was named the winner of the “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest on Saturday in Key West, Florida. The winner said he is not related to the late author.
The contest, which attracted 140 entrants, is the highlight event of the annual Hemingway Days festival that celebrates the author’s legacy. It was held at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, which was a frequent hangout of Hemingway’s during his Key West residency in the 1930s.
Hemingway, who won the contest in his seventh attempt, wore a wool, cream-colored turtleneck sweater similar to what the late author favored.
“Even though this sweater is really hot, it was part of my strategy,” he said. “And I think it worked really well.”
Like the author, Dave Hemingway said he likes to fish, to drink a little “and I like women. I like having a good time. I do feel like Ernest because I’m in the town he lived in so many years.”
Something from the competition that’s also noteworthy is Paula Deen’s husband Michael Groover finished in the top 5 for his second year in a row. Paula’s Hemingway-lookalike husband is inching closer and closer to the highly coveted crown of ‘Papa’ Hemingway, and if he doesn’t beat out all the other old ass white-haired men next year in Key West then I’ll eat my shoes. And by the way, if you’ve never seen Ernest Hemingway’s legendary burger recipe you REALLY need to check this out now.
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(h/t CBS News)