I know it's too late for you and your kids, but for anyone who might come across this thread, I thought the Butterfly Conservatory was a wonderful place to take the kids!

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Ernest Hemmingway kept cats (a NUMBER of cats)... one in particular had extra toes, which is apparently considered good luck by some sailors. EH was an avid boater, and took that particular kitty with him on the water.

The Hemmingway estate maintains Hemmingway House,and you can tour it and see where Papa Hemmingway lived and wrote...

You can also see, and even PET, the direct descendents of his very cats!

The cats live within the confines of the walled 1 acre compound. They are extremely well cared for, with a vet who visits weekly. The females are spayed after giving birth to one litter, and only one or two males are 'reproduce-ready' at any given time. This way, the population is limited to around 70 (the number that the staff calculates is optimum to ensure proper care), and the bloodline has actually been tracked and maintained from the original pets of the great writer.

Within this particular feline population, understandably enough, the incidence of cats with extra toes is several times higher that that of the general cat population.

Of the ones we met when we were there, most had very recognizable names, like Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo. Several were real pros at posing to have their pictures taken.


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