Mamoncillos! or Spanish Limes for those that don't remember!

Mamoncillos! or Spanish Limes for those that don't remember!
A while back joined a Face book group called I remember Key West when... I can't believe I had never seen or heard of this group before. I am so glad I found it. It has brought back so many great memories of my favorite place in the world....Key West. No matter where in my travels I have been, Key West is the one place that remains in my blood and my soul.

I really hope it brings a lot more friend invites and followers to me because all of those memories, and the great people that share them, mean so much to me and my life. Some I know, some I don't, but the stories are all great and what I remember growing up on this island also. I promised in a post in this group to write about Mamoncillos on my blog, so I am now. I posted a pic and titled it Mamoncillos! or Spanish Limes for those that don't remember!
The responses and comments were on the verge of over whelming! My phone is still blowing up with comments on it daily, and are still coming in to this day!

All of my Key West friends and followers (mostly on Twitter as opposed to my blog for some reason) remember this highly guarded and sought after fruit as either Mamoncillos or Spanish Limes. They are called Quenepas in other places.

What is most amazing about this fruit besides the taste, is the memories it brings back to so many people. Some that don't know, may say it's just a fruit. It is so much more than that to so many people. I received so many stories from so many different people and their memories of this magical fruit. This fruit is so powerful that it makes everyday, law abiding citizens that would not even step on a bug, jump fences and sneak into yards just to steal some of them! I remember the few lucky people that had this fruit tree in their yard guarding them as if that tree were that last food on earth!
My Abuela Blanca Avael and Abuelo Julio Avael were two of those lucky people. God I miss them and those trees. Luckily those trees were rarely "raided" because they were very difficult to find and you would have to get through so many Family members and friends, which in Key West are the same thing, that I was one of the only few people and what a lucky Grandson I was, that had access to these trees. My "Cuzzy" Darren Avael was the other Grandson. We used to sell them on the corner of Watson St and Truman Ave. Using an old cigar box we got from Abuelo (Grandfather) for the money. Does anyone remember how special you thought it was when you bit the shell open to find it was a "double" or "triple"? LOL

Key West has a remarkable history. Many Famous stories and famous people have some kind of history on this island. But it's the people that were born here or grew up here that have all the great stories. Anyone can Google the big historical stuff about Key West, but only the Conchs or "Fresh water Conchs' can tell the real stories and have the real pics!

Pretty much everyone has fond memories of where they grew up and fun little stories about where they are from. Key West people are so much different. They remember so much more. They have so many more stories. So much closeness to the island and the people they grew up with and the things they did as children were so different. The memories and the stories that come from such a small little island seem to tower over anywhere else.