Hemingway takes a stroll along Cuba’s streets once again

Hemingway look-alikes visit Cuba, honoring the late author's favorite places and playing baseball with local children.

Ernest Hemingway has returned to Cuba... in a way.

Eighteen white-bearded men who resemble the late U.S. author arrived in Havana to visit some of his favorite places when he lived on the island decades ago.

The members of the Hemingway Look-alike Society on Saturday visited the author’s favorite bar in Havana, “El Floridita,” where the music immediately picked up, and tourists and locals gathered around to take photos.

Earlier, they went to the San Francisco de Paula municipality and Finca Vigia, a former home to Hemingway that is now a museum. There, they played baseball with children.

“That is the reason for our visit: the kids and their families,” said Joe Maxey, from Tennessee, who is one of the bearded men honoring the author of “The Old Man and the Sea.”

The visit comes as Cuba and the United States are in the midst of tense relations. Washington maintains sanctions on the islands, and things are unlikely to change as Donald Trump prepares to assume the presidency in January.

After former President Barack Obama lifted some restrictions in 2017, Mr. Trump largely shut down U.S. cooperation with Cuba and hit the country with new sanctions.