Hemingway look-alikes visit Cuba and some of the late writer's favorite places

HAVANA -- 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, Trump largely shut down U.S. cooperation with Cuba and hit the country with new sanctions.

The U.S. generally prohibits Americans from traveling to Cuba for tourism, although it gives some permits.

The look-alikes arrived in Havana on Friday when they took part in a ceremony at the Hemingway marina in honor of Diana Nyad, the first swimmer to cross the Gulf of Mexico from Cuba to Florida, and they will leave the island on Sunday.

Hemingway lived in Cuba from 1939 to 1960.