2 ~ Stephen Crane became shipwrecked en route to Cuba in 1897. He and a small party of passengers spent 30 hours adrift, an experience he later trasformed into his short story masterpiece "The Open Boat" (1898)
3 ~ Ernest Hemingway wrote "The Old Man and the Sea" and "For whom the Bell Tolls" while living in Cuba.
4 ~ Finca Vigia (Lookout Farm) was owned by Hemingway from 1939 to 1961. It is located outside of Havana. It is now a museum dedicated to Hemingway.
5 ~ The Hilton and the Riviera were luxury hotel and casino resorts in the 40's and 50's and into the early 60's. The playgrounds of the rich and famous. A favorite hangout of the "Rat Pack" (Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford and Dean Martin)
6 ~ Cuba has many underground limestone caves.
7 ~ In 1898 the Spanish-American War was fought there.