Man Named Hemingway Wins Hemingway Look-Alike Contest in Key West

"It's about time that Hemingway won a Hemingway look-alike contest," he said.

ByABC News
July 25, 2016, 4:21 PM

— -- Move over “The Old Man and the Sea” -- this was many old men in Key West, all vying to be the winner of the 36th annual Ernest "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest.

The reigning champ this year is actually named Dave Hemingway, of Macon, North Carolina, although he claims he is not related to the famous author.

"I think it's about time that Hemingway won a Hemingway look-alike contest," he said after winning the competition adorned in a wool turtleneck sweater, much like the famed author’s.

PHOTO: Dave Hemingway, center, hoists his trophy after winning the 2016 Ernest "Papa"  Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida, July 23, 2016.
Dave Hemingway, center, hoists his trophy after winning the 2016 Ernest "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida, July 23, 2016.

Hemingway beat out 139 other entrants on his seventh attempt for the title.

"I do feel like Ernest because I'm in the same town that he lived in for so many years," the bearded man explained. "I like to fish, I like to drink a little bit, I like women, and I just like having a good fun time."

PHOTO: Dave Hemingway, poses for smartphone photos with celebrity chef Paula Deen and her husband Michael Groover, after Dave Hemingway won the 2016 Ernest "Papa"  Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida, July 23, 2016.
Dave Hemingway, center, poses for smartphone photos with celebrity chef Paula Deen, left, and her husband Michael Groover, right, after Dave Hemingway won the 2016 Ernest "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida, July 23, 2016.

One of the other competitors also included famous southern chef Paula Deen’s husband, Michael Groover of Savannah, Georgia. Groover finished within the top five for the second year in a row.

The contest took place at Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West, a local watering hole the author often frequented while he lived there in the 1930s.