This Week on the Island 11/15/2009

'This week on the Island' is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture this week (click to enlarge) is ‘Boat for Sale $259,000’. Also some of the racing boats in the Key West Bight next to Conch Republic Seafood.

Weather: Last week Hurricane Ida was giving us a lot of wind out of the south. This week Ida is giving us a lot of cold wind out of the north. Friday morning it was in the mid 60’s with a 15 mph wind out of the north. Sunday it was in the low 80’s and sunny.

No book this week.

Things Tourist should know: ‘the nurse shark is a bottom feeder’ It usually doesn’t bother anyone, but it can be very dangerous if agitated. It has been known to attack humans that pester it, so leave them alone.

This week was the ‘Off Shore Power Boat Races’. NASCAR at sea. They have very powerful boats.

Monday was the last day in town for my friends from Tampa, so we spent it listening to Michael McCloud at Schooner Wharf. My friends from Chicago were with us also.

Tuesday was another bus trip to the VA in Miami.

Wednesday was Veteran’s Day and another day at Schooner Wharf with my friends from Chicago.

Thursday it was cold (mid 70’s) and windy. I spent most of the day watching TV.

Friday the racing boats were displayed on Duval Street.

Saturday was the finishing of racing in the harbor. It was a beautiful day, in the high 70’s with a light wind.

The banana’s from our tree decided to all get ripe at the same time. What do you do with 50 ripe bananas? Give them away.

Friday was the ‘First Annual Jew Fish Bridge Run’. This is the new bridge on the 18 mile stretch from the mainland (Florida City) to Key Largo. It replaced the old drawbridge at Jew Fish Creek.


Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

You may join this group by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/

Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_l9kgPmuQ

This Week on the Island 11/08/2009

'This week on the Island' is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture this week (click to enlarge) is ‘The first Margaritaville’. I felt it would be a good shot, with all the Parrot Heads in town and this being the main place they all visit. Oh, yes, they visit the one on Duval Street, this one doesn’t exist anymore. It is now a dress shop.

Weather: Sunny and windy, mid to lower 80’s in the day and mid 70’s at night.

No book this week.

Things Tourist should know: ‘The coral of the reef is alive.’ I know it looks like a piece of rock, but please do not touch it. It will die. Some of the coral is red and will feel like you have been set on fire if it touches you. Aloe has a juice in it that will sooth the burn.

This week was the gathering of the ‘Parrot Heads’ (Jimmy Buffett fans) in Key West, Florida. It was good to see so many of my friends in town. It was also good to see 50,000 to 70,000 Fantasy Fest people leave town to make room for about 3,000 of my friends. There were parties everywhere and Duval, at Margaritaville, was blocked for a party on Friday. ‘Thank you’ to those of you that stopped us to say ‘hi’. The ‘No Planes on Sunday’ party was at Schooner for those Parrot Heads that forgot to go home.

I spent a lot of time with some folks that are staying with us from Tampa. We went to No Name Key on Tuesday to visit No Name Pub to get a No Name Pizza and some No Name Beer. We also spent a lot of time on the front porch enjoying the weather and all the readers of ‘This Week on the Island’ that stopped by to say ‘hi’.

Elaine was in town to celebrate her big 50 this week. She and Mike are from Chicago and were glad to be back in Key West where it is warm. We had black cake.

Sassi had her 12th birthday and we celebrated at Schooner Wharf the last Sunday of October with dog cake and people cake and dog goodies for all her dog friends. I think it is great the way dogs do not expect gifts on their birthday, instead they bring gifts to give to their friends. She and I danced to ‘Schooner Wharf Bar Dog’. I think she had a good birthday.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

You may join this group by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/
Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_l9kgPmuQ

This Week on the Island 11/01/2009

'This week on the Island' is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture this week (click to enlarge) is ‘Halloween in Key West’.

Weather: Sunny, mid to upper 80’s in the day and low 80’s at night.

This week I continued ‘Spyder Web’ by Tom Grace.

Things Tourist should know: ‘The Stingray Shuffle’. The stingray covers itself with a light coat of sand and lies on the bottom in calm areas. I you step on it, it will attack. If you bump it, it will swim away. When walking in sand in the ocean you should shuffle your feet in order to bump the stingray. Most of the beaches in Key West have rocky bottoms and therefore no stingrays in the sand.

We normally see helicopters when we have refugees coming in and escaping Cuba. Lately we have a helicopter spraying for mosquitoes because of the H1N1. We don’t have it here and we don’t want it to scare the tourist away.

My neighbor’s large dead mango tree fell Monday night into my yard. It has been a ‘bitch’ cleaning up the mess and fixing the property. You also cannot pile stuff on the side of the road, it must be in cans or trash bags.

This Week: Fantasy Fest: What if you gave a party and 50,000 – 70,000 of your closest friends came? Every Restaurant/bar with a party every night to try to get as much of the tourist dollar as possible. Lots of people everywhere. Lots of costumes, or lack of costumes everywhere. Everybody having a great time. Locals are the only ones that look normal. Fantasy Fest comes at the end of summer when the people in the tourist industry need income. Most of them have struggled thru the summer months when we have few tourists. It is good to see lots of tourist spending lots of money. You may want to Google ‘Fantasy Fest’ and check out the pictures.

Another tourist walking in the street. Another tourist hit by a passing vehicle. This time in front of my house. Why do tourists walk in the street? It really doesn’t matter ‘Who had the right of way’ when they are planting you in the ground.

We have friends from the Tampa Bay area visiting us. It is good to see people that enjoy coming to spend time in the place I live.

For those of you that stopped by to say ‘hi’, I hope I was friendly enough. I know I was in the middle of something a few times and I hope I wasn’t rude.


Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

You may join this group by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/

Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_l9kgPmuQ

This Week on the Island 10/25/2009

'This week on the Island' is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture this week (click to enlarge) is ‘Mallory Square ½ complete’. I mentioned some months ago that Key West was going to tear down the part of Mallory Square that hangs over the water. They have now almost completed ½ the job in time for Fantasy Fest.

Weather: Wonderful. Beautiful blue skies with temperature in the low 80’s. The heat of summer was gone for a short period. It is time to get out the hammock, the grill, and other outdoor things.

The book this week was ‘Spyder Web’ by Tom Grace.

Things Tourist should know: Never park under a coconut tree. A beautiful new Jag had a dent in the top and a coconut on the ground with a large palm frond (branch) lying over its hood.

Last week I wrote that the new owners painted the house next door bright white. My wife, Jo, mentioned that I needed to explain that the front of the house used to be unpainted. In the old days in Key West they would not tax you on new construction until the construction was completed. Some people did not paint their house, or part of their house, so they did not have to pay taxes.

With the cooler weather we had lots more people than normal jogging in the early mornings. The cold front passed thru, the A/C was cut off and the windows were opened. The heat is back, the A/C is back on and the windows are closed again. It was wonderful while it lasted.

Goombay was this weekend. It is a celebration of our Caribbean Heritage. Petronia Street from Duval back into Bahama Village was blocked for the event. Lots of food and music. One stand had ‘arepa’ (Google it) another had farm raised ‘alligator on a stick’. The Asian food stand had ‘meat on a stick’ which of course means we don’t know what kind of meat.

-----------------------History-------------------------------------
The great stock market crash of 1929 was 80 years ago this month. We know that lead us to the Great Depression. It took lots of years and WWII to get the country back on its feet again. Eight years ago the Stock Market was over 14,000 and then dropped to less than 7,000 during the time of George W. Bush. It has risen to over 10,000 and I hope it does not take another world war to help correct this ‘Depression’.

Next week is Fantasy Fest.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

You may join this group by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/

Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_l9kgPmuQ

This Week on the Island 10/18/2009

'This week on the Island' is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture this week (click to enlarge) is ‘ Pepe’s’. This is a restaurant on Caroline Street about one block from our house. Pepe’s uses gas to cook and therefore is open when everything else on the island is out of electricity (like after hurricanes.) I have tourist asking for ‘Pep-Pays’. The French never owned the island, but the Spanish owned it for about 300 years.

Weather: The temperature Friday was 91 degrees and set a new heat record. The temperature Sunday night is supposed to be 65 degrees. The skies are bright and sunny.

No book this week.

Things Tourist Say: Every Christmas we have the ‘Lighted Boat Parade’. A lady asked ‘What street is the lighted boat parade on?’ It is a boat parade, it is in the water.

Not much happening the last couple of weeks. We are all waiting on ‘Goombay’ and ‘Fantasy Fest’ at the end of the month. It is the quite before the storm.

Hurricane season is almost over for the year. We have not been hit by a hurricane since Katrina and Wilma. This week we celebrate 100 years since the hurricane of October 1909. Nearly every building on the island was either destroyed or damaged. That was before hurricanes were named or were measured by category.

Sam, my next door neighbor died on Good Friday. His house has been sold and the new owners have painted it a bright white with green ceilings over the porches.

The El Rancho Motel on Truman Ave has been demolished to make way for another hotel.

A building burned across from Sandy’s Café on White Street. The lot has been cleared and loads of sand has been dumped. Someone is making interesting sculptures in the sand.

The Half Shell Raw Bar at the Key West Bight on the end of Margaret Street was tented this week. They were gassing for termites. There are two types of buildings in Key West. Those that are tented and those that have termites.

‘As Seem on TV’ was a store on Eaton Street just off Duval. It only lasted a short time before going out of business. “In the tropics they come and they go”, Jimmy Buffett.

Conch Republic Cigars on Green Street near Sloppy Joes has closed. The building appears to be getting converted into another bar/restaurant.

US #1, runs from Maine to Key West. Parts from Key Largo to Key West were built on the old ‘Over Seas Railroad’ that Flagler built and was called the ‘Over Seas Highway’. It was renamed ‘A Florida Scenic Highway’ in 2001 and now is an ‘All American Highway’. There are only 30 in the US.

Interested in moving to Key West, try http://www.searchkeywestmls.com/search.php?type=1&beds=1&baths=&min=&max=300000&area= to find a house in your price range. Remember that 1000 sq ft is considered the average size house in Key West. Also remember that in most parts of the country a house is measured in ‘heated’ square footage. In Key West houses are measured in ‘living space’ square footage. That means that a small house with a large deck and pool may be a 1,500 sq ft property.


Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

You may join this group by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/

Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_l9kgPmuQ

This Week on the Island 10/11/2009

'This week on the Island' is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture this week (click to enlarge) is a ‘Parrotfish’. It's hard to decide which of the colorful parrot fish's many unique characteristics is most remarkable.(1)There’s its diet, which consists primarily of algae extracted from chunks of coral ripped from a reef. The coral is pulverized with grinding teeth in the fishes’ throats in order to get to the algae-filled polyps inside. Much of the sand in the parrot fish's range is actually the ground-up, undigested coral they excrete. (2)There's its gender, which they can change repeatedly throughout their lives, and their coloration and patterns, which are a classification nightmare, varying greatly, even between the males, females, and juveniles of the same species. (3) Finally, there are the pajamas. Every night, certain species of parrot fish envelope themselves in a transparent cocoon made of mucous secreted from an organ on their head. Scientists think the cocoon masks their scent, making them harder for nocturnal predators, like moray eels, to find.

Weather: Hot! We broke a couple of heat records this week.

This week I continued ‘The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway’ by Ernest Hemingway.

Things Tourist Say: We have a Schooner in the Key West Bight named The Western Union. It was owned by Western Union and was used to lay cable all over the Caribbean. There is a little booth near Schooner Wharf that sells tickets for sails on the Western Union. A woman said ‘I need to send some money by Western Union.’ The ticket sales guy said ‘We are a boat’. Then she said, ‘Well how long will it take?’

The local election is over and ‘Big Mac’ McPherson is out. Our new Mayor is Cates. Jimmy Weekly, voted out as Mayor in the past, is now back as a Commissioner. The referendums to, (1) allow the city to sell land and (2) to extend the office of Mayor to four years, were voted down. It was a good election and lots of people are happy with the results.

Friday was another trip to Miami on the VA bus. Still working on those plantar warts.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

You may join this group by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/

Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_l9kgPmuQ

This Week on the Island 10/04/2009

'This week on the Island' is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture this week (click to enlarge) is ‘Manatee’. These guys were swimming at Garrison Bight. If you spray fresh water at them they will come and drink. This is not a good thing to do because they get used to people. I have never seen a manatee in the wild that did not have propeller marks on its' back. That has really got to hurt.

Weather: It rains almost every night (rainy season). This of course makes it very humid when the sun comes up, but the days are wonderful.

This week I started ‘The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway’ by Ernest Hemingway.

Things Tourist Say: We have the worlds 3rd largest reef 7 miles offshore of the Keys. There are many business selling trips to the reef. One tourist asked, ‘Do I need a passport to go to the reef?

Not a lot happening until the end of the month when Fantasy Fest starts. If you have never been, it is kind of like Mardi Gras in the nude.

Interesting week. I ran over myself with the little Suzuki Samurai. Actually it wasn’t running right and I was pushing it. I, of course, had the door open and was pushing from the driver’s side when the back tire ran over my foot. I fell and was drug down the street. I am missing a little skin on my knee and the top of my foot.

We had some folks we knew from the Sandlapper Parrot Head Club in S. C. come to visit. Nice folks.

My wife and I went for early voting this week. We had the choice between Mayors, a city councilman, and 2 amendments.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

You may join this group by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/

Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_l9kgPmuQ