For my 60th birthday I went flying with the Key West Air Force in it's WWI bi-plane 

This Week on the Island 02/27/2005

'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 Weather: Another beautiful week. We did get a little, much needed, rain on Wednesday night, Thursday morning.

The girls of Spring Break started arriving this week. What a beautiful sight.

M.J. is one of our local Parrot Head members and she wrote in to say: 'Did I tell you I had dinner on Jimmy Buffetts' yacht last week?' How do these people get so lucky?

Do you like facts and pictures of the Key's? Try http://www.mile-markers.org/

This week's book was 'Slow Dollar' by Margaret Maron. It is about a murder that takes place in Raleigh, NC in September when a carnival comes to town. I enjoyed the book.

The PT Boat in the Key West bight has been repossessed by the bank. The PT Boat owner tried to sell it on ebay with an opening bid of $500,000. This is the same PT Boat that was used in the 'Kennedy Story' and in 'McHales Navy'. The bank will offer it for sale.

Over the weekend we had another 'Art fair' on Whitehead Street. It seems that no matter what the title of the 'fair ' is, we have the same people in the same tents selling the same stuff. It is still fun.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conch Token's- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett

This Week on the Island 02/20/2005

'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 Weather: Another beautiful week.

The Southernmost Parrot Head Club has had a busy week. 1. Our monthly meeting was held at Awful Arthur's on Duval. They have an area with beach sand a tiki bar and picnic tables. Their nacho's were wonderful, and Wednesday is their 'all you can eat' crableg night.2. We had our fund raiser for the Tsunami victims on Friday night at Crabby Bill's on Green Street across from Sloppy Joe's. It was a big success.3. Saturday morning we headed 200 miles north to Ft Lauderdale to the Jimmy Buffett Concert. Need I say more.

Some folks from the Blue Water PHC of Port Huron, MI, dropped by. They brought some club items for the tsunami relief auction on Friday night. They purchased a bunch of our t-shirts and then took me and the dogs to Schooner Wharf for a few beers. WOW, what nice folks.

We also received Club items, for the Friday night tsunami relief auction, from a bunch of other Parrot Head Clubs and I want to thank each of you.

I have purchased another vehicle to get around the island. It is a white 1992 Suzuki Samurai convertible. From the windshield to the roll bar is a bikini top; from the seats to the rear is a dust cover; and that makes it look like a little truck. It is a beat up little thing, but that is what I wanted. I guess that next I will need to paint some parrots on it.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conch Token's- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett

------------------------------------------Interesting---------------------------------------------A local guy was digging in his yard and found a WWII bomb. He put it in his pick-up truck and drove it to the police station. He then carried it and put it on the receptionist desk. They had to evacuate the Police and Fire Stations while the bomb squad deactivated the bomb. I love living here.

This Week on the Island 02/15/2005

'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 Weather: Another beautiful week. A cold front moved in the last of the week end and dropped the high for Saturday to 65 degrees. Had to get out the 'big boy' pants. It was in the low 70's by Sunday.

The local Parrot Head Club had planned a Tsunami fund raiser event for Valentines weekend, but we have had to move it to the next week end (Feb 18th). I am looking forward to the charity event.

Big Foot the Cat: Big foot (seven toes) is a large orange cat that lives in the Truman Annex. Some people that live here in the Winter and Maine in the Summer, took Big Foot back to Maine with them. The people from Maine have been on trial for stealing the cat. The Trial is now over and Big Foot must be returned to it's rightful owner. I don't think we have heard the last of this. http://www.keysnews.com/370241492988125.bsp.htm

Another cat story. A woman here in town wanted to adopt a stray cat she called Lady, so she went around the neighborhood asking who's cat it was. It seem's her large overweight male cat, (Fatso) was in love with Lady. It turned out that the stray cat was a Maine Coon named Ty, short for Tycoon, and she was a he. The woman, thinking 'oh well, this is Key West' , adopted Ty from it's former owner. Fatso and Ty are inseparable. http://www.fanciers.com/breed-faqs/maine-coon-faq.html

Fort Zackery Taylor and Key West were Union outposts during the Civil War. This Saturday we had a parade of Union and Confederate Soldiers down Duval to the Fort. There were sea and land battles re-enacted although there were actually no civil war battles here. We in Key West like to re-enact things that never happened.

Spring Break is normally from the first weekend in March until Easter. Since Easter is something like the first full moon after the vernal equinox, http://wilstar.com/holidays/easter.htm that means that Easter can be from March 22nd to April 25th. This year Easter is the last Sunday in March so we will have a short Spring Break. I love Spring Break, We have a bunch of young kids away from home for the first time and they want to party. It makes for some interesting sights and events.

Check the Comics of 'Arlo & Janis' with a Buffett theme http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/arlonjanis/archive/arlonjanis-20050208.html

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conch Token's- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett

------------------------------------------Interesting---------------------------------------------
When the city dug out the Key West Bight, they used the fill to build up around the bight and created a lot of land. Caroline Street used to be waterfront but now is 1 block from the bight. It is slightly uphill from Caroline street to the bight and the street drains empty into the bight. The corner of Elizabeth and Green floods when we have a high tide and a full moon. Monday night was the highest I have ever seen the tide here. The water had the intersection at Green and Elizabeth under about 1 foot of water and Caroline Street had water running up out of the street drains and down the street.This is called a Proxigean tide http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/moon/Tides.shtml and is caused by the alignment of the earth, moon and sun. Hope we never have a hurricane with one of these tides.

This Week on the Island 02/06/2005

'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 Weather: I love this time of the year. I think it is because the north east USA is under snow and ice and winter (what we have of it) is over here. The hibiscus, the lime trees, the cactus, are all in bloom. One draw back, I am having a hard time finding the time to do my taxes. I went kayaking last Sunday and had to run the air conditioning on Sunday night.

The 18 mile stretch: Driving to Key West, as you leave the mainland and Florida City, you drive the next 18 miles on land that is just wide enough to hold the two lane road. There are many wreaks here every year, as drivers try to pass each other. Tuesday morning a car driving south was passing and in the north bound land when he hit a tanker hauling 8,000 pounds of human waste. The tanker ended up sitting on top of the 36 inch pipe that delivers fresh water to all of the Keys. The 18 mile stretch was closed for about 12 hours. Not only did we have a chance for an environmental disaster, we also had an opportunity to lose drinking water for all of the Keys. Both drivers were taken to hospitals in Miami and the tanker was pumped out and pulled from the water pipe without breaking it.

Last year a city bus hit a lady on a bicycle in front of the house. The city just settled for $750,000. If Key West didn't get sued so much, they could lower our taxes.

BigFoot, the cat, has been on trial for 2 weeks now. The judge first heard from the Key West woman that owned Big Foot. He then ordered an investigation. This week the judge heard from the Maine woman that took BigFoot to Maine. Next week he will hear from the investigator.

One of our local members of the Southernmost Parrot Head Club, Dr.Guobaitis (Goodbye-to-us) and his student nurse, were taken out to dinner by Jimmy Buffett when he was in town for the 20th anniversary of Margarittaville. Some people have all the luck.

I want to say 'Thank You' to those folks that send me an email from time to time telling me how much they enjoy 'this week on the island'. Although I don't answer your emails, I do appreciate them.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conch Token's- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett

------------------------------------------Interesting---------------------------------------------Dec 21st is the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter. I have been tracking the sunrise and sunset since then. On Dec 21st the sunrise was at 7:07 AM and Sunset was at 5:43 PM (10 hrs and 37 minutes of sun).. The sunset and the sunrise continued to be later each day until Jan 09th when the sunrise was at 7:13 AM and sunset was at 5:57 PM ( 10 hrs and 44 minutes of sun). Then the sun started rising earlier. Today the sunrise was back to 7:07 AM and sunset is at 6:15 PM (11 hrs and 8 minutes of sun). Yes, I do have too much time on my hands.

This Week on the Island 01/30/2005

'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 Weather: Last Sunday morning at 7:30 AM the sun was shinning and it was 70 degrees. If you looked North across the Key West bight at Schooner Wharf, there was a large black wall (a cold front) moving this way across the Gulf of Mexico. It started raining and by Monday morning it was 49 degrees. Again, as the week continued, it got warmer with the end of the week having temperatures in the mid 70's.

Buffett: OK Parrot Heads, another place to add to you list of places to visit when in Key West.

Buffett had his picture in Fridays paper. He was eating a fish sandwich at Hog Fish Bar and Grill on Stock Island. Not one of my favorite places.

Ear Candles, The new experience for this week. I was taking to a friend about my ears being stopped up since the cold I had last week. He suggested I try ear candles. They are hollow, about 1 foot long and as big around as a magic marker. You lay on one side, put the tapered end in your ear and light the other end. As the candle burns the warm smoke melts the wax in your ear and the updraft thru the hollow candle draws the ear wax up into the candle. You need a friend to watch so you don't catch your hair on fire. (Try to imagine me doing this, if you don't get a laugh, you need some island time.)

Spring must be here. The Yellow Bellied Warblers are swarming the African Kapok Trees that are in full bloom. There was also a craft show on Whitehead Street last week end and The Half Shell Raw Bar had a 5 mile run.

On Jan 28, 1985, Jimmy Buffett opened his first Margaritaville here in Key West. It was in a building at Lands End near Turtle Kraal's. So this week we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Margaritaville. The store was moved to it's present location in 1987 and opened during Fantasy Fest as the parade went down Duval Street. Jimmy himself sprayed everyone with champagne. I visited Margaritaville on Jan 28th for a Margarita and a Cheeseburger in Paradise. The place was packed. Buffett played to an invitation only crowd that night.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conch Token's- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett

------------------------------------------HISTORY---------------------------------------------The Wreaking Days: Key West is surrounded by shallow waters and the third longest reef in the world. In 'the old days' ships would wreak on these reef's and shallow's and Key West became one of the richest cities in the USA by taking the cargo from the ships and putting it up for sale. It all came to an end when the government installed light houses. We celebrate these days by having 'Wreaking Days' where ships race the seven miles to the reef and back. Wreaking Days started today (Sunday).

This Week on the Island 01/23/2005

'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 Weather: It started raining last Friday and the temperature began to drop. The wind was blowing out of the North and by last Sunday night it was down to 58 degrees. It warmed up some as the week went on, but it was winter time in Key West until Friday when it was back in the high 70's again. I have been a bit 'under the weather'.

The 'Snotty Yacthies' are still in town. They have been racing most of the week and it is really a nice sight watching all the sail boats in the harbor as they race. Interesting comment in Tuesday paper relating to how cheap these people are: ' The Snotty Yacthies come to town with one $20 bill and one pair of underwear and don't change either.'

Key West had a law that limited the number of flags on any building to two and one of them must be an American flag. This law was passed to keep the people at 801 Bourbon (really 801 Duval) from flying all the rainbow flags. We now have a new business in town called The Pirate Museum and it is flying 6 Pirate flags. Key West has decided to delete it's old flag law. (Money Talks).

The fight continues between the locals and the 'Caroline Street Partners' that purchased Jabours Camp Ground (between Schooner Wharf and Caroline Street). They want to build a condo/rental monstrosity and the local are saying they need to build something that fits in with the surrounding structures. We have been fighting it for over a year.

TLC's 'Trading Spaces' was in town last week. I don't know how anyone could let other people remodel their living space.

Bill and Hillary Clinton were in town over the week end. Bill had his picture made outside Margaritaville.http://www.keysnews.com/

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conchy Tonkin'- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett

This Week on the Island 01/16/2005

'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 Weather: Most of us on the island love this time of the year. The weather is 'perfect' and it stays that way from Nov - April. Then the humidity rolls back in. It is January and in the high 70's and low 80's most every day with low humidity. In the summer it is in the high 80's and low 90's every day with the humidity near 100%.

The HMS Bounty is back in Key West waters. http://www.tallshipbounty.org/

The government has been dredging out the channel from the reef to the Key West Harbor at Mallory Square. They have now reached the waters at Mallory Square and it is quite an operation to watch. The channel was originally 34 feet and it has filed up with sand over time, since it was dug in WWII. They are redigging to the original 34 feet.

Jo , I, and the dogs (Wyleigh and Sassi) went to Awful Arthur's on Duval on Monday evening. They now have a place in the back with beach sand and a tiki hut bar. Their Nacho Supreme is wonderful and cheap. We had a good time and the dogs got to play in the sand. I am trying to talk the Parrot Head Club into having a monthly Social there.

This weeks book was another by Randy Wayne White. It was titled 'Shark River' and is about our hero Dr. Ford rescuing a lady from kidnappers'. (So far I have read 5 of his books and he does the same thing in each book).

The 'Snotty Yacthies' are back in town. Each team consist of one guy that owns the boat and has money and there are 5 other guys, that don't have a dime, and they help sail the boat. They wear their club sweaters as ascots and sweat their butts off in the heat. The restaurant people don't like them because they don't tip. They take over the city parking lot on the corner of Grinnell and Caroline and put up a big tent. Each afternoon after they finish sailing/racing for the day, they go to the tent and eat and drink and have bands playing.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conchy Tonkin'- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett

PS
Next week 'The Wreakers Race' and more of the 'Snotty Yacthies'..

This Week on the Island 01/09/2005

'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.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This week the weather has been a little warm for January. In the high 70's every day and 80 on Friday. We have cut the A/C back on. The front page of 'The Key West Citizen' on Friday had a picture of sunburned people on the beach playing volley ball.

There was a wreak on US#1 this week that almost closed the school system here in Key West. There is only one road coming to Key West. Many people that work in Key West cannot afford to live here so they live on keys to the north. When a wreak closed the only road into town, the school teachers, among many others, could not get to work. Everything was reopened after a few hours.

The Pirate Museum on Front Street had it grand opening on Wednesday. It was suppose to open on Pirates Week back in December but had some construction delays. Pirate Soul Museum is owned by Pat Croce, the former owner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76er's. He was named the Secretary of Pirates of Key West.

This weeks book was another by Randy Wayne White. It was titled 'Everglades' and is about our hero Dr. Ford rescuing a friends wife from a religious group in the Everglades.
'Donna the Buffalo' has been playing at night all this week at Schooner Wharf Bar. The place has been packed every night. The band pre-sold concert tickets for $100 each. When the ticket holders got there, all the seat were already taken by other tourist and the locals. The next night they put up signs that said 'ticket holders only' but no one paid attention. I have never heard of them. http://www.donnathebuffalo.com/

New Key West web cam: http://www.schoonerwharf.com/webcam.htm

Key West, You have got to love it'
Meet me at the end of the road' - Conchy Tonkin'- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett

This Week on the Island 01/02/2005

'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 week started cool but ended up very nice with the last day of the old year and the first day of the new year being 78 degrees. There are many things to do in Key West on New Years Eve, but most people end up at one of three places at midnight. On the 800 block of Duval, Shusi (female impersonator) is lowered in a red slipper; in front of Sloppy Joe's, the Conch is lowered; and at Schooner Wharf, a Pirate Wench is lowered. No matter which one you pick, the area is packed and lots of fun. Afterwards my wife and I and the dogs sit on the front porch and watch the parade of people head up Caroline Street looking for their cars.The island was packed. I did not move the Hummer all week because I would never find a parking place again. This week we probably had more tourist than we got at Fantasy Fest.

If you have a mortgage in the Key's you must also have insurance: Homeowners, Wind, and Flood. Flood is offered by the Federal Government. The Government requires that all housing built in the Key's since 1975 be 10 feet above sea level if you want Flood insurance. This is one of the reasons people want to buy an old house built before 1975 and re-condition it. Most house's built since 1975 are on stilts and have parking below. You are not allowed to use this area for anything except storage. Kathie Lee Gifford (Regis and Kathie Lee) and her husband are in the paper because they enclosed and added bedrooms, bathrooms, and a living area under their house in Key Largo. They must either tear it out or lose their Flood insurance. Either way they will be fined.

Speaking of housing, I received 'Island Properties' from Century 21 and they have a section called 'Mobil Homes'. There is one listed in Key Largo for $349,000. It must be in bad shape because it is listed as 'could be replaced by a newer Mobil home'. Closer to Key West in Marathon is another Mobil home listed for $457,000 or you may be interested in a house boat, 'DeBarge', in Key West for $185,000. It is probably for sale because this time of the year no one is thinking of hurricane season.

This weeks book was another by Randy Wayne White. It was titled 'The Mangrove Coast' and is about our hero Dr. Ford rescuing a friends wife from the jungles of Panama.

Doug Johnson and Family, from New York and Key West Parrot Head Club Out-Of-Town members, dropped by to say hi. They were in town for the holidays to visit their daughter who lives here and works at Margaritaville.

The Navy used one of it's BlackHawk helicopters to force a small plane to land at Key West International Airport. Seems the small aircraft wandered into secure air space without giving the correct code. It was all a misunderstanding and after a search of the people and the plane they were all sent on their way.

Big Foot, the cat's trial appears to have been delayed until Jan 21.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conchy Tonkin'- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett