This Week on the Island 04/09/2006

'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.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key West: a city of change. The pictures this week are (1) Hotel Jefferson on Duval near Front Street that was built after the fire of April 1, 1886, that destroyed downtown Key West and (2) that same location today. The Hotel Jefferson was destroyed by another fire around 1900.

The Weather: Wonderful.

This weeks book was 'Endangered Species' by Donnie Williams a 4th generation Conch (A Conch is someone that is born on the island, A Key Westerner is someone that moved to the island and now lives here, a fresh water conch is someone that has lived here for 7 years, and an honorary conch is a title given to someone that performed a great service to the island. This is a book about Key West Conchs, Island tales, Folklore, and nicknames.

While we are on the subject. The Calusa Indians lived in the Keys. The Seminole Indians chased them to Key West and killed them all. When the Spanish discovered the island it was covered with Calusa Indian bones. The Spanish called the island Cayo Hueso (Ki-o Way-so) or Bone Island. The English thought the Spanish were saying Key West. The original inhabitants of Cayo Hueso were fishermen from the Bahamas. One of the things they ate were conch's (the animal that lives in a conch shell). The English looked down upon these people and called them Conch's. Now it is a proud title for people born on the island.

On the ride back from the Miami VA on Wednesday the driver stopped at the 'World Wide Sportsman' at MM81 next to the Islamorada Seafood Restaurant. The World Wide Sportsman has a duplicate of the 'Piller' in the middle of their displays. The Piller was Hemingway's boat. The original Piller is in Cuba.

We adopted Sassi from Husky Rescue in Miami 2 years ago. That means that Nevada went to Doggie Heaven a little over 2 years ago. I still miss him.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Meet me at the end of the road' - Conky Tonkin'- Jimmy Buffett
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.5597N, Long 81.8016W