This Week on the Island 01/15/2006

'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.
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The Picture this week is of Peter Anderson, Secretary General of the Conch Republic, armed with a loaf of Cuban Bread. The Conch Republic grew a little this week. Our Secretary General stood on a deserted piling for the old 7 mile bridge and claimed it in the name of the Conch Republic. This piling is where 15 Cubans recently landed and were shipped back to Cuba because the Federal Government deemed that that piling was not connected to land and therefore these Cubans did not reach the U.S. If it doesn't belong to the U.S. then the Conch Republic will take it!

The Weather: A beautiful week, again 'this is why we live here'.

The 'Snotty Yachties started arriving this week. If you like sail boats, it can be a beautiful sight if you stand at Mallory Square and watch them sail out in the morning. Some are in such a hurry to get out that they have a power boat pull them to the boating area. We call them the 'Snotty Yachties' because of the way they treat the locals and because they almost never leave a decent tip. There is one guy that owns the boat and 5 guys that work for him and don't have a dime. They take over the city parking lot on Caroline Street and put up a big tent. Every afternoon they have entertainment and drinks until 8:00 PM and then they do to Duval Street. They also take over the boat parking areas and most locals have to move their boats for 2 weeks. The city is stuck with no place to park cars, no place to park boats, a bunch of loud drunks with no money to spend and we put up with this every year because someone somewhere is making some money.

This weeks book was 'Tuesdays with Morrie' by Mitch Albom. It is about an old professor that is dying and one of his students that comes to visit every Tuesday to talk about things that matter in life.

I met two more folks from our Parrot Head Nation at Schooner Warf this week. J.R. Rupp (founder of the Landlocked Landsharks PHC in PA) and his wife. Nice folks.


For those that haven't been here. As you get off the Florida Turnpike and drive south out of Florida City on US#1, you enter the 18 mile stretch. An 18 mile long two lane highway that leads to Key Largo. There are many wreaks here because people have been driving fast on the Turnpike and are in a hurry to get to Key West, therefore they try to pass and cause lots of accidents. We had another bad one Tuesday night. Everyone was taken to Ryder Hospital in Miami and US#1 was closed for hours. Some people will now have the worst vacation of their lives. Please drive safely.

-----The more things change, the more they remain the same---------------------------

Billy's Bar/Restaurant on Front Street has been sold for $14.5 million. The property will be leased to Joe Walsh, the owner of Fogarty's, Jack Flats, and Caroline's restaurant. Also on Front Street,1 block away, the old Burger King is still in the process of being remolded into a Ron Jon's and the old restaurant next door is still being remolded into Island Dog's. The American Bar on the corner of Simonton and Front is gone and the Pirate Museum is about to open a new bar/restaurant there. All of this in 2 blocks of Front Street.

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