This Week on the Island 11/25/2007

'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 is Thanksgiving on the docks outside Schooner Wharf in Key West. It is a bit like a family reunion. Everybody brings something and everybody eats what everybody brought. Pics at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/ click PHOTOS then click THANKSGIVING.

The Weather: Back up to the low 80's with lots of sun.

The book this week was 'Torpedo Juice ' by Tim Dorsey.

The yacht Hilarium is in the bight (http://www.yachtmati.com/hilarium-megayacht-nqea/index.htm ) This boat looks like it must be over 100 feet long. Much larger than the other yacht's in the bight.

Last Sunday we had 'Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band' play at the Southernmost Beach on the Atlantic side of Duval Street. He puts on quite a show. I really like his song 'I want to go where the bananas grow'.

Key West Conch House. A friend came by with a framed picture of the front of our house. The picture was of the shutters with the large painted parrots. He purchased it at a sale up on Marco Island, Fl.

We have a friend that visits us ever year at Parrothead Week (MOTM). He wants to move here so we are looking at places. To my surprise we have found mobile homes in trailer parks for about $35,000 (not including the land) with a monthly lot fee of less than $1,000 a month, but you still have to pay utilities. Some of these places I would not even take my dog into, while others could be 'fixed up'. They are in mobile home parks, and the Key's seem to be converting mobile home parks into condo's. So if you did purchase one and it gets converted, then you would have to move out and most of these mobile homes are not mobile. Also every one we looked at were 'fixed-up' after being flooded in Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. We think a smarter idea would be to find a lot to rent in a mobile home park and then purchase a travel trailer up north and bring it down here to your lot. If after 6 months or a year, if you don't like it, you can move. Also in that time, if you do like it, you can be looking for something else.

Still the cheaper way to live in Key West is to rent an apartment for 6 months to a year and look for a place while you rent. Even if you paid $2,000 a month in rent, it would be cheaper than purchasing a travel trailer and paying a monthly lot fee.

Photo's from MOTM (Meeting of the Minds - the gathering of Parrot Heads in Key West each November) (Parrot Head - Jimmy Buffett Fan)
http://www.ecparrotheads.org/photos.asp
http://www.esnips.com/web/MeetingoftheMinds2007
Save these links for a cold rainy day and then enjoy!

INTERESTING! The bright star in the west just after sunset you have been watching for the last couple of weeks in not a star but Holmes Comet. It started to grow and became the largest thing in our solar system (diameter of over 1.4 million kilometers ), even larger than the sun, according to http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html click ARCHIVE then click 21 November.

Thursday, the dogs and I met another husky (Dariya) and her owners from Chicago. Nice people, great dog.

Only in Key West! About 200 folks stood around at 8:00PM Sunday night to watch Buco from the Water Front Market blow up a rather large pumpkin. No police, no ambulances, no fire truck, just a bunch of people having a good time. Fireworks were exploded leading to the giant pumpkin explosion. Pic's at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisWeekontheIsland/ click PHOTOS then BUCO"S PUMPKIN.

Key West, You have got to love it

'Living the life that others dream'

Doug Bennett

Lat 24.5597N, Long 81.8016W

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