This Week on the Island 01/06/2008

'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 45 degrees in Key West Thursday morning.

The Weather: Warm Monday ( in the low 80's ), a cold front came thru on New Years Day dropping the temperature to 45 degrees by Thursday morning (breaking a record that was made in 1898), then it warmed back up to the high 70's by Saturday. Some places in the Miami area broke heat records on Sunday and then broke cold records on Thursday morning.

The book this week was 'Raining Rum' by Bobbo Jetmundsen with forward by Peets Buffett (Jimmy Buffetts Mother.) It is a book of short stories.

Sunday, there was an art fair at Bayview Park on Truman Ave. Jo and I walked there ( about 3 miles round trip) and visited with a lady selling hula-hoops.

Jimmy Carter was in town Sunday and visited the 'Little White House' and 'Margarittaville'.

The island gets packed as more people arrive for New Years Eve in Key West. There are about 25,000 people that live on this tiny island and by Monday night we had over 50,000 visitors (most all of them on Duval Street). There were New Years Eve parties all over the island but the three main events were:

(1) Stand on Duval Street in front of Sloppy Joes and watch the Conch Shell drop at midnight.

(2) Stand on Duval Street in front of Bourbon Street Bar and watch Sushi (female impersonator) being lowered in a large pink shoe at midnight.

(3) Stand at Schooner Wharf and watch the Pirate Wench being lowered at midnight.
Jo and I have our own tradition of picking one of these events and then sitting on our front porch and watching the parade of people walking up Caroline Street after midnight as they try to remember where they parked their cars. It is always a great time with many stopping to chat.

OK, back to the weather. Can you say COLD! I realize that 45 degrees is nothing for a lot of you, and I realize that if it is 45 degrees here, it must be a lot colder way up north in America. This is Key West, you know the nice warm island sitting 120 miles off the southern tip of Florida. It is 45 degrees with the wind at 20 mph and gust to 30 mph. What happened to global warming? I wonder how warm it is in Jamaica. Did you know that this cold front dropped south into Cuba.

Someone is recording in Shrimp Boat Sounds, Jimmy Buffett's recording studio.

Key West, You have got to love it

'Living the life that others dream

'Doug Bennett

Lat 24.5597N, Long 81.8016W

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