This Week on the Island 01/18/2009

'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 (click to enlarge) is ‘Schooner Wharf Bar 1990’ and the same view today. The building up top to the right burned and has been removed and a tree or 2 have blocked the view, the stairs to the upper deck were moved from the center of the bar to one side.

The Weather: The second cold front of the winter arrived Wednesday morning. It is sunny but windy with the temperature in the low 60’s. Time for blue jeans and that hoodie (zippered sweatshirt with hood).

No book this week.

I am having a little trouble with the H1 Hummer. It won’t stay running. It started when we let it sit for almost a year. We only put 31 gallons of gas in last year. I did not know that gas would go bad (it gets gummy). We put in new gas and gas filter but it still has the same problem. The little Suzuki, which we use all the time, only burned 38 gallons last year. That of course means we used 69 gallons of gas last year in both cars.

The Florida Keys Seafood Festival was held Saturday at Bayview Park. Lots of good seafood. It was Sunny but cold, in the mid 60’s with a brisk wind.

With the start of a new year many people around Key West are mowing their grass and trimming their shrubbery. It is strange in that it is January and most of the country is under a blanket of snow.

Saturday a group of disabled vets arrived on bicycles and headed to the Mohawk, the WWII ship docked at the Truman Annex. They had ridden down from Key Largo.

This Week started the Yacht races. They take over the city parking lot with a big tent and then complain because there is no place for them to park their cars. The city makes the people that live here move their boats so the ‘Yachties’ have a place to put their boats. They get together every night to party in their big tent and after it closes they go out on the town, so no one in town is making any money. Last but not least they act like they are better than us and don’t tip the wait people. We are glad when they leave town. I often wonder who got the big ‘payoff’ to keep this happening every year.

Key West, You have got to love it

'Living the life that others dream'

Doug Bennett

Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

PS
My cousin Mike (in Columbia, SC) passed away this week. I will miss him.

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