This Week on the Island 01/23/2011

'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 ‘Jo’s cactus on the front porch. The second picture is a brigantine parked at the Navy yard at Trumbo Point. A brigantine has square sails in the front and a triangle sail in the rear. The third picture is a guy I found on Eaton Street. He was a harmless corn snake. A coral snake (red on yellow kill a fellow) looks a lot like him and is very dangerous.

Weather: Spring time. In the mid 60’s at night and mid to upper 70’s in the day. Lots of sunshine. We also are having sea fog in the mornings.

This week I read ‘To the Nines’ by Janet Evanovich.

It is clean up time around Key West. Each new year the people start cleaning up their property. There is grass to mow, trees to trim, and lots to paint. Every trash pick up day there are large plastic bags full of yard trash sitting on the curb. The rest of the country is covered in snow and we are cleaning up the yard.

We have a corn tree. It looks like a corn stalk, but is about 15 feet tall and blooms and has a sweet smell. I can smell others as I walk the dogs around the neighborhood.

The yachties have had wonderful weather for their racing. They are very colorful as they pass Mallory Square in the morning as they head toward their racing areas. It has been very cold and windy for them the previous two years. This year is warm and sunny but there are less than 150 boats involved in the racing. I don’t know if it is the economy or if the thrill if Key West is not there any more. I am told they are expecting about 350 boats for the Charleston races.

Key West is trying to get declared as ‘a point of entry’ for travel to and from Cuba. I don’t think many people are going to want to fly from Miami to Key West just to go on to Havana. A direct flight from Miami to Havana would be shorter.

In 1900 there were 1,681 people in Miami, before Flagler built his railroad to Miami. Key West had a population of 18,800 in that same year and it was the riches city in Florida.

Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.5591N, Long 81.8016W

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Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbxD3D-rPqo