This Week on the Island 05/29/2011

'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.
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The first picture this week is ‘Sunset from our front porch’. The second picture is ’Doug and Dogs’ as captured by http://conchscooter.blogspot.com/ . I also used one of his pictures last week ‘Sunrise at Veterans Park’ without giving credit. My bad.

Weather: Summer is here. The forecast for the next 6 months is hot and humid with a chance for hurricanes.

The book this week was ‘Two for the Dough’ by Janet Evanovich. I tried to read most of her books in order as I found them in the library. Now I am going back to catch the few that I missed and hopefully her latest. It is ‘Smoking Seventeen.’

In this weeks paper was 3 pictures of the 3 ships that were named ‘Key West’. The first one built in 1862 and was a paddle wheeler. The second was frigate built in 1943 and was used as a weather ship in WWII. The latest being a nuclear submarine built in 1985 and still operational in Hawaii.

A 1918 WWI submarine has been found 10 miles off the coast of Key West in 600 feet of water. It went down with 48 sailors onboard and only 6 survived. It was doing torpedo training and sank in 15 seconds. (www.history.navy.mil.)

Memorial Day weekend. The official start of summer and lots of people everywhere. It seems that Key West is still doing pretty good in this recession. People don’t have a lot of money so they are vacationing in places they can drive. Key West is one of those places. Our unemployment rate is very low, but like the rest of the country, our housing prices have taken a big hit.

Of the about a dozen whales that ground themselves up near Key Largo, 2 have been released, 2 are still under care, the rest have died.

We met some Louisiana friends at Schooner this week. I had a lady walk up to me, extend her hand, say I am xxxx from Orlando and I read your blog. I thanked her for reading the blog and introducing herself. Then there were the folks from Cape Code with the lady celebrating her 60th birthday. It is always good to see friends.

Sunday was the ‘Minimal Regatta’ in the bight at Schooner Wharf. A team builds a boat with 1 sheet of plywood, two 2x4’s, a pound of fasteners, and a roll of duct tape. It is an all day event and lots of fun for everyone. Started after lunch until sunset.

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