Playing Tourist

November 17, 2006







Visits from family and friends give Key West locals the opportunity to play tourist by taking visitors to all the touristy things that we generally avoid. This week, we are pleased to welcome Michael’s mother Marta Blades from her home in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The main reason for her visit is to attend the Miami Book Fair this weekend, but she arrived on Tuesday in order to spend time with us and to enjoy Key West.

Marta

On her first evening here, after dinner at the Outback, we headed over to the Regal Cinema to check out the smash hit comedy, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” The film is hysterical though it has a crudeness factor that made it somewhat uncomfortable at times to be sitting through with one’s mother. She actually seemed to find it as amusing as we did, thankfully.

Marta & Kathy

The next day, we did even more touristy things. Marta spent the day on Duval Street shopping and in the evening, we headed down for the sunset celebration at Mallory Square. Marta loves watching the sunset as well as the buskers and performers who perform each night. She is especially fond of Dominque, the Key West Cat Man whose show includes trained house cats doing tricks like jumping through flaming hoops. After dinner at Alonzo’s Oyster House, we stopped in for an art gallery opening at the wonderful Lucky Street Gallery featuring the work of artist Richard Buckheim. Marta was in her element and there were a ton of locals there for her to meet and mingle with.

Key West Cat Man

Thursday evening was one of those typical Key West in season evenings with too many choices of things to do. We settled on taking Marta to the art opening at the Customs House before heading over to the monthly “Walk on White”. The walk features all of the shops and galleries on White Street hosting openings and serving wine, cheese and such. After the walk, the ladies headed home to watch “Grey’s Anatomy” while I headed to the Tropic Cinema to check out the new independent film, “Sharkwater”. The film is a gripping documentary which illuminates the critical importance of sharks to the marine ecosystem and documents the insidious practice of shark finning that is decimating the shark population. The film is touring film festivals at the moment and will open in wide release in March 2007. It’s well worth checking out.



http://www.catmankeywest.com

http://www.luckystreetgallery.com

http://www.sharkwater.com

http://boratmovie.com

Key West Powerboat Races

November 13, 2006








Another of the large annual events held in Key West is the arrival of the huge and powerful, loud and raucous powerboats of Superboats International a member of the APBA (American Powerboat Association). The biggest fastest racing powerboats on the planet arrive each year to hold a series of races through the Key West harbor.
While the Key West community is split about the benefits of the loud boats, the fact that they have to shut down the harbor and that the races create traffic and environmental issues, there is no question that the races are a great spectacle. There is nothing quite like seeing the powerful boats rocket along the harbor very close to the shore and though I know less than nothing about the races themselves, I took the opportunity Sunday to head down to Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park and witness the controlled mayhem first hand.





The boats are incredibly fast, topping out at about 150 mph or more and are very interesting to watch. The other amazing thing is that each boat has a small helicopter that chases after them as they scream through the course. Watching the copters is almost as interesting as the boats themselves. The weather could not have been more perfect and there was a large crowd assembled along the water to watch the races. After a lap or so, I had no idea who was winning but it was still fun to see.



Sunday evening, we finished up another fun weekend enjoying Mexican Dinner night at the home of our friends Joe & David. It was a delicious meal, with great company and a really nice group of their friends. Now we prepare for the imminent arrival of my mother Marta, who arrives Tuesday from her Winston Salem home for a visit and to attend the Miami Book Fair next weekend. The book fair is one of the preeminent literary events in the country and there will be a ton of author presentations.

Joe & David

http://www.superboat.com/

http://www.miamibookfair.com/

Survivors Party

November 12, 2006







Things don’t really slow down much in Key West, there is always something going on and often there are multiple entertainment choices. There are a bunch of wonderful non-profits here as well and they all seem to know that one sure-fire way to raise funds in Key West is to throw a big party. There seems to be some great fundraising party every weekend. One of the best is the annual Survivors party to benefit WomanKind. Held once again this year at the wonderful Blue Heaven restaurant, the party reunites one of the legendary Key West bands, The Survivors, each year.
The Survivors once played almost every weekend locally at the Green Parrot and the old Full Moon Saloon and they are fondly remembered by long-time Key-Westers. The party brings them all out to celebrate and dance the night away all to support WomanKind, a local non-profit that provides affordable health care to Key West women.

Erica, Greer & Kathy



The party was wonderful, a perfect chance to see many friends and acquaintances. The weather was perfect, the music wonderful and they had a great buffet of Cuban food prepared by Blue Heaven. The evening was a great success all around. It was a great way to cap a busy week for us.

Michael w/ WomanKind Director Vicki

We managed to take in a few movies this week as well. Heading to the Tropic to see the new documentary, “The US vs. John Lennon”, which details the US government’s attempts to deport John Lennon during the Nixon administration. It was a relevant and interesting film, though it offered little new material. The other movies we saw this week included the animated “Flushed Away” and the new comedy starring Will Ferrell, “Stranger Than Fiction”. Both were excellent and highly recommended.
I also managed to take in the annual Veteran’s Day parade. Key West is home to a big Navy base and also has a large US Coast Guard presence and they put on a wonderful Veteran’s Day parade that brings out a large crowd. The parade features almost every civic group, school band, boy & girl scouts as well as representatives of the military.





http://www.theusversusjohnlennon.com/site/