Goombay

October 23, 2007





Goombay

Cammy, Shaggy, Kathy, Bethany, Howard & Krista

The official kick-off of Fantasy Fest, Key West’s largest annual celebration, Goombay Festival was held over the weekend and despite torrential downpours, lightning and over 5 inches of rain on Saturday night alone, Fantasy Fest is off to a good, if damp, start.





Friday night began pretty well, as huge throngs crowded Bahama Village for Goombay. We headed down and had the traditional meat on a stick meal. The food and entertainment at Goombay is always excellent and it is certainly one of the most popular and fun festivals of the year. We always see tons of our local friends, many who we may not have seen in ages. This year was no exception, and things were going wonderfully well until the skies opened up around 9 PM.







We had the good fortune to be trapped in Letty Nowak’s Lemonade Stand art gallery at the time, and we stayed there mingling until the rain let up enough for us to head across the street to the indoor bar at Blue Heaven restaurant. While the rain fell, we remained indoors, but once it stopped, we headed out to the back courtyard where the band resumed and the party continued. It is such a great spot and it has a special vibe during Goombay. Thankfully the rain on Friday subsided and did not return until the next evening. I made it down to Goombay again on Saturday afternoon for lunch, with hopes of returning yet again after dark, but massive storms moved into Key West, drenching the island and pretty much ending Goombay prematurely.





Sunday, we went over and checked out progress on the Fantasy Fest float. It’s another joint effort as the Lazy Dog/ Rick Keith collaboration is set once again. Check out the links below to see this year’s float theme. Progress seems to be coming along, though personally, we are a little behind in our preparations.

Hutch building float.

Sunday evening, we were back at another unique, Key West style birthday party. This one was for our friend Jody Thomas and was held out on the White Street pier. It was a great place as all the necessary party supplies, food, drink, tables and chairs were carried out to the end of the pier for a beautiful night. It was a great time. Happy Birthday Jody!

Jody & Bob





Now Fantasy Fest moves into high gear, with a number of crazy events on the horizon. Hopefully the weather will be better than it was for Goombay.

http://www.goombay-keywest.org/

http://www.rickeith.com/

http://www.lazydogadventure.com/float_2007.htm

http://www.fantasyfest.net/