Moving On

August 15, 2008

Lobsterfest

Night Blooming Cereus

Larry Baeder at Midsummer's Night

Moving On

Melissa & friend

As tough as the past week has been with the loss of our dear friends, life in Key West has soldiered on and Kathy & I have attended a bevy of summer events that have at once taken our minds off our sadness and re-affirmed what a special and wonderful community that we are fortunate to call home.

One annual event that is becoming a fixture on our calendar is the annual Lobsterfest that is held each August. Duval Street is blocked and various restaurants and vendors set up and sell the deliciously fresh lobster in a variety of forms. Personally I prefer a simple grilled lobster dipped in butter, but you can get your Lobster in just about any form. It is a great, if nit blazingly hot, event that celebrates the opening of the Lobster season here in South Florida.

Michael- Lobsterfest





Another wonderful annual party is the Midsummer Night’s celebration of the Arts party at the home of Joyce Stahl. The party is lovingly organized by Michael Shields, who brings together an amazing array of artists, poets, singers, dancers and performers for a fantastic and dreamy evening under not only the stars, but the Perseid Meteor showers this year. Our island is home to a remarkably deep talent pool of artists and we are happy to call many of them our friends and this type of celebration is wonderful. We missed the party last year due to our trip to Colorado, but this year, we did not leave until the morning following the festivities.

Beth

Michael & David



We have also been happy that a couple of great bands have visited Key West in the past week. First up was Buffalo Strange at the Green Parrot. I guess they would fall into the jam band category if you insist on affixing a label. A mix of reggae infused roots music, Buffalo Strange deliver an awesome show and are well worth checking out. I got a tip from a friend in Nashville about a band from there that was headed to play at the Hog’s Breath and the band, The Levees, did not disappoint. They play a more Americana/ alt country mix, but were really awesome as well. Let’s hope that both these bands play our island again soon.

The Levees

Buffalo Strange

Gae, Rob & Kathy

In addition to the out of town bands, we also made it out to the Schooner Wharf for one of our local favorites, Raven. She is one of the best local singers and we always enjoy getting to see her, especially with her fancy new haircut.

Raven

Terry & Reggie

Finally, we also attended the Hometown Pac candidate forum at the Grand Key Resort. It was one of the final chances prior to next week’s primary election for local candidates to present themselves. This year the local elections are exceedingly interesting. I urge everyone to get out and participate and hopefully we can get some good people elected.

Hometown Pac Forum

Buffalo Strange site

The Levees