Fantasy Monsoon

October 24, 2008

Kathy, Gae, Janine & Bonnie

Kathy & Esme


Fantasy Monsoon



Red Party

Rain during the week of Fantasy Fest is nothing new, in fact there was a memorable downpour just last year during the Red Party, but the torrential downpours this week are unlike anything seen before. Wednesday alone, Key West experienced over 7.5 inches of rain that left flooded streets and created havoc with a number of Fantasy Fest events. This was followed by even more rain on Thursday, another 3 inches or so that impacted even more events. The forecast for the remainder of the week calls for even more rain, so who knows what will happen.



Eileen, Graf, Fiona, Jim & Kathy

Of course even rain that surpasses many tropical storms and hurricanes could never completely destroy the party spirit that is Fantasy Fest, so it should not be surprising that our personal schedule was actually not really affected that much by the monsoon like conditions. We have kept up our torrid pace of attending Fantasy Fest events and parties, only slightly damper for the effort.

The Obines

Wednesday we were out for two events, The Pet Masquerade and Fogarty’s Red Party. It was a crazy rainy day and night and we were somewhat surprised that they even held the Pet Masquerade. It returned to its traditional home at the Casa Marina this year and a hardy mix of contestants and spectators braved the rain to come out and see the family friendly event. They only managed to get about halfway through before the skies opened up and yet more torrential rain canceled the remaining categories. It was still a pretty fun time and a little fall of rain (or even a torrent) was not enough to keep us in.



Pet Masquerade



Next stop was the annual Red Party at Fogarty’s. They had erected tents in the outdoor courtyard to try and keep the rain out, which was especially important since much of the inside bar was closed for renovation. This led to a massive, packed and very wet crowd which proved to be too crowded for our liking so we ventured across the street to the Whistle Bar to watch the activities from the relative comfort of their balcony.

The Red Elvises



Kathy & Janine

Our friend Janine is here for the week for the Fantasy Fest festivities and she joined us as we closed out the evening at a familiar haunt, The Green Parrot where the wildly entertaining band, The Red Elvises were entertaining the masses.

Esme

Thursday brought more torrential rain and more fun for us. We first headed out to a nice party for Kristen-Paige Madonia, the current writer in residence at the Studios of Key West. It was a nice gathering of friends to welcome the arrival of her husband Chris who is joining her for the Fantasy Fest weekend.

Hutch



We braved the continuing rain and headed again to the Parrot for another evening of being entertained by the Red Elvi as well as the antics of many friends. Sadly, I think the rain had a negative impact on Pretenders in Paradise for the second straight year. Hopefully it will clear a little for today’s Masquerade March and the big parade tomorrow. We’ll be out in the middle of it all regardless.

Elena, Nancy, Mark, Kathy, Kristen-Paige & Chris

Fantasy Fest King & Queen