Holiday Parade

December 10, 2009





Holiday Parade

Carla, Tara, Rick & Kathy

One of the coolest holiday events in Key West is the annual holiday parade. Held each year on the first Saturday night in December, the parade features a wonderful wacky cross-section of what makes Key West the amazing fun and crazy little island community that it is. This year 64 entries featured a variety of floats, musical groups, jugglers, community organizations, church groups and other assorted holiday themed participants.





We really enjoy the parade, as do the thousands of locals who either participate or line Truman and Duval Streets to watch. Every child in town is out to try and catch the traditional bag loads of candy that are tossed to the crowd from the parade. It is always a good bet to stand next to the most adorable children you can find if you have a sweet tooth and want to be in the line of fire for the excess candy that heads your way.





We began parade night at a wonderful party hosted by our friends Carla & George who live conveniently only 1 block off the parade route and who each year host a pre-parade party that is enjoyed by children and adults alike. Something about the party just put us in the holiday spirit, it was just a wonderful, laid back and enjoyable way to start the evening and to really get into the Key West holidays.

Carla & George

The Reynolds'

The adorable child we found to stand next to was our friend Rosie and her parents Betsy & Eric. Rosie and her friends were cute enough to be pelted with more candy than they could possibly eat, so we got to reap the sweet rewards. Actually, the vast majority of the candy we snared ended up in Rosie’s bag, Kathy just would not have me literally taking candy from children.

Rosie

Kathy

Elmo

The parade seemed to pass by quickly this year. It was as festive as ever and fun as always to spot friends who were in the parade and to check out the wackiness that qualifies as parade-worthy in Key West.

Clayton



Thomas



Post parade, we headed to another traditional party, hosted by Sam Holland and the Conch House guest house which is right on the parade route. It is another great annual get-together that is traditionally packed with a who’s who of local movers and shakers and even a few regular folks like us. We can always count on seeing lots of our friends and capping off parade night right.

Jay & Carolyn

Lee & Shawnna

Kathy, Gary, Colleen & Michael

Carol & Hilary

Pigs, Man Pigs……

December 8, 2009



Pigs, Man Pigs……

KW Ambassador Class



Happy Birthday Erika

I have no idea what Pigs, Man Pigs means, but I saw this graffiti along the wall at the Key West Bight and thought it was sort of cool. The entire wall around the ill-fated Harbor Walk development at the site of the former Jabour’s Trailer park is covered with creative graffiti, about the only good thing about that horrid situation.

Pirates with Pam & Cissy

We have officially entered into the craziest portion of the already full and wacky season in Key West. As the holidays kick into gear, Key West offers a veritable smorgasbord of entertainment options and many times there are just too many things to actually squeeze them all in.

City Commission meeting

Book Sale

Such was the case this past weekend as events came rushing at us fast and furious. It started Thursday evening at the Key West City Commission meeting where I participated in the graduation ceremony for the Key West Ambassador program that I took over the past few months. I was feeling sick as a dog, recovering from a nasty bought of strep throat, but I managed to attend and get my little certificate of completion. The next class starts in January and anyone interested should go to the official Key West city website to apply.

Michael, Carol & Kathy

Erika



Friday evening, Kathy joined a group of friends at a birthday party for Erika Biddle at the beautiful home of Lucy Barker. As always, it was another great party. Erika & her husband Joel have a wonderful and eclectic group of friends that we are pleased to be a part of. Happy Birthday Erika!

Kathy & India

Molly & Ray

Saturday was one of those crazy days where Kathy & I found ourselves running from event to event. Starting bright and early at the first Friends of the Library book sale of the season at the Key West library, we were able to find some great books, all under $1 each. I love the book sale because of not only the great books, but the sense of community you find there. You never know who you will run into and it is a great event.

Sherry





Next we headed over to the Studios of Key West where our friend Sherry Sweet-Tewell hosted an event for children based on the release of her new kid’s book, “Cosmo the Boat Cat”. The event was an art project where the kids created a large mural by each painting a small section, which were combined to create the finished project. The event also featured a presentation by Mill from Reef Relief about the coral reef, which was the subject of the mural.



We spent the rest of the day at a variety of craft shows and flea markets, including the flea market at FKCC, the craft fair at Sugarloaf School and even the Big Pine holiday craft fair- which was canceled mid-stream by a sudden torrential rain fall, that while brief- nonetheless created havoc for any outdoor event.