The Closer I am to Fine

September 10, 2010

Michael & Emily Sailers



Emily Sailers

Kevin, Mike & Jay

The Closer I am to Fine

Another week, another Fest here in Key West as the island transitioned this week from the brand new 1st annual Brew Fest to one of the longest running and far more established event that is Womenfest. Womenfest has been going strong for over 20 years, bringing women from around the world for a huge celebration for lesbians and their friends. Though primarily aimed at the lesbian audience, there are plenty of events during the week-long festival that are open to all and Kathy & I as well as many other locals join in the festivities.

Graff, Sam & Eileen



So this week found us attending the final event of Beer Fest on Sunday evening, the Samuel Adams Beer Dinner at the Southernmost Beach Café as well as one of the opening events of Womenfest; a solo concert by the amazing Emily Sailers of The Indigo Girls at The Studios of Key West.





The beer dinner was a full evening dinner that lasted over 3 ½ hours and featured six delightful courses of food, each accompanied by a specially selected Sam Adams beer. The beers were all straight from the brewery and none are offered for sale commercially. We joined a table full of our friends and settled in for a fantastic evening of food, beer and friendship.

Sam & Matt



The six course meal featured enough food for a feast as each course was not a sampler, but a full plate of food accompanied by a delightful beer. The meal started with a delicious salad with blackened shrimp over arugula with blue cheese and almonds paired with Samuel Adams Irish Red. More courses of food and beer followed in slow succession, each seemingly more over the top and delicious.







Among the delights were Lobster Gazpacho, Hoppy Steamed Clams, Beer Braised Ribs and Grilled Swordfish. Each paired with a yummy beer. It was a lot of food, topped by a delightful dessert of chocolate lava cake & American Kriek & Black Lager. It was another great Brew Fest event and a new regular addition to our annual event schedule.

Nadene, Trevor, Graff & Eileen




Emily Sailers of the Indigo Girls has been coming to Key West to visit for years, yet has never played here, in fact she stated that it has been close to 20 years since she played a solo gig. To get both WomenFest and The Studios of Key West’s Old Town/ New Folk season kicked off, she decided Key West was a safe atmosphere for a solo performance.





Julie & Katie

The show was an unqualified success and a truly inspiring event. The show was opened by a woman Folk singer named Julie Clark, who recently won the top prize at the Kerrville New Folk Competition and who finished second at the Folks Fest Songwriters’ school a few years back. She was fantastic. I was sad to see her leave the stage, but hope to catch her playing out around town this weekend.



Mike & Julie

Emily Sailers claimed to be nervous when she took the stage, but you never would have known it, in fact her incredible performance felt more like an intimate performance in front of a few friends than a big show to a packed and enthusiastic crowd. The show was so relaxed that Emily spent as much time chatting with the crowd as playing. She even took questions and comments from individuals in what at times seemed more like a revival gathering than a concert. Hearing the emotional statements from the crowd about what her music had meant to them seemed to truly move her and she delivered a searing performance of fourteen of her songs, including most of the Indigo Girls most popular songs.

Julie Clark with Katie Duckett


After the show, Kathy & I had the good fortune to be invited to a wonderful after-party at the lovely home of Jay & Carolyn Scott in honor of Emily. It was a great party and Emily seemed relaxed and pleased with how things went with the show. She mingled easily with the party guests and was as nice and down to earth as one might expect from one of the true Icons of the modern Folk movement.

Carolyn, Emily & Jay

Julie Clark Website

Indigo Girls website

Key West Brew Fest

September 6, 2010









Key West Brew Fest

It seems that some new festival pops up in Key West every other weekend, some stick it out and become established mainstays of island life, while others fizzle out, losing steam after a year or two never to be heard of again…Chickenfest anyone? Every once in a great while there will be a new addition that hits a homerun right out of the gate and you just know that many years down the line, the event will still be going strong. The first annual Key West Brew Fest is one such event.







With the booming popularity of microbrews it is hard to imagine that Key West has not had some sort of beer festival until now, but the long overdue event was finally organized as a fundraiser for the Key West Sunrise Rotary Club. Their quick thinking President, Matt Babich came up with the idea and agreed that the Southernmost Hotel Collection , of which he is the GM, would act as a sponsor as well as the location for the event.

Matt

Debra



There were two main events (and a smaller opening night VIP party) that made up the first Brew Fest with the main event held Saturday evening of Labor Day weekend. The Key West Brew Fest was held on the beach at the Southernmost Beach Café ( the same beach where Kathy & I were married) and featured vendors supplying a huge variety of microbrews which could be sampled at will for a mere $20 entry fee.





Kathy, Todd & Lisa



With all the funds benefitting the Rotary Club, you could taste beer for a good cause and more than 1000 showed up to do just that. The actual number of attendees was far more than organizers had anticipated, but the beer vendors were actually well prepared for the onslaught and there was more than enough brew to go around.







I have no idea how many different microbrews were there, there were dozens of booths with most offering a variety of different beers from across the country. One of our favorite breweries, Oskar Blues from Lyons, Colorado, that which just visited last month while we were out at Folks Fest was there, they are making a real push nationwide and their beers such as Dale’s Pale Ale, Old Chub, and Mama’s Little Pils were all represented.



Jim & Randy



The weather could not have been more perfect and the beachside location has to be one of the best spots of any beerfest in America. We ran in to a bunch of our friends, who like us enjoy a delicious craft brew and had a really enjoyable time. Even better is that unlike some Key West festivals, the point here was that the crowd really wanted to sample and taste test the various offerings rather than just get drunk again. I was pleased by the sophistication and taste of the vast majority of attendees that seemed to be mostly locals.





We certainly are hopeful that this will be a permanent addition to the Key West calendar, we certainly will be back every year. In fact we liked it so much that we signed up for the beer dinner that was held on Sunday evening, more on that in my next post.

Key West Brew Fest website

Back in the Saddle

September 5, 2010

Geiger Key



Rosie

Fiona's "Girls Night In"

Back in the Saddle

Honey Island Swamp Band

Getting back into the swing of whatever is considered normal life here in Key West has taken a bit of getting acclimated again after returning from Sicily. Jet lag had much more of an effect on my return than on my way over, or perhaps jamming so much in to a concentrated time just contributed to the exhaustion that I felt upon my return to the states. That isn’t to say that our hectic life didn’t roll ahead at full steam, in fact Kathy kept busy back in Key West with the start of her school year coming just as I headed away on my trip.

Tom & Ursala

Tiffany & Brooks

Tara, Hilary & Susie

Even keeping a low profile, we still manage to keep a fairly busy schedule, whether it was Kathy attending a beach party to celebrate the good health of our little friend Rosie who completed her final cancer treatments and has been given the all clear from her doctors. Certainly that news is one of the best reasons that I can think of to have a party. Of the many, many kids that we know and interact with, Rosie will always have a special place in our heart for her bravery in dealing with a tough situation, all the while maintaining a sweetness and positive outlook that set an example for everyone in how to deal with adversity.

Eric, Betsy & Rosie

We also joined Rosie and her parents Eric & Betsy and our friends Nancy & Mark for a great dinner at Geiger Key right after I got back. Geiger Key is a beautiful spot, off the beaten path on the water a little ways up the Keys that offers a tranquil setting for a good meal and less touristy surroundings than much of Key West.



Nancy, Betsy, Kathy, Eric, Rosie, Mark & Michael



September is traditionally the slowest time of the year for tourists in the Keys.
Many places simply shut down for the month and others offer substantial local discounts to try and attract business. It is when locals often venture out to restaurants that they may never visit otherwise which is one of the reasons Kathy & I could be found at Benihana this week. (The other being the free meal coupon we had).







I also managed to head out for a nice night on the town with my friend Bruce, who was in town from his home in Estes Park, Colorado and who we saw just last month there. I met Bruce for Happy Hour at the Tiki Bar at the Galleon where the talented Nashville singer/songwriter Clint Bullard was performing and where our friend Jim was busy celebrating his birthday.





Clint Bullard

Jim & Dave

It was a late night that included a stop at the most wonderful new addition to the Key West bar scene, The Porch, before ending up at the Green Parrot where a great band from New Orleans, The Honey Island Swamp Band was performing. All the while, Kathy was enjoying a night out of her own, or a night in. Our friend Fiona hosted a wonderful “Girls Night In” party at her home that was attended by a passel of her girl friends. I wasn’t there, but by all accounts it was a fun and fabulous party and the ladies had a great time.





Melissa & Beth