Here Come the Mummies

March 5, 2016









Here Come the Mummies

The season in Key West kicks in to its highest gear in March with the snowbirds enjoying their last blast of Key West before their journey North for the, the onslaught of tourists reaching its zenith with the mix of Spring breakers and vacationers getting their time on the island before the season closes out and the cultural cornerstones in Key West packing in their final burst of events and fundraisers before the dust settles and they are left with just locals to keep them busy during the coming off-season. It has been an especially busy time for Kathy and I as we have entertained visitors, attended a number of special events and generally kept our active social calendar stocked with things to do.



Kathy and Effie



One of the fun thing about living in Key West is that we get a fairly constant flow of visitors, people who almost certainly would not visit (certainly not as often) if we lived just about anyplace else in the country. It is a great thing as far as we are concerned and this month we have had a number of friends and family here to visit. Our friends Dolly and Simon were here this month all the way from their home in Norway. Sadly it was to attend the memorial services for our friend and Dolly’s Grandmother, but it was still wonderful to see them and meet their adorable young daughters. Dolly once worked as an intern for me when I worked at Reef Relief and it has been an absolute pleasure to watch her success in the field of Marine Biology. Her Norwegian husband Simon is a brilliant scientist in his own right and both are about as wonderful people as you could hope to meet.

Michael, Dolly and Simon



Simon and Dolly

We also had a visit from my good friend Stephanie’s parents Brent and Nancy as they were here on vacation from their home in Indianapolis. We spent a great evening with them, enjoying a meal at two cents and taking them to see our friend Michael Marrero’s play at the Key West Theater, Locura. It the second time that Kathy and I had seen the show and it did not disappoint. I think that Brent and Nancy enjoyed it as well, and it was a really fun evening catching up with them. I have known them for something just past thirty years and they seem well and happy and it was just an absolute pleasure to have them in Key West.

Nancy and Brent



Also accompanying us to the show was Kathy’s father, Jim, who is also visiting and is staying with us for three weeks. Having Jim here is fantastic, He really is a really interesting person to have a conversation with and is up for just about anything, so we have spent more than a few nights playing tourist. I think we have made more trips to Flamingo Crossing ice cream since he has been here than in the past 3 years or so combined- which is certainly a nice bonus.







One of the other good things about having Jim here is that we get the opportunity to spend some time with many of his friends including on this visit, an afternoon spent at a picnic organized by friends Brewster and Lynn and including a delicious potluck meal and a beautiful afternoon in perfect weather at Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park beach. There is something relaxing and wonderful about an afternoon at Ft. Zack, even though the beach was as crowded as I have ever seen it, in our little tucked away corner at the far end of the beach, we might as well have had the place to ourselves. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Colleen and Gary

Jim





This week also saw the first ever color run 5K in Key West. I had done one previously, a much larger version in Indianapolis a few years ago, but for a first time event, this one was pretty good. The color run involves various coloring stations along the route of the 5K race where volunteers spray you with variously colored corn starch so that by the end of the race you look like a sweaty rainbow of color. While many people tried to avoid the color, I relished it and finished the race pretty much covered in color. Congrats to Beth and everyone at Theme Runs for another successful race.

Beth









We had two great opportunities to see live concerts this week and they were both amazing yet completely different. The first came in the form of a Lyle Lovett and Vince Gill double bill of Country Music at the Tennessee Williams Fine Art Center at FKCC. These two legends of Country Music performed a magical acoustic show together, trading off playing their hits like a typical songwriter round except with two of the finest songwriters in the country. It was a fantastic concert and the sold-out crowd hung on every note throughout the show. I am so glad we made it even though attending the show had us missing the wedding of our friends Laura and Jeremy the same evening. One of the coolest couples in Key West, we were thrilled to see that they were tying the knot and we wish them nothing but the best in their future together.

Laura and Jeremy

Lyle Lovett

Vince Gill and Lyle Lovett

The most unique concert experience that we have had in a while occurred later in the week when we went to see the funk-rock meisters, Here Come the Mummies at the Key West Theater. This band is made up of musicians from other bands who must disguise themselves due to contractual obligations to their current bands so they solved the problem by performing completely in the guise of mummies. The large band is made up of a number of guys all dressed as mummies. This might seem very gimmicky and it is, but the fact is these guys can really play. Rumor has it that they have a number of Grammy nominations in their alter-ego bands so this isn’t some collection of fly by nighters who thought it would be fun to dress up and play.





Kathy and Kim

The show featured the largest and most complex staging that I have seen in Key West with a cool light system complete with lasers and all the bells and whistles of a major act and the band was simply sensational. Their mix of funk, soul, rock and even some reggae was a huge hit with the sold out audience, many who had traveled from afar just to see the show.  The show was really unlike anything I had ever seen and I have seen a lot of rock shows and we were both hugely surprised and happy that we were able to enjoy the show. Our friend Effie joined us at our table up front and she, like I assume everyone loved the show as well. Afterwards the band made a point to come out and meet the crowd, remaining disguised and in Mummie character.  If you get a chance to catch this crazy act, I would highly recommend going, they are great and just a ton of fun.



Kathy

Effie