So this is the New Year

January 10, 2020



Lisa and Kathy

Effie, Miranda and Caitlin



So this is the New Year

The New Year blew into Key West with all the fervor and excitement that it always does, and Kathy and I were on hand to enjoy it all…from the comfort of our couch where we quietly welcomed 2020 by watching Andy and Anderson on CNN and forsaking the crazy merriment going n just a few minutes from our house. Key West is one of the top New Year’s Eve destination in the country as thousands of visitors pack the island for all manner of celebrations that dominate the landscape downtown.







Many of our friends were out celebrating, or working but we opted once again to avoid that particular madness and just watch on TV. CNN did feature regular updates from Key West as part of their coverage and we watched with anticipation each time they checked in with correspondent Randi Kaye who was on hand at 801 Bourbon Street to watch one of the many Key West traditions, the lowering of Drag Queen Sushi in a giant shoe at the stroke of midnight. It was fun catching glimpses of our friends during the coverage and a small part of me wished we had ventured downtown, but ultimately we made the best decision by staying in on what is largely amateur night.

Sushi





Smokey

The New Year’s Eve celebrations concluded a very busy holiday season that saw us enjoying a number of fun holiday parties and events with friends. It also saw us take third place in the annual Key West holiday lights contest. There were some last minute shenanigans that saw the entry in distant third place rocket from having about having 500 votes to gathering over 20,000 within the final 24 hours of the contest. Rumor has it that they used some sort of voting software, which I can easily believe as it took us the better part of five weeks of constantly haranguing our friends to gather just over 1500 total votes.

Marna, Paula and Sheila







It was unfortunate, especially for our friend Shia and her daughter who honestly deserved first place and were relegated to second by the questionable surge, but in the grand scheme of things it did not really matter that much to us. We are donating the cash prize to charity and it was never really about winning, but about getting people to come by and see all the hard work that Kathy put in to our holiday lights display. It literally took me a week to get all the decorations taken down and put away. Thanks to everyone who supported us, not sure if we will enter the contest next year, but we will certainly have a cool display again.

Miranda and Tom

Miranda, Mo and Paula



All in all we had a great holiday season. Special thanks to our friends Randy and Nancy who hosted a wonderful Christmas day feast for a nice group of friends and to our friends Carla and George and Paula and Mo who had terrific holiday parties that we attended. Spending time with the wonderful friends we have in Key West is the part of the holiday season that brings me the most joy. Having often hosted large holiday parties (though we took this year off), I know how much work and energy that having a large party is and appreciate so much being included by friends in their holiday celebrations.

Randy and Nancy



Glen



Speaking of friends, we had a nice surprise visit from our friend Rachel, former Key West resident who was back visiting over the holiday break from her home in Massachusetts. This time of year is when we tend to have the most friends visit, which is special in and of itself and it was really great to see her and catch up a little. We have a number of out of town friends headed to Key West over the next couple of months, which is always great.

Rachel and Kathy