“I just wanna dance the night away With senoritas who can sway…” -Raul Malo

June 7, 2021

“I just wanna dance the night away
With senoritas who can sway…” -Raul Malo

It is always nice to get back to Key West after being away, especially since I had been apart from Kathy and with the pandemic finally beginning to ease a little and being fully vaccinated- it is really nice to be able to resume a bit of what we might consider normalcy. Being able to go out and interact with others, eat in an actual restaurant, attend a real live concert in our hometown and other facets of our lives that have been missing for the past 18 months is such a treat.

We are still very cautious, but we are no longer holed up in our home and avoiding any semblance of human interaction and events are starting to return as well, with varying levels of safety precautions as most people are like us and are happy and anxious to get back to enjoying life. 

The first event that we were so very excited to attend was the first Key West concert that we had attended since prior to the pandemic. There had been a couple that we had missed as we were out of town, so we were especially amped to attend the benefit concert to celebrate the San Carlos Institute’s 150^th birthday featuring one of Kathy’s absolute favorite performers, Raul Malo. 

Malo is the lead singer of the Mavericks, but also performs solo shows like the one we got to see at the San Carlos. We had seen the Mavericks the last time they played in Key West at the Mile 0 Festival in 2019 and it was an amazing show, so we were thrilled that Malo was back performing in the San Carlos. We had seen him there a few times in the past when he appeared as part of the Key West Songwriter’s Festival, but this was the first stand-alone solo show and it did not disappoint.

First off the place was packed with happy locals as the pent up demand to experience live music was evident both from the stage and in the excited crowd and the vibe was terrific and people were beyond receptive as Malo delivered a staggeringly good performance featuring solo hits, Mavericks tunes and some awesome covers in both Spanish and English. 

It was about a perfect night out and we loved the show and being out among friends again. We were out among friends again later in the week as we spent an awesome day at Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park at the beach. Our friend Fiona, who recently moved to Florida’s Gulf coast with her husband Jim, was back for a visit and a group of friends gathered at the beach to hang out.

Fiona had not had a real opportunity to say goodbye, moving during the pandemic so it was great to see her and give her an official send-off on what was a perfect summer day at the beach in Key West. Enjoying the company of my friends and being in such a beautiful place softened the blow when I got the message from my sister Marika that our mother had passed away.  Even as the news was expected, it is never easy to hear and absorb, but being in a place that my mother loved and we had visited on her final trip to Key West.

The last event of the week was an annual event organized by our friend Lori at the College of the Florida Keys (formally Florida Keys Community College), the Swim Around Key West. Each year hundreds of swimmers from across the country show up in Key West to swim the 12- mile loop around the island. Each swimmer is required to have a kayaker follow them as both a safety measure and to provide food and liquid as it is not a quick swim.

This year Lori asked me to photograph the event for her and Kathy volunteered to kayak along with a swimmer, which in and of itself is a strenuous feat. Her swimmer finished in just over five hours and I was on hand to watch the start and then returned later to watch the swimmers complete the event. It was impressive. Hot and difficult, there were no shortage of accomplished swimmers and kayakers who completed the event.