So, today is November thirtieth. Officially this is the last day of the Atlantic hurricane season! I am surprised that someone in Key West has not started the “End of Hurricane Days Festival” or something like that to draw in crowds and have another excuse to party on Duval Street.
So there is another new restaurant in the Lower Keys. Located at the Sugarloaf Lodge, this new Italian restaurant has recently opened up. It is great because this area is in need of more restaurants and especially a pizza place for a quick dinner. I stopped in the other night to do just that. Since I had not been there before my sister and I decided to stop in and check the place out and get a pizza to go. The interior has certainly undergone some drastic changes from when Mary Goode ran the restaurant. It went from medieval style decor to brightly painted interiors with a modern look. But it is very noisy. Yes, there were several people dining in the vast dining room, but they were far from shouting yet it was still difficult to hear the guy when he was taking our order. I was glad not to be eating on property just for this reason, although it looked lovely and smelled good and the staff all seemed very friendly and very Italian which gave me high hopes for the food quality.
This new (only opened 2 weeks ago) eatery is located on the ocean and US1 N in Saddle Bunch Keys (about 15 miles north of Key West). The building once housed another restaurant but Kaya is thus far much different (in a good way). Based on its name, you can probably guess that the menu has a tropical theme which goes in line with the locale. And the owner, Scott, grew up in Hawaii and became a partner at the famed Key West restaurant, Blue Heaven, so it all fits. This also gives one a lot of hope for this spot as the locals really need another good restaurant in this area. Scott has already made some major improvements to the building with beautiful signage and a very tropical decor inside. The place definitely draws you in.
Starting on November 24th and running through December 4th, is the 12 Annual Pirates in Paradise festival celebrating Key West’s “colorful maritime history.” Historic walking tours, bazaar markets, storytelling competitions, and many more activities will be a part of this event. Check it out while you are here!
The final day of the races went much better than the first two days. There were no fatalities. That being said, there was still an accident with serious injuries that marred the final day. Warpaint, a 38 foot boat powered with twin 750-HP motors, slammed into a wave; both drivers were taken to the hospital but they are both expected to be released.
Walking around last night checking out he race boats, we decided to grab a bite to eat before heading home. We ended up stopping at the Boat House, located beneath the Commodore Restaurant at A&B Marina. For those of you that have been in the area before thinking, there is no restaurant there, you are kinda right. This spot used to be a Tommy Bahama store but they closed their doors about a year ago and the Boat House moved in.
Well, yesterday was another sad day for the racing circuit. Another crash claimed the life of another racer. Joey Gratton of Sarasota, Florida passed away yesterday at Ryder Trauma Center as he was being treated for his injuries. The one glimmer of light to this accident was that Gratton’s partner, Stephen Page of Fort Myers, was spared his life; he freed himself from the wreckage and was released after being treated at the Lower Keys Medical Center in Key West.
Well, it will be quite some time before humanity sees this date again. I was getting a lot of calls for accommodations for this week and every one of the places that I work with and all of the ones that I don’t work with as well were totally booked up. Yes, the World Super Boat Races are this week, but in years past there has still been some availability on accommodations down here during that week. What I just found out was the the date 11-11-11 is the most popular date for weddings this year. So, in addition to all of the visitors to our area for the races, we also have a bunch of visitors here for Destination Weddings. Who woulda’ thunk it.
Very sad news. Yesterday was the first day of racing and they did not get off to a good start. Big Thunder Marine owner Bob Morgan and his throttle man Jeff Tillman were both killed when their boat flipped during the third race of the day. The boat was a 46 foot Skater catamaran with four 1200 HP engines powering it. According to witnesses, the boat was going about 130 mph when it caught some air and flipped, completely damaging the right front hull of the boat. It took less than 60 seconds for rescue divers to be deployed but they were unable to save the two men who both died upon arrival to the Lower Keys Medical Center.
For those of you that may be in Key West currently you have probably noticed an influx of BIG boats coming onto the island via trailer. These boats are painted up colorfully and that is to draw attention to themselves since they are going to be competing this week in the 31st Annual Key West World Championship Races.
This past Friday night Jimmy Buffet made quite the surprise appearance in Key West. And it was just in time for the Parrothead’s Convention, Meeting of the Minds, which is held annually on the island. This is the 20th year anniversary of the event that draws thousands of Buffet fans to the island. Buffet and his band, the Coral Reefers, ended up preforming for over an hour, singing many hits including “A Pirate Looks at Forty” to over 3,000 fans.
So my husband and I rescued a beautiful baby hawk today. I was walking my dog Indie around the block and I looked down and there was this bird about Indie’s size just sitting on a coconut that had fallen to the ground. We were only a couple feet away from it and it did not try to move at all so I called my husband Steven over being that he is like the bird whisperer, lol. He put on some work gloves, gently picked up the bird, and we brought him back to the house with us. (more…)