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…)
So, it looks like Key West are dodging a potential bullet with Rina, making everyone happy since she would have put a damper on our Fantasy Fest Celebrations. Only once in the past 20+ years has Fantasy Fest been cancelled and rescheduled, and that was in fact due to a hurricane. You can read more about this and Fantasy Fest in general by reading my article on the history of the celebration.
Well, we had an unusually soggy week in Key West last week. It rained for about 5 days straight, flooding parts of the island. That means that most activities like fishing, sunset sails, and water sports tours were shut down during that time. Visitors were relegated to only hanging out at the bars like Sloppy Joe’s or visiting museums like the Hemingway House. Now that can be fun and relaxing, but after a while people surely want to get out and about. Now is the time. Weather is clear and a little breezy making the outdoors extremely comfortable this time of year in Key West.
I was wondering downtown the other day and I came across a sign posted in front of one of the historic downtown homes that said “Pirates Well.” I have walked by this place a hundred times and had never noticed it before, so I read the marker at the house and did a bit or research on it.
Apparently where this house sits was where the first fresh water on the island was found by pirates in the 1700s. But this house, located at 410 Caroline Street between Duval and Whitehead Streets, known as the Captain George Carey House has a few more claims to fame.