Key West Celebrates the 32nd Annual Hemingway Days

Hemingway Days is here again! And I know this for sure because when out and about Key West this week I feel like I have just stepped into a movie like Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. Have you seen it? Well, if you haven’t I won’t ruin it for you. But everywhere you go this week you will see Hemingway lookalikes. For the last 32 years Key West has celebrated it most famed resident’s birthday with several events, the most famous being the Hemingway lookalike contest and the Drambuie Marlin Tournament. Here is a complete list of celebratory events:

DAILY

  • Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum guided tours. Visit the home where Hemingway lived throughout the 1930s and wrote some of his most enduring classics. 907 Whitehead St. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Key West: Higg’s Beach

Higg’s Beach is one of the larger beaches on the island of Key West. It has public restrooms as well as grills for cookouts, chair and umbrella rentals, volleyball courts, a pier, and the fabulous restaurant and bar, Salute. Oh, and I forgot to mention lots of parking! These features make Higg’s Beach a favorite hangout for the locals as well as the spring break crowd.

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Key West: Florida Keys Art Guild Festival

Florida Keys Art Guild Festival
Florida Keys Art Guild Festival

Running from December 27th through the 31st is the Florida Keys Art Guild Festival, a  free art festival held at Bayview Park. It was billed to have dozens of artists from around the country joining local artisans to display their work, ranging from fine jewelry, sculpture, paintings and photography as well as fine crafts. However, I would be surprised if there were a dozen total vendors peddling their wares.

On the Rocks Rock Oil Candle
On the Rocks Rock Oil Candle

We stopped by yesterday thinking it would be a fun afternoon. It took us maybe a half hour to peruse the few tents. There were some great products there; some beautiful paintings and photographs along with some slightly disturbing works of art. There were really nice jewelry pieces there as well with reversible stones set in silver. My favorite display was of the rock oil candles. The artist takes natural stones, attaches part of a recycled bottle to the bottom as a reservoir  for oil, and drills a hole in the top and attaches a fiberglass wick that never needs replacing. Ingenious!  (more…)

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Key West Offshore Power Boat Races Update

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.

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Jimmy Buffet in Key West!

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.

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