Key West’s Best Kept Secret! Key West Magic, Key West
Sunsets, Tourist Question of the Day
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to “Raise My Glass to the Upper 48 while you read the blog!
Key West’s Best Kept Secret!
What is Key West’s best kept secret? HA HA! That secret
is called “Summer”!!! Many feel that summer is the best time to come to Key
West! For one our temperatures are less that of New York City, Atlanta, and
Washington D.C. In addition, sitting out in the middle of the Gulf Stream,
there’s always the trade winds meandering through. Plus, the hotel rates are
1/3 that of the winter season! So plan your trip to Key West this summer, even
if it’s for a long weekend!
Key West Magic
In the last Blog I was talking about how Key West
has been fading since Hemingway’s time. He left, yet thirty years after that,
Buffett arrived. He lasted longer that Hemingway, but also left as he felt,if
it’s going to be like the mainland and lose its individuality, why not just
move to the mainland? And with that attitude, he did.
The other side of it remains that this island DOES
maintain its magic energy. No matter what man does to attempt to change that,
they can’t. Is it a still funky little fishing village with a drinking problem?
Regretfully No, not so much anymore. If it were, Buffett would still live here.
The fishing fleet, which is what it was: A fishing fleet of who knows how many
shrimp boats used to be docked in Key West Bight.
Photo: Dale McDonald
Photo: Dale McDonald
The five or six shrimp boats which are left, have been
banished to Stock Island, one key north of Key West. Regarding Stock Island, to
quote Key West historian Richard Van Der Mude “Stock Island is NOT Key West”.
As a matter of fact, Key West used to have a blessing of the shrimp boat fleet,
as they paraded by Mallory Square on their way out of Key West Bight at the
beginning of the season.. As the fleet is no longer in Key West Bight and has
been reduced in overall size, that’s a tradition that seems to have sadly faded
away. Somehow, personally I just have a hard time visualizing the local
Catholic Church, St. Mary’s Star of the Sea, sending over a priest, some altar
boys, and a few nuns from their convent, to bless departing 50’ – 160’ yachts
as they disembark for exotic ports of call.
Photo: Dale McDonald
So, while Key West has lost a great deal of its funky character
over the years, at a cost of many of the aforementioned characters, the town
still has a wonderful vibe to it, which drew them originally.
Calling aces, aces, as much as I’d love to have things return
to something closer to what it was, the reality is, that’s not going to happen.
Recently the vacant lot behind Schooner Wharf, which years ago was a trailer
park, then was sold to a developer that went bust, went up for grabs again. It
ended up going to Mr. Singh, who developed the Truman Annex, who is now
developing the site into a hotel. What would I have preferred? Laugh as much as
you like, but I’d want it to be zoned only for a… you guessed it, a trailer
park!
In anything like this however, no matter where it may be,
once something is started, it’s history. So, the bottom line is the area is
going to be a fancy, new hotel and the trailer park isn’t coming back. On the
flip side, it’s this blogger’s viewpoint that future endeavors such as this,
need to be curtailed, for the sake of the rich historical aspect of the town. Replacing
something like a closed trailer park with an expensive hotel, should deserve a
second look.
As I say however, there is still that magic, creative energy here
on the islands of the Florida Keys. Key West, being the capital and nucleus of
the Conch Republic, is the most concentrated. But you’ll find that creative
inspirational energy from the Dry Tortugas, some seventy miles west of Key
West, through the Marquesas Keys, and through the archipelago from Key West to
Key Biscayne, which consist of over1900 islands, which comprise the Florida
Keys. It’s a very fascinating area indeed!
Here’s a fun short anecdote I often share with people when
talking specifically about Key West:
“Here we are, on an exotic, tropical island, one hundred
miles from the mainland, out in the ocean, yet you can drive here and even
though you are in a foreign country, you’re still in the United States.”
My friend Howard Livingston made a fun video of one of his
songs, “Magic In Key West” Here it is!
TOURIST QUESTION OF THE DAY
Here’s a new feature I’m doing in the blog! I have several
friends who are in the service industry here in Key West and when dealing with
tourists, they find the tourist will ask the most remarkable questions. So, I’ve
decided, just for a laugh, to feature today’s tourist question of the day!
Of course one of the popular activities here is watching the incredible
sunsets! Here’s a great one my friend Cindi Hogan got:
“Does the sun set every night here in Key West?”
:-D
SPEAKING Of SUNSETS!!!
The sunsets in Key West are outstanding!!! One of the classic
places to see a Key West Sunset is on roof top bar of the La Concha Hotel. It’s
a quirky spot in that it is only open for sunset, yet it has a marvelous panoramic
view of the entire town from its highest building. Bare in mind, this activity
of watching the sunset from the top of La Concha has been going on since the
1920’s!
Because of the absolutely stellar view of the whole town, it
always confused me as to why they were only open for sunset? Having said that,
the sunset view from there is incredible!
This week it came to light that the owners of the hotel want
to turn the rooftop into a spa for hotel guests only! This is naturally being
met with criticism from all over the world. My personal feeling is, as I
mentioned, they should open the bar full time. It wouldn’t cost them a dime,
unlike their proposed spa renovation, which clearly would cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars. The bar is already there and the opportunity for a full
time bar at zero cost is there to be had on a silver platter!
Anyone who’d like to help preserve this Key West classic,
please sign the petition in the link. This will be sent to the City Planner and
the City Commission. Key West being a tourist driven town, you certainly don’t
need to be a local to fill it out. As a matter of fact if you’re outside the
Keys, it just might carry a bigger punch! We can’t do anything about the
previously mentioned hotel being constructed, but we do have a shot at saving
this historical Key West venue! Thanks!
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West Chris
Thank you everyone!!!
Excellent post, Chris. I just can't imagine a hotel on Caroline, behind Schooner. It's such a quaint area with all the B&B's. A hotel will be out-of-place. Progress? I don't think so! Just another big building. It makes me feel very sad.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the La Concha....I was kind of shocked to have read about the proposed spa the other day. I'm worried about Key West becoming so commercialized that the original "flavor", that funky feel, will be totally gone. I'm signing the petition and will post it on my FB page so others can too.