Fantasy Fest Street Fair

Whereas Goombay offered food and dust catchers for sale on Petronia Street a week ago, the Fantasy Fest Street Fair which took place yesterday was on Duval. That's the main difference. The other is that many of the vendors are in an advanced state of undress:That picture cost me a dollar but I got some nice smiles. I rather liked this well dressed dude on the balcony at La Concha, even after I realized he was an electrically motivated mannequin:

These trick or treaters collected a following wherever they sashayed and when they ended up posing again the windows of a clothing store....who could resist?Muscles in action. The Greeks would have made a statute of her no doubt, so nowadays we make digital images instead. I was at the doctor's office Thursday evening and the receptionist was huddled in a long wool coat against the air conditioning. I asked her if it was her Fantasy fest costume, she responded with a sickly smile. So, I pressed on, what ghastly outfit are you going to wear to freak out the good burghers from Ohio and Iowa? I asked. Huh she sniffed, they are the ones that freak me out. I understood instantly what she meant. Take this lot parading around on Duval dressed as...I have no idea what.

For my sworn colleagues Fantasy Fest is an opportunity to make much needed extra money, but the work does get tedious. Luckily our officers have a sense of humor:

Which one needs when dealing with people trying out all those fantasies they can't express at home.I find it odd that these people who come to Key West to hang their body parts out for all to see can go home and solemnly vote, for instance, to forbid gays from getting married. Tolerance in Key West is celebrated for a week by all these people who then fly home and climb back in their closets for another twelvemonth. On the subject of travel, Michael the palm weaver noted for his creations on the sidewalk in front of La Concha has his own home made outfit. He spent the summer in Hawaii and has come back to Key West, bought another boat after his last one sank while he was out sailing, and is back at his antics:I liked this picture of a Save some Dolphin volunteer resting between bouts of forced cheerfulness.

It only cost me a dollar to get a winning smile. It was for a good cause.

I look at this plate and I see some of my favorite food, papas rellenas (stuffed potatoes) are Cuba's answer to Scotch eggs. They have a center of ground beef wrapped in mashed potato, dipped in breadcrumbs and fried. Or you can consider them to be testicles adorning a fun Fantasy Fest plate. We had some rather expensive fried shrimp and crab cakes.That's the way it goes, the ordinary rendered extraordinary for a few short days. Traffic is horrendous on Highway One which leads to more accidents than usual, a few people have been arrested who wake up appalled in jail, but most people get to let off steam safely:

And as odd as it may seem there were a couple of dudes hauling crosses around in their own take on Sodom and Gomorrah. I can't help but feel that this is not the fertile ground the Good Book mentioned when discussing casting one's seed for converts. They need to try it back Up North where all these wild people go after they have sown their wild oats on Duval.