Street Fair

"They had no idea!" Frank Duponty chortled as he held up traffic with one hand and talked over his shoulder to me. "These big biker guys had never heard of Fantasy Fest and they were wondering why there were all these naked men walking around? Hey, it's just another weekend in Key West," we were laughing. It's not really but for those who worry about public nudity and men kissing in public this is not a good time to be in town.The big parade is tonight when I'll be at work and my wife will be tucked up at home with Cheyenne, a glass of wine and a book. We aren't such big fans of the parade down Duval Street as it consists only in part of floats built locally to local themes. Too many big krewes from the mainland come down and bring their generic pirate ships and ghost trains and add a touch of mainstream boredom to a Key West tradition. We like the local's parade on Friday and we take a wander on Duval before what's known on the program as The Masquerade March. There's lots to see.Everyone shows up, including some startled looking young men with wide eyes and crew cuts.
Bead tossing is a big part of the main parade, supposedly to encourage women to expose their chests as the floats pass by. They were tossing beads from upstairs at Fast Buck Freddie's.Another big part of Fantasy Fest is to satisfy the need of elderly Mid-Westerners to expose themselves in public. Some do it with humor.Everyone was ogling the young things offering nude cruises.The rules of Fantasy Fest supposedly require genitals to be covered and female breasts to be at least painted.Silly costumes are permitted unfortunately. No, really they are. Across the street beer was offered for two dollars without the naked barker.

Horseplay is encouraged and you'd be astonished how good natured it all is.The street food was back, pork crackling and arepas but we went for a plate of something different. Braza Lena on Caroline Street is expensive so we had a taste for ten bucks.

And for dessert we wandered and watched.

And I watched the old men, my contemporaries, get their jollies with their camera. Sweet aren't they?These two looked effective and creepy. This is gross and illegal.

I figured she had a tough row to hoe, essentially selling ice cubes on a glacier.

I am always glad I'm just a dispatcher, hidden away upstairs at the police station.

A good day for people watching from the Whistle.

I wondered why she was scratching her butt.

"The Devil made me do it" he laughed.

I don't know what made her do it, I'm sure.

An amiable crowd, lots of food and some rather strange taste in clothing. We left Cheyenne at home, she doesn't do crowds."Five dollar foot long" read his t-shirt. "I wish I'd thought of that " said a passer by. He really did to my astonishment. This guy bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Jack riepe.

Fantasy Fest is a big deal. It raises lots of money for Aids Help it gets tourists in town during a quiet time of year and this year it got Tom Walker back writing a column in the Key West Citizen. He used to be a regular and is much missed but they gave him a return appearance this week for three of his trademark columns. He doesn't get it all right though. He mentioned in yesterday's column that pink Crocs make suitable footwear for a Fantasy Fest outrageous outfit. If he wasn't so funny (and a sworn law enforcement officer) I'd challenge him to pistols at dawn for uttering such a slur. Yup, she nearly hit me with a set of beads as I tried to get a better picture of the bead hurling from Fast Buck Freddie's. He threw me a set as compensation, which I passed to my wife. No harm done!

And that pretty much sums it up: no harm done. On Monday I'll have pictures from the Masquerade March which is known to most as the local's parade.

And then it's all over as one crosses out of the modesty-free zone.

Summer Seascape

In between wild and windy days there are still some quiet, windless mornings when the sea is flat as a pancake and as still.A while back I took Cheyenne to the north shore of West Summerland Key and started taking a few pictures on a whim, while she rooted around.I was enjoying some time alone here, on a morning when rain threatened possibly keeping anglers away. The last time I came here the parking lot was packed with cars and people with fishing poles.West Summerland Key is an oddly named island, far to the east of the better known island called simply Summerland Key, which is where my post office resides at Mile Marker 26. No one knows why it is called West Summerland, but it is between Big Pine Key (seen on the horizon, above) and Bahia Honda.I just wanted to take a few pictures of the water and not think about anything too much. Cheyenne apparently felt the same way. The rock formations here have been eaten away by the tides. The bridge connecting West Summerland to Big Pine is masked by the old Flagler railroad bridge when seen from the north. This little green cigar is a new red mangrove first taking root among the rocks. The natural causeway to nowhere. I had my newspaper and unable to resist the siren call of the day's headline I wandered out to the point, found a smooth rock and started to read.All was still. The sun kept making an effort to rise over the horizon and break through the clouds. I sat out at the far tip of my little peninsula and read the paper. It was most relaxing with my dog sitting at my side. The birds didn't mind us. The bridge to Bahia Honda, in sepia tinted early morning light.

Looking back at my seat among the rocks. I was too lazy this day to take a self portrait of me reading the paper.

This was not a day meant for a lot of effort. I got into the spirit of the thing and we slowly ambled back to the car.

Lazy Way Lane

The Waterfront Market may be closed with no business prospects in sight, but the Wyland mural is still there.The Western Union schooner is back in it's customary berth, now owned by a non profit and recently restored to floating condition on the hard at Truman Waterfront.Apparently there is more restoration to be done and more money needed to do it. For a ship that used to lay telegraph cable between Florida and Cuba it doesn't look that badly off. This is William Street looking toward Caroline Street. The white fence surrounds a failed development that has left a large open space in it's wake. BO's Fish Wagon is under the tree to the left.The historic seaport now has a boardwalk running round much of it. It used to be home to fishing boats that caught turtles and shrimp and has now become home to several marinas suitable only for recreational craft. Scooter parking is always full here. I blame Schooner Wharf Bar, probably the best known business on Lazy Way Lane.The city of Key West has yet complete an ordinance allowing dogs in outdoor restaurants, per the new state laws approved in Tallahassee. It is a cumbersome new state law invoking everything from soap and water to insurance coverage to allow dogs in bars. Cheyenne as usual ignored the other dog and went about her business smelling smells in peace.Welcome middle class professionals in leather vests with plenty of drinking money. Reemeber Bike Week? And here we are at Fantasy Fest!
I know this is is the slowest time of the year overall, but the marina slips looked emptier than usual recently. I was talking with the captain of a para sailing boat and he reluctantly acknowledged as much. Fantasy Fest brings lots of middle aged money bags to town to dress up (or down ) and behave badly in public.
Lazy Way Lane is a shortcut to Elizabeth Street winding along the waterfront for a few hundred yards.Across the water one can see the monument where tourists and homeless gather to catch their breaths while walking this area.
And this bland, unmarked white building is Shrimp Sound Studio, where the legendary Jimmy Buffett shows up to record they say, from time to time.
On the other side of Lazy Way lane this building was supposed to be the first of the development that replaced the Jabours Trailer Park. The project went bust and construction stopped here.There had been questions about how Schooner Wharf and it's live music would have survived in the face of an upscale development across the street. That potential conflict has evaporated.

Lazy Way Lane is barely one wooded block long; that's Elizabeth Street at the end.Dust catcher central.That this is a one way street from William to Elizabeth seems not to matter to the cyclists riding in the middle of the street with every chance of a car coming round the corner the other way.
We were minding our own business when Kermit himself came across the street bearing gifts. For Cheyenne, not me. Kermit has made a name for himself standing attired as you see him promoting his all-things-Key-Lime store on Elizabeth Street. His human foods are really quite good and apparently his new line in dog cookies isn't bad either.
"Testing a new cookie," he said. She liked it but she's not a picky eater.
He said he expects to be carrying them this month. I shall have to check back. Who knew Cheyenne would like Key Lime flavored cookies?A pair of the ubiquitous v-twins lounging around.
Wandering away from Lazy Way Lane it wasn't all motorcycles. I also spotted a few interesting titles on the sidewalk. Unfortunately my wife has banned any new book purchases until we have read our library at home...

These last few pictures are pure whimsy. I wasn't actually on Lazy Way Lane when I took them, but wandering down Greene Street.
And here we have a cyclist waiting for a red light. The crack down on cyclists and traffic laws is having an effect apparently.
And while I was wandering I saw this gate. Are we sure that's the bell?
I think I had too much time on my hands on my afternoon off.