Tutu Tuesday

It was a lovely afternoon yesterday on Duval Street, a little warm perhaps but that's to be expected as a cold front is predicted for tonight with temperatures plummeting well below  70 degrees (19 Canadian degrees).  However the hub of Fantasy Fest appeared to be a bit underpopulated, possibly owing to hangovers or something.

The weather forecast is pretty good for the rest of the week. A nice breeze, turning north Wednesday night after a few showers, typical of a cold front. Overnight lows Wednesday and Thursday should be a brisk 67  degrees with a warming trend for the weekend back into mid 70s overnight and upper 80s by day. However this is the first measurable cold front of the Fall and by the time the next one blows through hopefully we will see summer end and with seawater temperatures dropping an unofficial end to hurricane season before November 30th. That would be nice.

After my exercise class and lunch with my wife I was ready to go for a walk with my camera and hunt for tutus. After all it was Tutu Tuesday, and though I couldn't attend the tutu race nor would I wish to attend the tutu party I like looking for creative tutus.

A skeleton on a rental car looked slightly promising (most Mustang convertibles are rentals)... 

...but there were too many people not taking tutu tuesday seriously. Grr.

An original Vespa GT200, not strictly a tutu but I like it.

Much cooler (but not my style!):

Mind you with so few tutus in evidence I might as well have taken pictures of whoever else was cruising Duval:

And a rather nicely painted old Honda scooter labeled a "Conch Cruzer:"

These two were in tutus but they were actually on a scavenger hunt as well which seemed to give them at least as much joy as their clothes, but they smiled for the camera:

This picture might give you the idea that a life lived in Key West may not be the best thing for your physique, but I'm sure I couldn't say.

And I accidentally parked next to the scooter responsible for clusters of people dressed in pink wandering around looking alternatively furtive and happy:

Some people were busy doing Important Stuff.

Others wore makeshift tuts as they worked:

This year Fantasy Fest is being driven by a desire to be creative according to the newspaper, not nudity so respectable people are being drafted to help support this expression of artistic populism. It might work too:

But some nudity seems inevitable too:

It will be interesting to see how the week develops.

Filling Beds

Well, here we are are, the start of Fantasy Fest week the big kahuna in tourist events celebrating the quiet season of fall with a raucous week designed to keep people employed and paying the rent...and the big question is will they or won't they? Show up that is. Judging by some of the lines of traffic on the Overseas Highway and in the city (Garrison Bight Bridge pictured) there are tons of people in Key West:

The people in charge want to hold a Fantasy fest concert at the new amphitheater on the Truman Waterfront next week. The concert will be a test of noise levels, parking and traffic circulation which will either throw fuel on the criticism or tamp it down. A lot of people have been complaining loudly about those issues ever since the performance space was announced. Here it comes:

Tourists that have showed up need a measure of tolerance for some shortcomings in a  city that survived remarkably well where the rest of the Keys suffered some severe damage. Complaints are not what anyone needs to hear at this stage.

The garden club was closed when I took the picture but I met the President of the club and she said it would be open as you read this and thanks to the structure suffering no damage the club will bounce back with more plants even though their famous strangler fig bought the farm in the storm.

In truth I doubt many of these visitors are feeling deprived, they are getting around as usual:

Arriving in droves...  

and enjoying most, dare I say all? the usual activities...

This is not a good time to add to traffic difficulties by getting your yacht stuck on a major street, but it happens:

Or you could take to your bicycle.

The Hemingway House will no doubt be popular as ever though there were no great crowds lining up to see it last week. Perhaps Fantasy and writing don't mix this week, when much fantasy is alcohol fueled?

I saw this graffiti marked pipe in the wilderness and it displayed this rather silly suggestion. I know other cities have made bumper stickers alerting the citizenry to keep their towns weird. I think if weirdness is a self conscious trademark it has by definition become trite.

We have weirdness to spare these days with mountains of garbage springing up everywhere as the tourists play and we struggle to disappear the signs of our total loss of societal control. As seen on Ramrod Key where the highway is a staging post to remove huge mounds of detritus:

Two million cubic yards was the figure published apparently. A hundred miles of garbage. Five times more than that produced by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Ponder that as you play in Key West, cleaned for your entertainment.

Zombie Bike Ride

It started on a whim and has grown to become one of the most enjoyed aspects of Fantasy Fest week, surpassing I dare say the Locals Parade which has been taken over by non-locals.

The bike ride attracts thousands, so many its original start point on Stock Island at Recycle Bicycles got too messy with traffic. Nowadays it starts around 2 pm at the East Martello Tower and sets off down South Roosevelt at six pm (when I am safely at work).

 The Zombie Bike Ride is about bicycles and costumes and fun and noy nudity and not even much drunkenness anymore.

 Joking aside, for lots of people this is a family affair:

And you can dress up as much or as little as you want.

 Everyone is out to be seen:

 And not necessarily as a zombie...

And modern zombies that do show up are equipped with all mod cons, modern conveniences like cell phones:

Gather with friends...

 ...strut your stuff...

 ....however you feel the need...

 And if being a zombie brings on hunger pangs Amigo's had a tent serving Mexican food:

 There are subtle reminders of Irma everywhere, churned up ground, producing mud ina  town that by and large is all cleaned up:

 Quite by chance I caught a flying windsurfer rising up behind the crowd:

And then on to the bicycles as I rode my Vespa to work:

 Law enforcement on hand to lead the parade: