New Dive Shop in Key West! They have Rabitechs in stock, only place in town that does. They have have shafts and are getting more. They will sell guns on consignment and judging by the pages and pages of people on spearboard trying to sell spearguns these days, that’s a welcome service for locals. Awesomely cool open cell wetsuits in the window, and Salt Life apparel on the shelves. Salt Life stuff has pictures of fish on it. They have spearfishing DVDs playing in there, which get you excited to get out there. Friendly staff, willing to order anything you want. They have spearo club going, and it’s all geared toward locals, even though they’re located on Duval Street.
Go almost all they way to the southern end of Duval (that’s the quiet end for you visitors), two doors down from La Te Da. Since we haven’t been able to get out on the water spearing for at least a week, this is the next best thing.
Once a year we head to the Key West Winery and get all our Christmas shopping done. This is going to sound like paid advertisement, but I assure you it’s not. We choose fruity wines and have them sent right from the store to people back home in NY state. It’s easy and people LOVE receiving this wine!
My family loved the Orange Sunset wine, semi sweet version. This year we also sent bottles of the Hot Sun wine, which has tomato and peppers in it. And of course how can you resist sending someone a bottle of Key Lime wine? We try and choose bottles that have pictures of the Florida Keys on them, too.
I sampled the Cocoa Beach, which has one of the best flavor combinations ever invented: orange and chocoloate. But it was too sweet, like drinking syrup so I didn’t buy it. Instead I bought Coco Polada, which has Pina Colada flavors in it. There’s also a watermelon wine, which I also couldn’t resist. I tended to choose the sweeter-sounding wines because they seemed tropical and festive, perfect gifts. They also have dry wines and champagne, too.
The Key West Winery storefront is at 103 Simonton St, almost completely at the end of the street by the waterfront. There’s parking in back, just for Key West Winery customers. That’s totally unusual! The actual store is delightful, with a skylight over the wine showroom, so light bounces all around. They’ve decorated with stained glass too, so just standing in the showroom is a treat. They will give you samples of any wine you want, and usually there are samples of their dips with chips as well. The other end of the store has their other items, like local books, salsas, candies, and endless jars of gourmet foods. Locals get a 10% discount all year long. Have Fun!
Smathers Beach in Key West has kiteboarding, which is totally fun to watch. There are rock jetties to step out onto, for great views back to the beach. This is a typical scene at one of our Key West beaches.
My Fantasy Fest 2008 Pictures are viewable from the “Fantasy Fest Photos” button on the left side menu. There are more than one hundred pictures, covering the entire Key West Fantasy Fest week. Here are a few excerpts, some of my favorite costumes.
Well, second year in a row for me, and the loud engines are still thrilling! The helicopters follow their boats SO closely, the boats go so fast, it’s great fun. Best viewed from a boat anchored in front of Sunset Key. Otherwise, gather at Mallory Square and waterfront up to Truman Annex for waterfront viewing. Boats race from Key West Harbor out towards Sand Key Lighthouse somewhere, with helicopters close behind on their tails. We went Wednesday, 12:30 to 2pm for preliminiaries. Can’t cross the harbor unless it’s between races, and you radio ahead for a Coast Guard escort. The Coast Guard “Auxiliary” will come over and guide you across the harbor if you want to get out to the reef or in front of Key West. It’s really a deputized offshore fishing boat!
Everyone who visits or lives in Key West should make it out to Dry Tortugas National Park. I recently met a conch who’d never been there! Residents of Key West can wait for the season down time, in Fall, when the Yankee Freedom offers half price for locals. It may be windier at times in Fall and Winter, but we took advantage of this past Saturday, and the weather was perfect.
The trip leaves the dock at 8am, but they want you there at 7:15 am for check-in. Once you board, there’s a breakfast with milk, cereal, bagels, and yogurt. Hot tea and fresh water are available all day from the boat, and lunch is served. Therefore, there’s no need to pack any food or drinks. They also provide snorkel equipment so cross that off the list of things to bring, too. But if you’re hungry on the trip back, and you will be especially if you went swimming, bring cash. There’s no free food on this leg of the trip! You can buy candy bars, hot dogs, soft pretzels and beer. The boat gets back at 5:30pm so reservations at a nearby restaurant on the Historic Seaport of Key West is convenient.
Once at the Dry Tortugas, there will be a 45 minute tour of the fort, given by the excellent park ranger that’s hired to go along on the ride. She’ll point out history of the fort, including birding info, since it’s a bird refuge these days. After the tour, which takes you in and out of the fort, then up on top for a beautiful view, there’s a cold-cut and potato salad lunch with cookies, back on the boat. Grab more water on your way off the boat because now’s your time for snorkeling. Snorkel from the beach and explore the pilings to the west of where the boat is docked. Or swim the other way towards the moat and see what’s swimming there.
The naturalist guide will set up her telescope on the beach if you’re lucky. From there you can view birds on some neighboring islands. We saw frigates and falcons nesting. Then board the boat by 2:45 for the ride home. What a great day!
Saturday Night, there are even more bikes out on Duval Street. Some of the bikes parked in front of Sloppy Joe’s on Duval Street are worth upwards of $100,000. Some of the paint jobs alone are $20,000! Here’s a gallery of some of the most impressive, from the Alligator Bike (again) to the Hulk Bike the stunning matte black and red paint job.
Bike Week in Key West is hard to miss. Everyone knows when all the big bikes arrive because they rumble all day and into the night across the island. The Bike Week happenin’s are down on Duval Street, but even bikers need to go the Publix or Kahoots, both at the other end of the island. Back and forth all day, rumbling and making lots of Hog noises. It’s great!
It’s officially a Poker Run, starting near Miami and through the Keys over the Overseas Highway to the end point in Key West. In a grand gesture that thumbs its nose at all the DUI education done in the past twenty years, bikers stop at bars along the route and are supposed to pick up a playing card at each bar. The best poker hands, once they get to Key West, win prizes.
The bikes are beautiful, and they cost lots of money too. They are parked up and down Duval Street, which is closed off until the 500 block. Here are a few. The Hooters Bike is nice, and so is the alligator bike. I think it must be real alligator skin covering the entire bike.
