This Week on the Island

Winter must be on the way. We have had a few nights this week where the temperature got below 80 degrees. The wind started blowing Saturday afternoon. Hurricane Jeanne is pulling cooler air down from the north. It has been really nice all week.

Sunday at Schooner Wharf, we ran into our friends from NJ that won the lottery. They are a very nice couple and were not very well off before the lottery. They were back in town for a visit to their house in the Truman Annex. They had brought his Father and all this guy could talk about was how much money he had spent for this and that. A little bird was sitting in the tree next to the stage above his head. This loud mouth kept getting bird droppings down the back of his shirt. I felt he was full of 'it' and the little bird was covering him in 'it'. It was very hard not to laugh. My friends seemed a little embarrassed by their father.

Spent some time this week on my bicycle and in my kayak. The island is very enjoyable without all the tourist. It is amazing how little traffic there is and how much cleaner the island is. The cruise ships still come in daily, but most of those people stay on the first blocks of Duval Street. These ships are so large that they carry close to 3,000 passengers. The first cruise ship Jo and I ever went on was the Carnival. It was owned by the Carnival cruise line and they had one other ship, the Mardi Gras. Things have changed.

For those of you that may be interested, I use this web site for tracking hurricanes http://www.crownweather.com/tropical.html

WomenFest, which was cut short due to Hurricane Ivan, has been rescheduled for Oct 8-11. Their center of activity is usually around the pool/bar at Atlantic Shores. There will be all sorts of contest, sunset cruises, a T-dance, a golf tournament, jet ski tours, etc. For more info visit www.womenfest.com.

Key West City Council tried to pass a law that women having their breasts painted (for Fantasy Fest) had to be painted in an enclosed area. The law didn't pass.

This week's picture is of The Casa Marina Resort. The Casa was built by Henry Flagler to give customers, riding on his train, first class accommodations when they arrived in Key West. The Casa Marina opened on Dec 31, 1921.