by Doug Bennett Key West

The Weather: Last Sunday morning at 7:30 AM the sun was shinning and it was 70 degrees. If you looked North across the Key West bight at Schooner Wharf, there was a large black wall (a cold front) moving this way across the Gulf of Mexico. It started raining and by Monday morning it was 49 degrees. Again, as the week continued, it got warmer with the end of the week having temperatures in the mid 70's.

Buffett: OK Parrot Heads, another place to add to you list of places to visit when in Key West. Buffett had his picture in Fridays paper. He was eating a fish sandwich at Hog Fish Bar and Grill on Stock Island. Not one of my favorite places.

Ear Candles, The new experience for this week. I was taking to a friend about my ears being stopped up since the cold I had last week. He suggested I try ear candles. They are hollow, about 1 foot long and as big around as a magic marker. You lay on one side, put the tapered end in your ear and light the other end. As the candle burns the warm smoke melts the wax in your ear and the updraft thru the hollow candle draws the ear wax up into the candle. You need a friend to watch so you don't catch your hair on fire. (Try to imagine me doing this, if you don't get a laugh, you need some island time.)

Spring must be here. The Yellow Bellied Warblers are swarming the African Kapok Trees that are in full bloom. There was also a craft show on Whitehead Street last week end and The Half Shell Raw Bar had a 5 mile run.

On Jan 28, 1985, Jimmy Buffett opened his first Margaritaville here in Key West. It was in a building at Lands End near Turtle Kraal's. So this week we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Margaritaville. The store was moved to it's present location in 1987 and opened during Fantasy Fest as the parade went down Duval Street. Jimmy himself sprayed everyone with champagne. I visited Margaritaville on Jan 28th for a Margarita and a Cheeseburger in Paradise. The place was packed. Buffett played to an invitation only crowd that night.

The Wrecking Days: Key West is surrounded by shallow waters and the third longest reef in the world. In 'the old days' ships would wreck on these reef's and shallow's and Key West became one of the richest cities in the USA by taking the cargo from the ships and putting it up for sale. It all came to an end when the government installed light houses. We celebrate these days by having 'Wrecking Days' where ships race the seven miles to the reef and back. Wrecking Days started today (Sunday).