{"id":674,"date":"2014-12-31T16:16:22","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T00:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/?p=674"},"modified":"2014-12-31T16:16:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T00:16:22","slug":"summers-last-last-gasp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/2014\/12\/31\/summers-last-last-gasp\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer’s Last Last Gasp"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m posting this on New Years Eve. Most of the USA is in a deep freeze. Here in the frozen tundra it has been down into the teens every night for the last several nights. It seems no matter how hard I tried, I couldn\u2019t keep it summer forever. I did make it to Key West, but I only stayed there a few days. I suppose if I could have stayed in the Keys, it wouldn\u2019t still be summer any way. As I write this, tonight\u2019s low in Key West will be near 70 degrees. The ocean water temp is down to 75 degrees. Now for some of you that might seem like it’s still\u00a0summer, but I consider it to be winter. Any time the air temperature drops to 70 or the water temperature drops below 80, it\u2019s winter for me. I know… I know… I\u2019m a wimp.<\/p>\n

So… even though winter has fully set in… except in Key West… I hope you enjoy my thoughts about summer\u2019s last, last gasp.<\/p>\n

I wanted to write stuff about my days in Key West but I wasn\u2019t sure what to write. I\u2019ve written a lot about the place in two of my books, Searching for Kokomo<\/a>… and Cruisers Guide to Key West<\/a>. I\u2019m not sure what I should add without writing another complete book. There\u2019s so much to see and do, but this trip I did some of the stuff I always do. I\u2019ve written about everything I did this trip (and a lot more) in those books so I don\u2019t want to repeat myself too much here. With that said, I\u2019ll give you the overview and some pics.<\/p>\n

I rented a bicycle and pedaled my butt all over town. As usual, I went to the Schooner Wharf Bar to have a frozen concoction to help me hang on and listen to some live music. I went to Margaritaville for a Cheeseburger in Paradise, a frozen concoction to help me hang on and to listen to some live music. I went to the \u201cConch Farm\u201d for a Mahi Mahi fish sandwich along with a frozen concoction to help me hang on and listened to some live music. By the way… the \u201cConch Farm\u201d is the nickname locals have given the Conch Republic Seafood Company.<\/p>\n

\"One

One of the best watering holes for a frozen concoction to help you hang on and some live entertainment. This is “old time” Key West at it’s best.<\/p><\/div>\n

So you get the idea. That\u2019s Key West for ya… a lot of frozen concoctions to help you hang on.<\/p>\n

I also went to the sunset at Mallory Square. This is one of the things you just can\u2019t do on a cruise. I went there many times when I lived in Key West, but just the same, I keep going. There was nothing new this time… it\u2019s the same \u201ccarnie\u201d atmosphere. I love it. There\u2019s no place else in the world you can see a sword sallower, fire eaters, tight-rope walkers, singing minstrels, a magnificent sunset and have a frozen concoction to help you hang on… all at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"Fire

Fire Eaters hailing in sunset.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\"Juggling<\/dt>\n
Juggling and walking the tightrope as the sun sets.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
\"A<\/dt>\n
A minstrel at Mallory Square for the sunset “celebration”<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
\"Sunset<\/dt>\n
Sunset view from Mallory Square… now you know why I keep going back.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Night time on Duval Street is a lot different than it is during the day. For one thing, it’s transformed into an adult bevy of activity. Very few kids are there and the party begins when the sun goes down. Another of the things you\u2019ll never see while on a cruise is the guy that rides his \u201ctricycle\u201d down Duval street. He is an icon of Key West. He goes the length of Duval every night… his boom-box playing music,\u00a0his lights whirring and flashing. Even though the picture is worth a thousand words, this is a sight you have to see for yourself.<\/p>\n

\"Every

Every night this icon of Key West pedals his way down Duval. He is part of the Key West character at night.<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s live entertainment everywhere you go in town. One of my favorites is \u201cBlack & Skabuddah\u201d (that\u2019s Laura Black and Russ… ummmmm, Skabuddah). They play all over town and quite often at the La Te Da. The La Te Da is a neat place with quite a history. I lived walking… errrrrr… stumbling distance from there, so it was one of my favorite places for liquid refreshment. But, not a frozen concoction. They have their own version of a Cosmopolitan… a La Te Da Cosmo.\u00a0 It\u2019s mmmmm-mmmmm good. But be careful because they go down easy and before you know it, you\u2019ll be crawling home.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, I spent an evening at the La Te Da. Although I like their Cosmos (their frozen concoctions are good too), the main reason I went there was to see Black & Skabuddah. I really like their music and style. Russ is an exceptional guitarist; Laura sings, plays guitar, and they\u2019re both very engaging with the audience. I should also add that Laura is quite an artist. Besides her music, she is a member of \u201cIsland Arts\u201d (across the street from the La Te Da) where her work is on display. I think her work is quite good. Although I don\u2019t know Black & Skabuddah well, I consider them friends.<\/p>\n

\"Black

Black and Skabuddah at the La Te Da (Photo curtsey of Black and Skabuddah)<\/p><\/div>\n

By the way… the La Te Da is also a piano bar a number of nights of the week. So another of my favorites is Dave Bootle at the piano, but he wasn\u2019t there this trip. It\u2019s a good thing or I would have stayed another day.<\/p>\n

I stayed in Key West as long as I could. Perhaps I should just move there again. But for this year, it was a bonsai run back to the Northernmost Caribbean to stay there for another month. It was a good month as far as the weather and beach were concerned. It was kinda weird with the beaches so deserted and free from the summer tourist crunch.<\/p>\n

\"Now

Now there are only a few footprints left in the sand.<\/p><\/div>\n

Still… there was a bit more to go before the last, last gasp…before my trek to Fin City. I spent as much time at the beach as I could. The water and the air were still warm. There were some magical times… a dolphin swimming by twenty-five yards off shore… while I was ankle deep in the water and a school of manta rays swam by…. and a pelican hunted for its dinner just off shore.<\/p>\n

\"I

I was in less than knee deep water and these guys “flew” right by. Note my shadow cast in the water.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Another

Another shot of the Manta Rays as they swam by me<\/p><\/div>\n

\"A

A pelican hunts for his meal<\/p><\/div>\n

\"A

A pod of dolphins swam by just off shore… maybe some of Flipper’s children<\/p><\/div>\n

But in the end, I couldn\u2019t hold off the inevitable… winter was coming… the sun was setting on summer. I was bound for the frozen tundra. OK… so it\u2019s not the frozen tundra. Just the same, to me it\u2019s cold so it might as well be the frozen tundra.<\/p>\n

\"Sunset

Sunset on summer in the Northernmost Caribbean. I’ll be back next spring.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m posting this on New Years Eve. Most of the USA is in a deep freeze. Here in the frozen tundra it has been down into the teens every night for the last several nights. It seems no matter how … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":702,"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions\/702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kokomoman.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}