Hello, stranger

 Well, hellooooo!  I am back!  Let's call it a hiatus shall we?

What's new?  Not much am afraid!  Well aside from Tropical Storm Laura blowing into town this weekend.  At max it will be a Category 1 hurricane, and we are hopeful not a direct hit.  It is not looking like it is headed that way at the moment anyway.  

We have/had three tv crews (from pretty big new corporations wink wink) booked in to the the hotel, to cover the storm, but one of them have cancelled and are going up to New Orleans now.  God damnit, how am I supposed to persuade them to recreate Anchorman with just two??

Still going out loads on the little baby boat (aka The Salty Grunt), but obviously not this weekend.  We will go over to the yacht club tomorrow to check that it is tied securely etc. And then we just leave her there and cross our fingers the bilge pump works well and all is ok after the storm.  We will miss Happy Hour this Sunday - we have got very used to going to Stock Rock Cafe (a fun tiki hut restaurant-bar) by boat.  How fun is that???!!

Sunday Funday

I didn't have a great night's sleep last night.  Probably due to the combination of a late dinner, a large pour wine and after dinner drinks of vodka.  Oh well c'est la vie.

But other than that I had a great day!

We headed over to the yacht club to check on the boat.  There was a small craft advisory (one down from a warning) in place, so we wanted to be careful and planned on not going out.  Instead we took it for a small little spin around the yacht club and around Garrison bight beside us - essentially right beside the shore versus going out on the ocean a mile or so.

Afterwards I hopped in the shower, and then on to my bike, and cycled to meet with friends in Moondog Cafe for brunch.  Whoa it was humid on the bike ride, but was fine when we were seated eating - even though it was outdoors.  I got the seafood omelette - shrimp, scallops, crab, tomato and a creamy pesto sauce.  Very tasty. Served with whole wheat toast, I was stuffed full for the whole afternoon. I chose well and I was happy! 

Oh! Did I mention there may have been prosecco and sangria imbibed also?

Afterwards, we had planned to go to the beach so I cycled to Fort Zach and met the gals there in their car.  We were disappointed to see it was closed.  I guess they had reached their capacity, so while disappointing, it is good to see guidelines being followed.

I came home and relaxed for the afternoon and then this evening Patrick and I went for our happy hour in our happy place Half Shell Raw bar.  We changed from our usual order of steamed clams to oysters and in this weather they were cool and refreshing.  And of course smooth and delicious.

Fantasy Fest 2019, Key West

At the end of the week of the fun and frolics of Fantasy Fest, it is timely to do a blog post telling you about what my experience was, and my thoughts on it all. (Spoiler! I enjoyed it!)

A little history first! From the official Fantasy Fest website:

"Fantasy Fest is an annual 10 day party in paradise for grown-ups.  Started in 1979 by a small group of Key West locals, the party was created to bring visitors to the island in what was a typically quiet,  but beautiful season.  It worked.  Fantasy Fest has grown every year since its inception and is now the wildest extravaganza around!  Fun-loving revelers from around the globe bring their creativity and imaginations as they descend upon Key West each year in October for 10 days filled with costuming, parades, libations, and excitement!"

So what has evolved over the last 40 years, the result is that we now have approximately 100,000 revellers (3 times the population of the island) parading and partying in the skimpiest of outfits all in the name of fun!  

And fun it is!  Yes those costumes are skimpier than you can imagine - think body paint and pasties i.e. a lot of breasts out there for all to see - but heck they are just breasts right?  (Free the nipple and all that eh!). Hells bell's for one week of the year it is a novelty to just enjoy a bit of guilt free people watching.  I say "guilt free" because hey, to go around in those skimpy costumes the wearer definitely has an exhibitionist streak. So you know what; I reckon you're doing them a compliment by looking (or lol in my case, staring!) and admiring.

It's not just the novelty of the nudity/almost nudity that is fun.  There is just a general sense of gaiety, playfulness and abandonment on the island, down near Duval Street. It feels like a lot of adults letting go and play acting.  You know, sometimes being childlike, dressing in costume, and allowing yourself be free can be a very therapeutic thing to do.  

Personally, I spent more time out and about in bars and on Duval Street in one week than I ever had before.  We had great fun taking part in the Local's parade on Friday night.  Quirky and zaniness aplenty as you would expect from inhabitants of "Key Weird".  I also enjoyed Tutu Tuesday where I wore an outfit consisting of a swimsuit and tutu.

But what undoubtedly was the highlight - the main parade on Saturday night. Creative and energetic, the standard was so much higher than I was expecting...that may come from the fact that I am Irish and have seem parades in little country villages like Athboy and Trim where children parade while dressed in blue plastic bags representing their local river.  Oh dear!
(Side note.  Readers - If you are ever in Ireland (even Dublin) on March 17th, stay in the pub, warm by a fire and watch the St Patrick's Day parade on tv. My advice for what it is worth).

But right now my advice is, do yourself a favour and watch some videos online of the opening of the Saturday parade!

And finally... Who wants to see what I wore during the week? Yeah, a little cliche I know.  It was my first Fantasy Fest, will do better next year am sure!  Anyway, cliche but fun, it worked!

Left - Tutu Tuesday
Middle - Local's parade
Right - Bet you didn't spot that is the same costume because of the new headpiece lol, I mixed it up while watching the Saturday night parade! :)))))

Until next year Fantasy Fest!