tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34794212022-06-18T20:46:02.682-04:00There are two Key Wests. They occupy the same island but are worlds apart. The sham Key West is a show for tourists; the Real Key West belongs to those of us who live here. Come with us now ... to the Real Key West.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-3791732585245389582022-05-03T08:01:00.001-04:002022-05-03T08:01:49.205-04:00

This is Bob's daughter, Susan. In case there are still some visitors following his blog, I wanted to share the sad news that our Dad passed away on April 11th, after a short illness. He is now united with his one true love Janet again. This blog was a labor of love for him for many years, and it will be a piece of his legacy left behind. Maybe we will even post here now and then. But for now

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-78951701907974927142021-02-22T11:29:00.000-05:002021-02-22T11:29:12.489-05:00

Dept of Corection from r/DesignPorn

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-72019025687624932042019-10-07T12:46:00.000-04:002019-10-07T12:46:26.494-04:00

The Key West Citizen newspaper has, for along as I can recall, published a feature titled Today in Keys History.  The column has been printing excerpts from the diary of one William Hackney, an early resident of the city.  The following item was  found in the diary for this day, February 14, 1831 David L. Wakely, a tailor, died this morning. For nearly twelve months he was a steady and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-36684563841375330182019-02-09T10:50:00.002-05:002019-02-09T10:50:27.713-05:00

We moved to Key West in January of 1999.  We moved to Fort Myers in August of 2015,  The years in between included a two-year hiatus back to New Hampshire between June of 2002  and May of 2004  and a three-month stint in Cape Coral, Florida; two journeys to Europe for me, once for six weeks with our grandson, Cameron in 2009, and another for seven days to Belgium in 2014 with our daughter Betty,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-41153398962853881572019-02-09T10:47:00.000-05:002019-02-09T10:47:31.979-05:00

It takes a while to learn all about new place.  We came here from Key West three years ago.  What you might find just below this post is a post from our The Real Key West blog that was active from 2002 through 2014, and somewhat dormant since then.  Since its free to maintain a blog in Google's Domains universe, it may last longer than I do. Anyway, watch this space for what we hope will become

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-90493157428000890512019-01-31T13:43:00.001-05:002019-01-31T13:43:18.373-05:00

Seen in the Key West Citizen  at Today in Keys History: 1831: William Hackley recorded, in part, in his diary: I did not write home yesterday as there is no vessel in port by which the letter could go to any place at which it might be mailed and for some weeks now there has not been a vessel in this port except the vessel from Baltimore and indeed I think the Key is deteriorating instead of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-50610150041413672302017-08-08T17:40:00.001-04:002017-08-08T18:00:34.831-04:00

I'm "chillin" to the My Chill playlist that Apple Music offered up to me on Sunday.  I get a new chill list in this position every Sunday, along with many other suggested playlists, based on what's in my own iTunes library and what I listen to regularly at the A-M site   This Chill play list has 25 songs and plays for an hour and 39 minutes, I have quite a few songs and other audio in my own

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-80963480462200146882017-07-30T10:03:00.000-04:002017-07-30T10:03:12.749-04:00

It's Sunday morning here in Fort Myers.  It rained again today, but that's not been unusual over the last two months.  During June and July, at the nearest rain gauge to us, the one at Page Field, shows 15-½  inches in June and is approaching 8 inches this month.  Those aren't extreme amounts, but what's important is that it has rained something on most of the 60 days since June 1. I called the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-84410893697860882082017-07-24T11:34:00.001-04:002019-02-09T10:48:18.079-05:00

"The character of the Keys have changed. The old way of life is gone, forever. Whatever vestige of the past remains is being overwhelmed by the bulldozer, the dredge, and gaudy commercialism. Fortunate is the person who has been able to hang on to enough land and hammock to tuck away his residence in an atmosphere the Conchs and Crackers once knew."  Nicknames and Conch Tales, Walter H. Norman,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-32543279998065160092017-07-24T11:27:00.000-04:002017-07-24T11:34:46.645-04:00

O dear God see how he rises, Timothy rises from the bed. With a bottle of whisky at his feet And a bottle of porter at his head. Tim Finnegan's Wake Traditional Irish ballad And, as did Timothy, Robert also rises, to return to The Real Key West, prompted by several things that took place in the week just gone by. On July 21, I read in the Key West Citizen about what former City

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-23926663366475170472016-11-12T13:38:00.001-05:002016-11-12T13:38:11.138-05:00

In case anybody is still checking in here, or if you landed here from some other place and wondered why there are no recent posts -- let me tell a little story. Janet and I lived in Key West for 2+ years, from January 1999 until the Fall of 2002, and then again for 10+ years, from June 2004 until April 2015.  We moved to Fort Myers in April 2015. Through 12 of those years, I've maintained this

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-82502561206665687432015-04-14T09:40:00.001-04:002015-04-14T09:40:40.473-04:00

An informative documentary discussing sea level rise in South Florida.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-42798866021132544242015-02-20T22:50:00.000-05:002015-02-20T22:50:52.772-05:00

Sam Kaufman at Key West City Commission Meeting on February 18, 2015

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-76718862813650773252014-12-08T11:56:00.000-05:002014-12-08T11:56:35.171-05:00

I wrote this post in 2006 to comment then on the selection of Shawn Smith as City Attorney.  Now, eight year later, Smith's contract has been renewed for a third four year term. The Key West Citizen and Florida Keys Keynoter both reported on Smith's bid to the City Commission for the contract renewal.  It's very likely that he'll get it.  He got it.  Smith does his job well.  He quietly

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-5808926546458194832014-05-07T15:52:00.000-04:002014-05-07T15:52:44.413-04:00

I sometimes amuse myself by watching my governments at work.  It's a government geek's pleasure to observe such events. The video above is a good example of the Key West city government cooperating with a private citizen to do something good.  It's also a great example of that citizen doing a bang-up job of presenting his ideas to the city in a way that almost guarantees that he'll get the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-37953807118813468132014-05-04T14:24:00.005-04:002014-05-04T14:27:37.451-04:00

They're really rockin' in BostonIn Pittsburgh, Pa.Deep in the heart of TexasAnd round the 'Frisco BayAll over St.LouisAnd down in New Orleans. They're rockin' in Key West, too.  At least they were last night when The Doobie Brothers played a concert at the Truman Waterfront to a crowd estimated at 2500 - 3000 people.    We were rockin' too, earlier today, when the wind kicked up and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-85628725766088165402014-05-02T15:39:00.001-04:002014-05-04T14:27:21.068-04:00

We're noticing a spate of news about hotel properties in the Florida Keys lately. Today we spotted a press release announcing the purchase of Parrot Key Resort in Key West by Hersha Hospitality Trust, a Philadelphia-based Real Estate Investment Trust that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.  Hersha owns and operates high quality, upscale hotels in urban gateway markets. The Company’s 51

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-48367986353496947592014-04-20T15:51:00.003-04:002014-05-02T15:44:17.217-04:00

One might think that living on an island 160 miles from Miami could at times be inconvenient.  And one might be correct if thinking that. These things are many and varied. We should say something about that. Maybe we will. But here's an inconvenience that exists independently of location.  It has to do with Sprint, the mobile  service provider. We have stores here for three of the four of the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-16299101760415523332014-04-03T15:47:00.000-04:002014-05-04T14:29:34.960-04:00

I got an email this morning from SunPass.com thanking me for my patronage and allowing them to serve my transportation needs.  They also wished me "happiness, joy and safe travels this holiday season." That was nice of them, I guess, but it left me a little puzzled.  After all, I haven't gotten anything similar from the Garrison Bight, and I paid them almost $6,500 this year.  Neither did the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-64466401100277420622013-10-06T11:03:00.002-04:002014-05-04T14:30:23.336-04:00

... Will Never Be Defeated. This is the kind of stuff you learn when inspired by a piece of music. I'm on iTunes shuffle rotation, in a large playlist that's part of my library.  The song, "¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!", performed by Inti Illimani w/ Manu Chao, came up and immediately caught my attention. We have two bumper stickers that we feel reflect the essence of our philosophy

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-53146951846228531532013-10-06T10:39:00.000-04:002013-10-06T10:39:09.957-04:00

75 years:  not yet, but soon.  I'm finding it a little hard to get hold of the idea that next year I'll be 75 years old. 51 years: in September Janet and I celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary.  Unlike last year, number 50, this was no big deal.  We exchanged cards, enjoyed a dinner at The Grand restaurant (50% off the entire bill for locals), met a couple from Ohio who were celebrating

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-29189501249829307712013-10-06T10:21:00.001-04:002013-10-06T16:11:48.014-04:00

Really, followers, I didn't mean to abandon you the way I did.  Nothing new here since February.  I won't blame you a bit if you've moved on, as I seem to have done, to other places such as Facebook, Linked In;  to other devices such as smart phones and tablets; and to other pursuits such as Netflix and getting out in real life. But if you're still here, and you really want to Jones on the Key

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-60853262318747824692013-02-21T11:39:00.001-05:002013-02-25T01:45:28.366-05:00

We who live here pretty much know this.  Tourists may not. The suggestions of alternatives are spot on.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-59355169608142111762013-02-10T00:58:00.000-05:002013-02-10T00:58:13.245-05:00

Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of the passing of Captain Outrageous, a.k.a. Norman Taylor. Some people know that Norman Taylor, born in Ohio on April 13, 1940, changed his name legally to Captain Outrageous in 1999. He did so in order to have that name printed on that year's mayoral election in which he ran against four other candidates - and in which he finished in third place with

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3479421.post-51581112470697699532013-01-28T15:44:00.003-05:002013-01-28T15:47:34.850-05:00

Total Visitors 109,002 30 December 2006 - 28 January 2013 Whoa, I didn't know that I passed the 100,000 visitor mark some time during the last year. In roughly six years, that translates to 18,000 a year. Not insignificant.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0