Fall in Key West on the Beach

What’s Happening in Key West for November and December

Now is the best time to plan your next visit to Key West.  Here is a calendar for upcoming events.

Thanksgiving in Key West  -  November 26, 2009

A nice long weekend in Key West is really a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving 2009.  Most of the local restaurants will have a special Thanksgiving menu with traditional fixin’s in addition to their regular menu offerings.  So don’t worry about missing out on turkey and pumpkin pie, if that’s what your personal tradition includes. Bring your family and/or friends and start a new Thanksgiving tradition in Key West.

Pirates in Paradise 2009 – November 29 – December 06

This festival celebrates the rich maritime history of Key West complete with tall-ships, pirate attacks and sunset sails. It all takes place at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and on the waterfront. Bring your pirate costumes (or not) and revel in the buccaneer adventures. For more info on this event call 305-296-9694.

Key West Holiday Parade — December 5th

Our annual Holiday Parade is small-town charm at it’s best.  Come enjoy our high school marching band, civic and social clubs, local politicians, veterans, and community volunteers as they show off their Key West pride and holiday spirit.  The parade route follows Truman Avenue past  Key Lime Inn and  Chelsea House and then makes the turn down Duval Street.  The best viewing is from the sidewalk along Truman Avenue in front of our inns.  We will be serving spiced cider at Chelsea House during the parade.  The public is invited and it’s all free.

Decking the Hulls in Style

Key West Lighted Boat Parade – December 12th

Deck the hulls with festively decorated boats as they cruise through Key West Harbor and the Historic Seaport. This magical movement of color through the waters is a wonderful tribute to Key West’s maritime history, and its a lot of fun too.  There is good parade viewing all along the waterfront at the Seaport, Simonton Street beach, and Mallory Square.  You can walk to good viewing from all of the Historic Key West Inns.  This is a free event.

Last Days of 2009 Super Travel Values, thru December 23rd

At Historic Key West Inns, we responded to the 2009 recession with a five year rate roll-back.  The lowest rates of all, our “fall rates” have been extended through December 23.  This is the last great opportunity to visit Key West on a frugalista budget before winter season and holiday rates take effect, and 2009 becomes history.

Key Lime Inn at Christmastime

Christmas in Key West — December 24th to 26th

Key West is absolutely charming at Christmas time, with tropical holiday decorations, Christmas concerts, and special menus at local restaurants. All of our hotels will serve our special Chelsea’s eggnog with the breakfast on Christmas Day.  You can even ride your bicycle or walk to one of the many local churches and parishes for services. Our reduced holiday rates apply with no minimum stays over Christmas.

New Year's Eve on Duval Street

New Year’s Eve in Key West — December 31

New Year’s is a great celebration every year in Key West, but this year, saying a hearty goodbye to 2009 will be especially sweet.  There are several midnight countdowns on Duval Street as well as parties at restaurants and bars all around town.  Our favorite place to be at midnight is in the 800 block of Duval Street to watch Sushi, a famous local drag queen, descend in a giant version of Dorothy’s red slipper (think: Wizard of Oz) for the midnight countdown.

CNN is usually here to cover all the action with a live feed to their New Year’s Eve coverage at Times Square…..Hey, would you rather be freezing your booty off in Times Square, or be down in Key West in 72 degree tropical weather?

If you stay at any of the Historic Key West Inns for New Year’s you will be a short stroll from all the countdowns on Duval Street.

When it comes time to plan your next trip to Key West, Historic Key West Inns is here for you!  You can check availability and rates for all the inns 24/7 on our website, or call our reservations desk at 800-549-4430.

I hope to see you soon.

Julie

Solomon's Busy At Work...

Solomon is the newest addition to our Historic Key West Inns family, arriving today from All Animal Clinic.  He is a four week old puppy, a mix of  Labradoodle (mom) and Australian Shepherd (dad), which means those big paws are going to come in handy!  The mother died giving birth, leaving Solomon an orphan.  His new Dad is our Director of Operations,  Marlon Garnett, who received a call from the vet’s office requesting he provide a new home for the puppy.  Solomon is still being bottle fed, and is a bit woozy today from his first shot. Everyone here is excited about the new arrival.  We will all see  him most days as he accompanies Marlon to work.

It is time to change the name of Chelsea House?

Chelsea House Pool & Gardens, one of the five Historic Key West Inns, was named over 30 years ago for one of the owners cats, who was a British Shorthair named Chelsea.  Now that Chelsea is no longer with us…..is it time for an update of the name to our latest furry friend?  Well, we have many furry friends around here and they are all special to us……so I think we will stay with tradition and keep the Chelsea name.

If you have a beloved pet that you like to travel with,  Chelsea House is our pet friendly hotel in Key West.  We have designated  13 of the 34 guest rooms as pet friendly.  These rooms all open directly to the outside and have hardwood or tile flooring.  There is plenty of room around the Chelsea grounds for walking your pet, and we’ve placed doggie “convenience stations” with plastic bags and waste disposal around the property.  Chelsea accepts most varieties of pets, including cats, dogs, birds, and goldfish (does anyone travel with their goldfish?)…..  When planning a trip to Key West with your pet please call the hotel directly at 800-845-8859 to check availability of the pet friendly rooms, and to answer all your questions about house rules and accommodations.

Our Other Key Lime Inn Office Friend, Lucky Dog

Kelly McGuire Sets the Mood for a Lazy Afternoon Filled With Music

The 2009 “Meeting of the Minds” is underway in Key West and all of the Historic Key West Inns are filled with Parrotheads (these are Jimmy Buffet fans, for those of you new to the scene).  I just came from Lighthouse Court over on Whitehead Street, where Kelly McGuire is leading his daily afternoon jam session in the central courtyard.  About 200 music lovers are gathered there at the moment, hanging out around the pool enjoying the show.   Josh is behind the bar mixing up key lime margaritas and other adult libations while Andy is at the grill on cheeseburger duty.  It looks like everyone is having a great time.

At Key Lime Inn this morning, the local Parrothead Club in residence there arranged for their own live concert around the pool.  Here is video on our Youtube channel of them gettin’ the groove. This MOTM is looking like a songwriters festival.  There is excellent live music all around and a lot of guests with smiles on their faces….  This is what makes an innkeeper happy.

Relaxing by the Pool While Kelly and the Band Jams

Listen to Kelly McGuire jam this week at Lighthouse Court,  2 to 5pm, Nov 4 to 7.

Join us this week at Lighthouse Court for live music daily, featuring Kelly McGuire, our favorite singer / songwriter from Texas.  Wednesday, Nov 4 thru Saturday, Nov 7 the jam sessions will be each afternoon from 2 to 5pm.   Then Sunday, November 8 join us for a “brunch jam” from noon to 2pm.  It’s all free and open to the public.  All music lovers are welcome.

Lighthouse Court is located at 902 Whitehead Street in Key West, one block west of Duval Street, next to the Lighthouse.  Come through the front gate, across the street from the Hemingway Home, and make your way back to our center courtyard and pool area.   Our pool bar will be open serving key lime margaritas, cheeseburgers, and all your favorites.  Kelly will have his latest CD available for sale.  Come kick back with us at Lighthouse Court for an adjustment of attitude and a re-adjustment of latitude.   Arrive,  Relax,  Be Local.

Julie

Which Way Is This Parade Going?

It’s Saturday, the big parade day for Fantasy Fest.  The street fair is wrapping up on Duval Street to get the world famous ‘drag’ cleared for tonight’s parade.  The weather has been really beautiful (sunny, clear, 80 degrees or so) and there will be a full moon tonight.

Here is video from the Masquerade March and Fantasy Fest yesterday as the “southern route” passed Chelsea House.  The March is a walking parade for anyone who wants to join in, either in costume or not. The parade starts at the Key West Cemetery and takes two different routes to Duval Street. Luckily, we have hotels on both routes! The southern route goes past Chelsea House and the northern one goes past the Merlin Guesthouse. At both hotels we set up a bar that serves our coveted rum punch.  This year we named our punch recipe our “fang banger”. We also had D.J.’s blasting tunes to get everyone dancing.

The Masquerade March is a free-style parade.  People just show up at the Key West cemetary around 5pm and start following the crowd in one direction or another..thats how you end up on the “southern route” or the “northern route” of the parade.  The groups are not always equal in size, so its a challenge for our teams at Chelsea and Merlin to anticipate how much punch to make….so we just make a lot!!!  We never have leftovers.  This year we made up about 55 gallons of rum punch.

Our Guests Go Out in Style!

We Got Soul!

Here's Denice Welcoming Guests to Key Lime Inn.

Our hotel guests generally start with our party, and then join the parade as it passes by and continues toward  Duval Street.  We had two great parties this year, one on Truman Avenue out front of Chelsea House,and one on Simonton Street, out front of Merlin Guesthouse.  We did something new this year, cooking up hotdogs at Chelsea House to hand out along with our punch,  so everyone had a little food to balance the booze.

The photos you are seeing and the video in this post are from the Chelsea House party. I was so busy shooting pictures on Truman, I didn’t make it to the Merlin party.  But, Abby (our Merlin manager) had a video camera there and shot these videos for our YouTube channel.  There are some great costumes!! I hope you enjoy them.  See you on Duval tonight!

Julie

Pink Pasties and Big Headdresses

The Crowd in Front of Chelsea House

Getting the Party Started with Fang Bangers and 'Dogs

Rum Punch in One Hand and ??? in the Other?