It’s another beautiful day here in Key West. 

We are officially under a tropical storm warning for “Bonnie”, but there is nothing going on in our corner of the earth as of 10am EDT Friday July 23.  Last night on my drive home to Big Pine Key, I spotted a Miami Channel 4 satellite truck headed down to Key West.  Those Miami reporters love to stand on Duval Street with their rain slickers on and tell the world how Key West is bracing for another tropical event….  I guess they made the trip for nothing this time.  On my commute back into Key West this morning I passed the Channel 4 truck again… on their way home to Miami where the “storm” actually went.

Bonnie looks like a quick rain event for Miami at worst.  It’s already inland over Miami this morning and is moving fast to the northwest.  It will be past Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico by this afternoon.  In Key West we’re getting nothing but our usual beautiful, balmy breezes!

Julie

Reporting from Key Lime Inn, 725 Truman Ave, Key West.

I have to say that it is really beautiful here today and the forecast for this 4th of July weekend will be perfect!  Great celebrations all around.

Here is a new video which shows the current underwater conditions for swimming, snorkeling, diving and fishing off our island waters. Last week, some divers were swimming with the turtles.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK | This is the Underwater World of the Florida Keys!

This Sunday marks July 4th 2010, and what a day it should be! Hopefully even after your relaxing days on the water, you will still be left with a sliver of energy to enjoy the festivities the fourth should bring: great friends, good food, and of course, a smokin’ fireworks show come nighttime.  Once again the Key West Rotary Club will be providing a dazzling fireworks display from the White Street Pier on the south side of the island, over the Atlantic Ocean.  They usually begin shortly after sunset.

Bring your blanket and we’ll see you there!

It’s beach, fishing, swimming and water sports time in Key West! Besides gorgeous island weather, there are many fun things to do in May thru July. Don’t wait to make  your reservations at your favorite HISTORIC KEY WEST INN. For a limited time, we are offering our “Stay Longer – Get More” special, available at all five hotels thru July. Earn discounts and freebies for each additional night of your stay. Make your reservations today!

The Beautiful Beaches of Key West

The Florida Keys Are In a National Marine Sanctuary

We live in paradise, truly, and when there is a fundraising event, like Relay for Life, everyone comes out to support the cause, including members of our own hotel team. This is the third year we have had our own Historic Key West Inns relay team and every year our proceeds donated to the American Cancer Society get bigger and bigger. We’re very proud of that because many of us have felt the sadness and loss that comes with the death of someone we love and have lost to cancer.

This year we had a new team captain, Denice Suriner, our hotel events coordinator at Key Lime Inn. Her artistic interests include drawing and jewelry box making, inspiring her to include a silent art auction this year at our tent. She got donated paintings from several local artists, including one larger piece by Garth Holtkamp, one of our maintenance techs, and another donated by his fiancé Katie Hobbs. Abby Leamard, our Albury Court and Merlin Guesthouse manager was ‘womaning’ our tent, watching over the auctions and talking with the walkers. We all signed up for a walking shift and were able to cover all 24 hours!  Thanks to everyone who sweated out there for a good cause!

When you are planning your Key West wedding, Denice will be be happy to help you organize all the details to make your Key West wedding elegant, yet carefree.  Whether your wedding is large or small, grand or simple, or if you just need accommodations for your guests, she can help you plan an unforgettable event at any of our five unique hotels. You can contact Denice here for further information: denicesuriner@historickeywestinns.com

Here is a testimonial from a recent bride and groom :

“My husband and I had stayed at Lighthouse Court on our first vacation together and had a great time. So when it came time to plan our destination wedding in Key West, we wanted to have our guest stay at Lighthouse Court also. The Group coordinator for the hotels, Denice, was amazing. She helped out with way more than rooms. I bet I called 30 times while planning rooms and she was always very pleasant and eager to help me. When we arrived at the hotel, they helped us get our gift bags to rooms before all the guests got there.  All of the employees asked if there was anything I needed help with.  And you couldn’t pass an employee without hearing a hello; they didn’t make us feel like tourists. More like neighbors. All of our guests loved their rooms and the property. It has a wonderful location, right near Duval St., but away from all the noise. “

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?