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?

Watch the Masquerade March on Friday from the front garden at Chelsea House.

Wednesday, October 28  – Mid-way thru Fantasy Fest 2009

I can already tell you Fantasy Fest 2009 will be one of the best.  All the inns are full at this point for the remainder of the festival…more visitors are arriving in town each day.  The weather is fantastic.

Its great to see our guests rolling in with their latest costume creations in tow.  For those that packed light, there are many places to get a last minute costume (or not) or find some beads to throw around your neck.  Parties are happening every day all around Old Town.

The body paint shops have become one of the big attractions during Fantasy Fest, as many people choose to have their “costume” sprayed on, as opposed to, well, wearing a costume.  Key West has many talented artists that set up temporary “paint shops” for Fantesy Fest with air-brush guns and body paint.  Hanging out to watch these artists in action and to watch their subjects bare their canvas has become a popular activity during the festival.  For anyone that wants to do this I would recommend setting up an appointment with the artist.  The artists tend to be very busy.  They can paint subjects for 18 hours a day, if they have the stamina, during the last three days of FF.

The Masquerade March is coming up on Friday, and we are busy getting ready at Merlin Guesthouse and Chelsea House.  Both inns are on the parade route and are official stopovers.  We have DJ’s that will be playing tunes for the event, and Andy (our manager at Chelsea House) will be grilling hotdogs this year.  But, the main attraction at our Stopover Parties is our Rum Punch, which we will be serving to all who stop by.  We have named this year’s recipe our Fang Banger.  It’s all free, so stop by and have a drink with us.

I promise to take some pictures and videos on Friday during the Masquerade March.  I will post some here, so stop by later and check it out.

Julie

Last Minute Availability (As of October 14)

As of this writing we have only a few rooms left for this year’s Fantasy Fest. Call our Reservations Desk at 800-549-4430.

All Historic Key West Inns still have availability for the early event dates that start with Goombay Festival over the weekend of Oct 23 and 24. There are also great events on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Fantasy Fest week, when rooms are plentiful and rates are low.

One of our favorite events is the Headdress Ball on Tuesday night, Oct 27. It is a costume party of headgear only, but you won’t believe what some creative folks come up with. This party is hosted by the Key West Business Guild. The event is known for it’s talented performers, outlandish costumes, and a good dose of very gay entertainment. You can view the entire party schedule at the official Fantasy Fest website: www.FantasyFest.net.

All of the Historic Key West Inns are located within walking distance of the Fantasy Zone.  Come and have fun in our beautiful island paradise. See you then!