[bigh110]

Don't forget to mention Fantasy Fest its the last full week of October and people get all sorts crazy dressed costumes and body paints the last Saturday night hasa parade with lots of keys style decorated parade floats and nearly naked people running around all over Duval street in the fantasy fest zone.

[StarfishKey]

Originally Posted by bigh110

Don't forget to mention Fantasy Fest its the last full week of October and people get all sorts crazy dressed costumes and body paints the last Saturday night hasa parade with lots of keys style decorated parade floats and nearly naked people running around all over Duval street in the fantasy fest zone.

I definitely did not forget Fantasy Fest! - arguably the height of Keys Crazy. But, I am trying to pace myself, listing things as they come so there is something all year to post about. There is so much going on here that is unusual, you can make a few posts every month and still not run out of things to highlight!

I was also waiting on the Fantasy Fest post because I am waiting to see if they are going to change the regulations around it - there has been a lot of debate since the last one about whether changes should be made to the allowance for rampant nudity around Key West proper. Some locals are feeling accosted when they walk into their local CVS or Denny's with their kids and are surrounded by naked people with body paint. Other locals argue that the nudity is what fuels the festival's economic success in the first place, and if you don't want to see it, to stay home. So I'm waiting to see how that pans out this year, and likely there will be a good local article to link on what it is like to be at such an event. Kind of the height of hedonism in terms of what one can find in the US... certainly not to be missed on a countdown of what gives the Keys its own unique culture!

[StarfishKey]

I only just realized that I misspelled the title to this thread! Sorry about that - it's Kitschy Keys Culture.


In case you weren't sure if drinking is that common in Key West...
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Key West bars battle it out for bragging rights



Members of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Coral Reefers team steps off the balance beam with a full tray of beers during the agility contest.


This is far from the Olympics, the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals, but the competition is real at Sunday's 21st annual Battle of the Bars in the Southernmost City.
It's a competition at the Schooner Wharf Bar, 202 William St., Key West, in which teams from Key West bars and eateries compete raise thousands of dollars for two local charities each year.
Teams of seven will race against the clock, and each other, to finish an obstacle course that includes making and serving a margarita, sorting recyclables, tapping a keg and chugging a beer. If teams don't qualify for the next round with fast-enough times, bribing the judges will give them another chance on the battlefield.
All bribes benefit charity, and the money raised this year will go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Keys Area, which offers after-school programs for underprivileged families, and the Florida Keys Community College Youth Swim Activities program, which offers camp scholarships for low-income families and swim lessons to all ages.
Last year's battle raised $17,776 for charity and over the years the event has provided $280,172 to local organizations.
But make no mistake. This is a serious competition and provides bragging rights for a year to the winning team. The reigning champions, the Bourbon St. Pub's Bourbon St. Boozers, have been in all 20 previous competitions (and won a couple) and they're ready to defend their title.
The Irish Kevin's team is a perennial favorite. General manager and team member Kim Knight said "we're all going dressed as circus characters. Clowns, lion tamer, human cannonball, sword swallower." They'll also sell shamrocks that customers can personalize and hang in the bar.
The Southernmost Beach Cafe's SOMO 911 captured the award for most outrageous team costume last year and hopes to repeat with their Southernmost Ski Patrol.
Teams can enter the battle competition right up through Sunday morning. The $35 entry fee covers all seven team members (two bartenders, two servers, a customer, a bar back and a security person) and each competitor receives a 2014 Battle of the Bars T-shirt. Spectators are encouraged to show up and join the festivities.
Registration starts at 11 a.m., teams should be ready to go at noon.
For more information, visit Schooner Wharf Bar - Key West, Florida. "A Last Little Piece of Old Key West" - Live Entertainment!. To enter a team, pick up a form at the Schooner Wharf or call 292-3773 or 292-3302.

[StarfishKey]

Part of Keys culture is large outrageous homages to ocean life, so it seems The Rain Barrel is a worthy part of local culture to be mentioned:
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Big Betsy the lobster is the first thing you’ll notice when you go to the Rain Barrel, an artists’ haven in Islamorada. (Photo by Mary Thurwachter)
On your way to Key West, make a stop at an artists’ haven: Rain Barrel







By Mary Thurwachter
Special to The Palm Beach Post
On driving trips to Key West, we always make a stop at the Rain Barrel, a popular artists’ haven near mile marker 87 in Islamorada. The conglomeration of shops is packed with locally made treasures, from paintings and pottery to stained glass window and wind chimes.
It’s a good place to stretch your legs before getting back on the road. Besides, you can have lunch there. Outside, you can have your photo taken with Big Betsy, the 30-foot-tall metal lobster. It took Marathon sculptor Richard Blaze five years to assemble the sculpture.
For more information on the Rain Barrel, visit www.rainbarrelsculpture.com.

[StarfishKey]

Another well-known large-scale homage to sealife is the famous artist, Wyland's, 4 murals in the Keys.
From roadtripamerica.com:
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If you've ever seen a photo of a painting of leaping killer whales or undersea vistas, it's a very good bet that you've seen one of the masterpieces created by the artist known by the single name of Wyland. Wyland started his career studying painting and sculpture at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan in 1976. In 1977, he painted his first exterior murals in California and opened the now-famous Wyland Studio Gallery in Laguna Beach, California in 1978. In 2009, he painted the largest depiction of earth ever paintd on top of the Long Beach Sports Arena in celebration of Earth Day 2009. In 1981, he embarked on a mission to paint 100 "Whaling Walls" by 2011 to call attention to the magnificent sea creatures and marine life. He finished this quest in 2008 when he painted a gigantic mural -- 2,430 feet long and 10 feet high -- in Beijing, China.
The mural above was dedicated on February 12, 2007 in Key Largo, Florida. 7,500 square feet in size, it covers the wall of a four-story building, located at mile maker 99.2 of US Hwy 1 in the center of the freeway.
"It's the gateway to the Florida Keys," Wyland said, going on to credit his frequent Keys reef dives as the ongoing inspiration for his work. "The idea was to welcome people as they drove in from South Florida with a depiction of the sun warming the tropical waters here - taking people above and below the surface to see the tremendous abundance of marine life and color."
- See more at: "Whaling Wall" in Key Largo, Florida
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There are also 3 more:

in Marathon at MM 50








in Key West's Historic Seaport at 201 William St.


Another ocean life mural, painted by David Dunleavy and Guy Harvey, can be found on Islamorada at MM83 bayside.



There is also a mural honoring the famed Flagler railroad - the reason for this tourist mecca today and the remnants of which you can still see most notably from Bahia Honda State Park - in Key Largo at MM95.







You can also see dolphins sculpted from shrubbery outside of Islamorada's Theater of the Sea, a 30-ft sculpture of a dolphin mother and baby outside of Grassy Key's Dolphin Research Center at MM59, and NASCAR legend Michael Waltrip's car emerging from a wall in sculpture at MM30 oceanside on Big Pine Key.

[crue cab]

Job down there and I would be gone in a heart beat.