Aye Ye Mates!

Last year, a week after after Fantasy Fest, Captain Tony (of Captain Tony's Saloon) passed away at the ripe old age of 92.  Although he hasn't owned the saloon for years he was still a fixture, especially during Fantasy Fest.  No amount of sickness could keep him away from the ladies.  He loved having his picture taken with them and signing their bodies with his Sharpie pen.  So it was only fitting that our first stop was the Pirate Party at Captain Tony's Saloon. 

This year they finally did it right and closed off the street.  Hanging out IN the saloon is hot, but in years past the street has been open so to get a breath of fresh air was to risk being run over.  With the street closed we were free to stand in the street and catch up with friends, old and new.

Living on the West coast places us a long ways away from the majority of the FF attendees.  So although we have lots of good frends at FF, we only see them once a year.  The first night is catching up night,  "Look at you!"  "Love that costume!"  "Where are you staying?" " When are we having dinner together?"  Some people we keep in contact with via e-mail, but it's not the same as seeing them face-to-face.

Outside of our circle of friends are the "regulars" ... the faces in the crowd that look familiar after so many years; sometimes we remember their names and sometimes we don't.  We try, we really do.  But sometimes we just can't.  But even without their names we really enjoy talking to people, finding out what's going on with them, etc.  As well, we have several "biker" friends that ride in from all over the East coast and they were all present last night. 

FF is like going to your High School reunion ... but you have something in common with everybody.

Which makes me think ... what if something were to happen to one of these friends?  In this day of extended contacts would someone tell us?  Or would we just show up at FF and realize they were missing from the crowd?  Maybe we each need to create a Network of Contacts document.  A list of our compartments of friends and a lead contact for each.  So we'd have our work contacts, our FF contacts, our St. Martin contacts, etc.  Hm, a depressing, but weird thought ...

Anyways, so now it's morning and we're trying to remember what we do here during the day, especially this early in the week.  The sun's out so I suppose we'll get some work done and go for a stroll.  In all our years here we've rarely ventured off Duvall Street, so today might be the day to see what else Key West has to offer.

And since the Pirate Museum is across the street from our hotel maybe we'll stick with last night's theme and start there.