Colorful Key West

Credit: all photos by Andy Newman

As many years as I've lived in Florida, I've never been to Key West, which is less than five hours to the south. There, you can watch sunrises and sunsets over the water, something I've never done.

Key West, a.k.a. the Conch Republic, is known for its colorful gay community and laid-back lifestyle. You just never know what's going to happen, but it's usually a lot of fun.

The picture above is of one of the contestants, prancing in his amazing court jester costume during the Paradise Costume Competition at the Pier House Pretenders in Key West on Thursday. The event was a part of Fantasy Fest, Key West's annual masking and costuming festival that was delayed six weeks this year due to Hurricane Wilma. The festival continues through tonight and will be highlighted by the Fantasy Fest Parade down Duval Street.



These two participants are celebrating the hurricane theme, as is this guy in his "Storm Surge" costume.



Showing off their "Raggedy Ann and Andy" costume at the Fantasy Fest Pet Masquerade are Bumper McCabe of Boca Raton and his poodle Tinker Toy. They won second place in the pet/owner look-alike division.



Peter Parente of Sugarloaf Key, and his two-toed sloth, Molasses, show off their "Gargoyle in a Haunted Tree" costume. They placed second in the contest's best theme adaptation category. See what I mean? Who has a sloth for a pet??? Only in Key West!



The winners of the pet/owner look-alike category were James Brooks of Ramrod Key and his bulldog, Brutus. A very clever spoof of FEMA's role during hurricane recovery.