All things come to an end, the good ones and bad ones all come and go, just like the sun appears in the morning and fades away in the evening.  She ended the conversation with “OK, love.”  No, that didn’t happen in one of the many bars or eateries here, but how a female fuzznik ended an Official Notice of a parking violation.  I had told her I was not here to cause a problem, didn’t leave any trash and made no noise.  I’d also told her I only parked there during the day.  She asked where did I park at night.  She was so pleasant I got away with telling her I wasn’t going to tell her.  She laughed.  I then asked if I could park there in the day.  She said yes, but I could not sleep in a vehicle anywhere at any time in Key West.  That’s OK, the County Employee lot is empty at night and those police have told me they don’t care who parks there, but don’t cause them any problems.  Easy, that’s my style.  The day before the fuzznik encounter a city code enforcement guy had told me I couldn’t park overnight at a location near where the fuzznik gal gave me my notice today.  Both had said there were complaints and that’s why they were doing what they were.  He was le’id back, too, and neither wanted to give me a hard time.  All’s well that ends well.
 
Later on I got to thinking who would complain about a bunch of people enjoying the sunshine when it’s cold, snowing, and blowing where they’re from.  I could understand if property was being damaged, if people were getting hurt, or if there was some kind of disturbance happening.  Nothing like that was going on.  Why call an authority person, then?  If you do that, then to satisfy the complainer, they need to show up and regulate people who aren’t bothering anyone or anybody.  Who knows, maybe they had something important to take care of, but had to stop and placate the complainant.  What motivated that/those complainer(s)?  I sure don’t know or understand.  Must’ve had something to do with jealousy, greed or some related illness!  I’ve been saying for years there’s a whole lot more nut cases out there on the street than we realize!
 
I’ve never bought an ACB in Sloppy Joes, Hogs Breath, Schooner Wharf, Ricks, Jimmy Buffets, Dantes, Fat Tuesdays, or the Hard Rock Cafe.  Those places are usually too expensive, too crowded, too loud, and too congested.  Like Ocean City, you need to know where the locals go.  Of course there’re exceptions and that is when John LaMere, Kevin Poole, or OC musicians, are playing in one of those type places.  I’m a regular at Alonzo’s Oyster Bar on the old water front, where all seafood apps (the mussels, shrimp, clams, steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes are scrumptious) and ACBs are 1/2$ between 4 and 6:30, HH.  For variety I eat at El Sibone, 900 Catherine St., where they fill your plate with delicious Cuban food for well under $15.   For a special treat I eat at the Kojin Noodle Bar, near the corner of Duval & Southard Streets, and get some gyoza, garlic flavored pork dumplings, a rare find in this country, and a special which are all delightful and more than I eat. The Hog Fish Grill on Stock Island is my place when I take a break from Key West.  There there’s always inexpensive ACBs, friendly people, lots $5 seafood apps at HH and always a reasonably priced wonderful special.
 
I meant to go to the EcoCenter, a reef exhibit operated by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration the first day I was here just before Christmas.  Now, on one of my last days of this five-week sojourn, I finally got here yesterday.  That is definitely a Don’t Miss List place and you just might learn something.  There’s so much below the water’s surface in the bays, Gulf & Ocean.  I’ve got a glimpse of a smidgen of it from my kayak here and I did some snorkeling on the west coast of Mexico near Chiapas years ago.  You need to take a break from partying here and take a look, a long look.  Then you’ll know why you/we should stop dumping all that stuff we shouldn’t down the drain.  All those beautiful, intricate, fantastic creatures have to deal with it and some are disappearing.  After wandering through the real life aquariums, videos, and photographs, there’s a little auditorium that shows a movie of what a gal who skin dives sees in the waters of the Keys.  Absolutely amazing!
 
Bob R  o.c.FotoGuy
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