Key West Seafood Festival…

With a cold front blowing through there was a lot of talk about it being the coldest day of the year down here in Key West. But if this is the coldest day of the year we have found the spot to be in mid-January. The high temperature only reached 70F today and the jeans and jackets were out.

Seventy is not cold by any stretch but with the 20 mph winds blowing off the water it did make it a bit chilly. Not to be dissuaded we planned to hit the 7th annual Seafood Festival in downtown Key West to see what it was all about. Since it was expected that the traffic would be chaotic near the festival we chose to ride our bikes the 3 miles to Bayview Park.

     

With the wind behind us the ride was easy however this only meant it would be a more difficult ride heading back to the house in the headwinds. Traffic was pretty crazy but we found our way to the festival and locked up the bikes on a sign post. There was no charge for admission and the only charge we saw was for parking at five dollars. We just love FREE ADMISSION when on a budget…

 

Bayview Park was lined with tents set up by vendors comprised of local artists selling colorful Key West inspired art along with jewelry, soaps, tiki hut signage and t-shirts. On the back side of the park were the locals selling lot of delicious local seafood. Only seafood harvested by members of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association was available here and included Key West pink shrimp, grilled lobster, fried clams, smoked fish dip, conch served several ways, and delicious stone crab!

They also had booths from the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary, Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Coast Guard etc… set up to educate the masses about many thing sea related. There was even a salt water touch tank, manned by marine scientists that would answer any questions. 

We had a blast enjoying the sights, the people watching and the live entertainment at the grandstand. Lots of colorful locals, or Conchs as they like to be called, were in attendance. With the tourists trying to blend it people watching was the highlight of the day. If you are here in January bring your keesters down to Bayview Park and enjoy the Seafood Festival it was laid back and lots of fun!