Based on how often Dick and I are in the “Mermaid,” it is not even close. And our endorsement is not meant as any negative for the always marvelous Louie’s Backyard or Latitudes at Sunset Key. The Thirsty Mermaid comes out of the box with a huge jump: The oyster purveyor is Island Creek in […]

Our favorite oyster bar and lunch spot in old town Key West is the Thirsty Mermaid. The #1 oyster supplier in America, Skip Batten, is their oyster supplier. Today, Debbie and I had—flown directly from Skip—Skip’s Petit and Aunt Dotty oysters! Both are harvested in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and are outstanding. Enjoy, Dick & Debbie

Vote YES. The bane of big cruise ships is that they are the grand polluters of safe, clean harbors. They also are the master spreaders of CORONA. No one is doing more to send these befouling monsters of the seas out of town for good than my friend Arlo Haskell and his crusaders at Committee […]

In the Key West Citizen, Pru Sowers explains the fast-growing Key West Mom & Pop’s group, writing: Key West Mom & Pop’s is the brainchild of Paul Menta, owner of the Hemingway Rum Company, maker of Papa’s Pilar Rum, and Mark Gambuzza, ( disclaimer : Mark is a good friend of mine) owner-operator of Uva […]

Like thousands of my readers, I have quit watching professional sports: NFL, NBA, and MLB. Also gone from “the daily rotation,” are cable TV, the NYT (Boston Globe, Washington Post included), Google search, and now Amazon! That’s right, no more Amazon for me, and undoubtedly for many of you. After all, what sort of constitutionally-strong […]

Despite cruise lines offering very restrictive plans of virus mitigation to ports of call, coastal towns are making the decision to ban cruise ships from docking in their harbors in 2020. Bar Harbor, Maine is the latest town to say no to big cruise ships. Cruise Industry News reports: Bar Harbor, Maine, has decided it […]