Diana Nyad is one tough lady. And she’d better be, because swimming 103 miles from Cuba to Key West is one tough task — a task not many 61-year-olds would attempt.

At 61 years old, Diana Nyad is poised to attempt a 103-mile swim from Cuba to Key West. (Photos by Haig Jacobs, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Diana hopes to begin her marathon swim any day now, but it won’t be the first time she’s challenged herself to attempt the feat. In 1978, when she was 32 years younger and a seasoned athlete, she didn’t make it.

Instead, battered and weak, she was hauled into a support boat by friends after spending more than 41 hours battling strong currents and punishing waves.

This time, she believes, will be different. And while having turned 60 might seem to be a disadvantage, for Diana Nyad it was just the inspiration she needed.

“Honestly, I have not been sitting around for all these 32 years thinking ‘my life is miserable without making it from Cuba to Florida’,” Diana said recently during a break in her final training in Key West. (Click here to view a You Tube video interview segment with Diana.)

Tough and savvy, Diana is motivated by the desire to shatter negative stereotypes about older people.

In fact, she’s a popular radio and television personality and author who lives in L.A. and looks far younger than her chronological age. Yet after celebrating her 60th birthday last year, she decided somebody needed to shatter the modern-day perception that older people are “past it.”

“I’m strong, I’m vital, I still feel relevant to my community, but you’re not made to feel that way at 60 in this society,” Diana said. “I want 60-year-olds to look at me and say, ‘You know that silly bumper sticker ‘60 is the new 40’? She’s proving it’.”

So she began training for the 103-mile swim — which, coincidentally, is estimated to take about 60 hours (yes, that’s an almost unbelievable two-and-a-half days).

As well as being physically and mentally challenging, the feat also involved logistical challenges that rivaled those of an Everest expedition. They included getting government permissions from both the U.S. and Cuba, and assembling a support team (it eventually grew to 37 people).

Diana's nonstop marathon swim is expected to take an incredible 60 hours.

Unlike her 1978 attempt, Diana won’t be swimming in a protective shark cage. This time, she’ll be accompanied by professional kayakers with electronic shark repelling devices — just in case.

In mid-July, with the details falling into place, Diana successfully completed a 24-hour swim in the Gulf Stream off Key West. And recently, she’s been staying in the island city, where the community has embraced her as she waits for the right weather conditions to begin the marathon.

“The people in town have been so generous to me,” Diana marveled. “The Southernmost Hotel has given me a free hotel room for as long as I’m here, the Key West Yacht Club is giving us a free boat slip for our boats … these generous donations from the good people here in the Keys have helped me enormously and I will be forever grateful.”

A seasoned athlete with tremendous physical and mental reserves, Diana believes she has a better chance for success now than she did during her first attempt 32 years ago.

She hopes to end the swim in Key West. But if currents sweep her closer to some other part of the Keys, that’s just fine too.

She’s got plenty of mental techniques to help pass the hours at sea, like counting her strokes in every language she knows and following the beat of metronomic songs. But ultimately, it will come down to her personal resilience and staying power … qualities Diana believes have only increased with age.

“I definitely am a little slower than I used to be but I think I have a better chance mentally, and in spirit and will, than I did before,” Diana said. “And after all, that’s what it’s all about out there — the will.”

May this tough, inspiring lady stay safe, stay focused, and emerge triumphant on the welcoming shores of the Keys.

Topics: Events, Highlights, Key West, On the Water, Profiles, Voices Main Archive

Key West has been nominated as the Sexiest Place on Earth! An esteemed panel of travel writers compiled their recommendations for the Trip Out Gay Travel Awards, and this little island earned an enviable nomination. Read about Key West here and vote.

With inhabitants like these "hot" Paris pretenders, its no wonder Key West was nominated the Sexiest Place on Earth.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, both for me and here on the island. Among other things, I traveled to Miami Beach and exhibited at the National LGBT Bar Association’s Lavender Law Conference. This was a huge event with practicing attorneys and recent graduates learning how to better serve the legal needs of our community. Several came to the Keys after the conference.

Then I zipped across the country for the 20th conference of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, joining several hundred members of the media from across North America. I learned about issues facing the LGBT print media, websites, blogging, and workplace rights. It humbles me to know that we live in such an accepting community; many gays do not have this level of comfort.

Speaking of comfort, Womenfest kicked off last night with a packed house at Big Ruby’s Guesthouse. Lenore Troia, renowned for entertaining LGBT and allied audiences with her American Caribbean sound, assembled a women’s five-member band. We indulged in three hours of fun jamming with these talented ladies while enjoying food samples from more than a dozen Key West restaurants. Women (and men) attended from across the U.S., the United Kingdom and Germany.

Sun, fun and a sizzling entertainment roster can only mean one thing: Womenfest in Key West!

This year’s Womenfest schedule is loaded with top entertainers including Emily Saliers of the Grammy-winning Indigo Girls, the rockers of Sister Funk, and singer/songwriter Christine Martucci. And do not miss the evening of comedy with Suzanne Westenhoefer at the historic San Carlos Institute.

Check the Womenfest website for a complete schedule. If you can’t be here this year, next year’s event will start the day after Labor Day. (The real treat is that the guys can attend most of the performances. We are truly One Human Family!)

This time of year, we try to take to the water for snorkeling and sunset sailing. The colors of the sea drift between lapis and emerald and the water is clear as gin. The Blu Q offers day trips for the guys while Venus Charters caters to the lesbian community with snorkeling, fishing, and dolphin watching. Sebago hosts a women-only sunset sail on Thursday afternoons and all-adventure days that include jet skiing and parasailing.

If you’re not into the water, stop by the gay-owned Fast Buck Freddie’s on Duval Street and lose yourself in their maze of great gifts, clothes, and toys.

Key West doesn't "clown around" when it comes to producing its flamboyant annual festival and its spectacular grand parade. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

We have now entered the jam-packed season leading to the crowning of the king and queen of the Fantasy Fest masking and costuming gala. The “royals” earn their crowns by raising needed money for AIDS Help, our community-based AIDS service organization, and there are events almost every day and evening. Recent years’ royal campaigns have raised as much as $400,000. Photos of the candidates and a list of events are available here.

There are still some rooms available for Fantasy Fest 2010, themed Habitat for Insanity. Check your calendar and treat yourself to a Key West escape during this outrageous weeklong party that starts October 22.

Can’t make it this year? Plan on attending next year’s event. The lavish Fantasy Fest parade is always held on the last Saturday of October, so calculate your timeframe from that.

Shortly I’ll be off to visit pride events in Saint Augustine, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta. Then I may take a much-needed vacation!

(Steve’s current American Airlines mileage ticker: 2,497,241 miles promoting Key West to the LGBT world. Divided by 450 miles per hour average, that means 5,549.4 hours in a can at 30,000 feet!)

Topics: Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key West, LGBT, Local Color, On the Water, Voices Main Archive

Key Largo sometimes has a strange and wonderful effect on boats.

For example, at the recent “Anything That Floats” regatta, even boats that looked about as seaworthy as cottage cheese stayed afloat in the nurturing Key Largo waters while their intrepid crews completed the course.

These party animals paddled to victory in Key Largo's recent "Anything That Floats" race. (Photo by Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Granted, several teams got “that sinking feeling” and anticipated saltwater baths when their craft began to crumble. But that’s hardly surprising — after all, the precarious vessels were cobbled together from materials like lawn furniture, pool noodles, PVC and duct tape.

No, the surprise was that they all somehow held together and made it to the finish line, with more than 700 spectators cheering so hard you’d think they were watching A-Rod hit his 600th homer.

Among the oddly sturdy entries was a vessel built from a converted kiddie pool and empty plastic gas cans. Its mast topped with a tipsy-looking “macaw” holding a margarita glass, the so-called boat actually won the half-mile regatta. This makes sense only when you realize that one of its competitors was composed primarily of a plastic shelving unit.

While these boats stayed afloat against all odds, the best-known vessel associated with Key Largo was intended to sink. In 2002 the Spiegel Grove, a 510-foot retired Navy ship, was poised to become the largest ship ever intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef for divers.

Shortly before its planned scuttling, the Spiegel Grove sank prematurely and rolled over. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

On May 17, 2002, at the site of its planned scuttling off Key Largo (and just hours before the event), the Spiegel Grove unexpectedly sank on its own and flipped over. Crowds of supporters reacted in stunned disbelief.

It wound up on its starboard side in 130 feet of water. And though the sinking went badly wrong, shortly afterward the ship began to attract marine life — large groupers, busy schools of smaller fish, vivid-hued tropicals and more.

For the next three years divers flocked to explore the vessel, not realizing that it (and Key Largo) still had a major surprise in store for them.

In 2005, after Hurricane Dennis skirted the Florida Keys, diver Bob Snyder headed for the ocean floor to check on the Spiegel Grove. What he found was so bizarre that he wondered if he might be suffering from nitrogen narcosis, a condition that makes divers feel giddy or intoxicated.

Shifted upright by nature, the Spiegel Grove (bow shown here) draws dive aficionados from all over the world.

No longer resting on its side, the Spiegel Grove was standing upright on the ocean floor.

Wave action from the passing storm had shifted the vessel into the picture-perfect position originally intended by the sink team. In the deep waters off Key Largo, nature had accomplished what man couldn’t — and today the Spiegel Grove is a “must-dive” site for underwater aficionados from all over the world.

So why does Key Largo have such an unusual effect on boats? Nobody seems to know, but it’s even drawn such venerable vessels as the riverboat from the classic 1951 film “The African Queen.” Navigated on screen by Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, the “Queen” has spent its twilight years sheltered beside a Key Largo hotel.

Topics: Environment, Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key Largo, Local Color, On the Water, Voices Main Archive

Since Key West’s earliest days, its atmosphere has encouraged rugged individualism — but few individuals stand out more than legendary shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher.

Adventurer Mel Fisher, shown here with some of his glittering discoveries, proved that the American dream is thriving -- at least in the Keys. (Photo provided by Mel Fisher's Treasures)

Mel, a former California chicken farmer, appeared in the Keys in 1968 and shortly afterward settled in Key West. His luggage consisted of one big dream — that of finding the sunken treasure galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, shipwrecked in a 1622 hurricane somewhere in Keys waters.

The Atocha’s cargo, according to its manifest, included a quarter of a million silver pieces of eight, some 30 tons of silver bars, and other riches destined for the coffers of Spain. Clearly, it was a worthy prize for any man.

Some people never really fit into Key West’s offbeat lifestyle, but others — like Mel — fit in immediately. With his drawling speech and seemingly limitless capacity for rum and Coke, he became a familiar figure on the island.

During the long years of searching for the shipwrecked galleon, there was little money to support Mel and his crew — which included his wife Deo and, eventually, children Dirk, Taffi, Kim and Kane. Still, enough treasure trickled in to keep their enthusiasm alive.

Mel and Deo Fisher were early SCUBA pioneers before they became shipwreck seekers. (Photo provided by Mel Fisher's Treasures)

After all, Mel reasoned, almost any day could herald the discovery of the Atocha’s main body of riches. “Today’s the day,” his well-known phrase of encouragement to his divers, began to appear on T-shirts all over Key West.

At long last, in July of 1985, “the day” arrived.

On July 18, Mel’s son Kane, then captain of the salvage boat Dauntless, discovered a 60-pound ballast stone, barrel hoops, copper ingots, and almost 1,000 silver coins in a deep-water area called Hawks Channel.

Two days later, on July 20, divers Andy Matroci and Greg Wareham dove down to investigate a promising area of the seabed. Facing them was a reef of what looked like stones. The duo went back up for a metal detector and dove down again. The metal detector went wild: it was a reef of silver bars.

Andy reached the surface first and yelled to the salvage boat, “It’s the ‘mother lode’! We’re sitting on silver bars!”

A diver examines gold bars and chains on the site of the Nuestra Se–nora de Atocha shipwreck about 35 miles off Key West. (Photo by Pat Clyne/Mel Fisher Maritime Museum)

Kane Fisher radioed back to Key West, “Put away the charts. We’ve found the main pile.”

They had found 1,041 silver bars and boxes of coins — 3,000 to a box. Almost immediately, shippers’ marks on the silver bars were matched to the Atocha’s cargo manifest, confirming the identification.

“It was surreal. I had spent most of my life looking for it, and all of a sudden there it was — all these silver bars piled up and sticking up out of the mud, and there were fishhooks snagged on them and lobsters living in the cracks between the silver bars,” said Kane’s brother Kim, who had begun tracking the Atocha with his family when he was 12 years old.

The excavation of what media dubbed “the shipwreck of the century” began. Divers and archeologists eventually recovered more than $400 million in gold and silver coins and bars, breathtaking religious artifacts, jewelry, weapons, pottery, navigational instruments, contraband emeralds and other incredible items.

Kim Fisher, son of the late Mel Fisher, displays a 23-karat gold bar recovered during the ongoing search for the remainder of the Atocha shipwreck. (Photo by Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Now, 25 years after the discovery of that “main pile,” people flock to Key West’s Mel Fisher Maritime Museum to view the Atocha treasure and artifacts housed there — and marvel at the triumph of the human spirit that their recovery represents.

Yet according to the vessel’s cargo manifest, much more remains to be found. After Mel’s death in 1998, his son Kim took over the family enterprise — and today he and his own son Sean supervise the ongoing search for the portion of the legendary shipwreck that still awaits discovery.

“We’re looking for the sterncastle of the Atocha,” explained Kim, who looks (and sounds) a lot like Mel. “There’s a lot of treasure still out there … 100,000 coins, 300 80-pound silver bars …”

The Atocha’s story — and the quest — continue.

Topics: Events, Highlights, History, Key West, Local Color, On the Water

When Brian Gordon Sinclair looks in the mirror before going onstage, Ernest Hemingway looks back. That’s because Brian, an award-winning Canadian actor and playwright, has spent the past several years researching, writing and performing one-man plays about the legendary author, presenting them each July at Key West’s annual Hemingway Days celebration.

Is this Ernest Hemingway? Or is it Brian Gordon Sinclair? (Hint: the bearded writer pictured here never lived in Key West.)

Hemingway, who lived and wrote in Key West throughout the 1930s, wasn’t Brian’s first major subject. Years ago, while tracing his Irish roots, Brian became fascinated with Irish revolutionary leader Patrick Pearse. After developing a successful one-man play about Pearse and the Irish Easter uprising of 1916, he began seeking another all-absorbing character.

“I wanted to find someone else to play who had that heroic quality,” he said. “I fell in love with the idea of being someone bigger than life, and standing on stage conveying theories and ideas that I could believe in with all my heart and brain.”

When Brian picked up Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms,” the author’s passion, prose and philosophy captured his imagination.

Backed by a crowd of “Ernest” supporters, Brian presents Canada's Hemingway On Stage Award during a past Hemingway Days celebration.

He had visited Key West previously on vacation, but returned with a purpose: to immerse himself in Hemingway’s life and experiences. He discovered the island’s Hemingway Days festival commemorating Ernest, visited the author’s Whitehead Street home and met “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest veteran Bob Orlin.

“It was the festival itself that attracted me,” Brian said. “If I was going to create a play, what better place to go than a place where they had a Hemingway festival?”

During that visit, though he hadn’t begun writing the script, he booked a Key West theater for the following year.

He also stepped into Hemingway’s skin for the first time. With his black hair and moustache, Brian resembled the author during his Key West years — so Bob Orlin convinced him to enter a “young Hemingway” contest at a local bar. He promptly won, using the prize money to continue his travels and research.

Brian Gordon Sinclair, in the persona of Ernest Hemingway, is surrounded by friends at La Terazza in Cojimar, Cuba.

When he began writing the play, however, a problem arose.

“My intention was to do one three-act play and that would be it,” said Brian. “By the time I got to the end of World War I, I already had enough for one play.”

Ultimately, “Hemingway On Stage” grew into a six-part series — each play exploring a facet of Ernest’s life and career, and each taking Brian onstage to create an intimate portrait of the iconic author.

As well as giving audiences new insights into Hemingway, the plays have brought a surprising benefit to their creator.

“Working on Ernest, with Ernest, has absolutely revitalized my life,” Brian reported. “His life encompassed so many different things that it became an adventure for me.”

Brian's in-depth portrayal provides audiences new insights into Ernest's complex and often troubled character.

Brian’s research has taken him to London, Paris, Spain’s Civil War battlefields and bullfighting rings, Hemingway’s childhood home in Illinois and many other places. He continues to present his plays in Key West where, like Ernest, he has found friends and inspiration.

“Everybody in Key West has treated me with such open arms and respect and kindness that I consider myself an honorary citizen of the place,” he said.

This year, Brian will step outside his six-part series to present a storytelling evening titled “Hemingway’s Hot Havana.” Ticket sales will benefit the Key West Art & Historical Society and the Hemingway Look-Alike Society Scholarship Fund.

He hopes to debut the final play in his “Hemingway On Stage” series during Hemingway Days 2011 — but that doesn’t mean he’ll say farewell to the author.

“Spiritually, I have become a friend of Ernest Hemingway,” Brian said, “and Ernest and I will be friends forever.”

Topics: Arts, Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key West, Profiles

The marine life that makes its home on the Florida Keys’ living coral reef is widely acclaimed for its diversity — but that undersea life usually doesn’t include an underwater brass band or a snorkel-wearing Elvis Presley.

These strange "undersea creatures" were spotted in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary during a past Underwater Music Festival. (Photos by Bill Keogh/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Unless, of course, it’s the second Saturday in July.

That’s the timeframe for the annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, an engagingly weird event that draws as many as 600 divers and snorkelers to boogie to the beat of music beneath the waves.

Staged by a popular local radio station, the submerged songfest takes place at Looe Key Reef, an area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary about six miles south of Big Pine Key.

The station’s playlist — ocean- and water-focused ditties ranging from the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” to humpback whale songs and the themes from “Gilligan’s Island” and “Titanic” — is broadcast to participating divers and snorkelers (and a whole lot of curious fish) on special speakers suspended beneath boats at the reef.

A few years back, divers and snorkelers at the Underwater Music Festival came across a patriotic parade -- on the ocean floor.

While you might think music would be distorted underwater, it’s actually surprisingly clear. Plus there’s an ethereal “surround sound” feeling that comes from the sound waves’ transmission through the water.

Adding to that ethereal quality are the bizarre reef denizens that can be spotted during the event. Unsuspecting divers and snorkelers at past festivals have encountered an underwater brass band complete with tuba, marchers in an ocean-floor patriotic parade, and the “Divas of the Deep” — a trio of female divers costumed as Ella Fish-gerald, Tuna Turner, and (wait for it) Britney Spearfish.

One memorable year even Elvis himself decided to take the plunge, though he wasn’t wearing blue suede fins at the time. Elvis impersonator Neil Goldberg, dressed in a white caped jumpsuit and flashy gold chains, “performed” underwater on a bright red guitar for a mesmerized crowd of “sea fans.”

“The fish seem to be Elvis fans — they’re ‘all shook up’,” The King quipped after resurfacing.

Elvis impersonator Neil Goldberg performs for "sea fans" at a recent Underwater Music Festival.

For the 2010 festival, scheduled July 10, rumor has it that “Alice in Waterland” and her fictional friends will be on hand. Organizers are staging an offbeat salute to the classic tale “Alice in Wonderland” and the 2010 film it inspired, with underwater appearances by divers costumed as Alice, the “Mad Haddock,” “Cheshire Catfish,” and other take-offs on the story’s memorable characters.

Goofy as it seems, this good time has a serious purpose: preserving the Florida Keys’ unique coral reef ecosystem. The musical broadcast incorporates diver awareness announcements by Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials, offering tips on how to enjoy the ocean while minimizing your impact on the reef and marine environment.

So if you’re a music “afishionado,” dive into the doings at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival. And even if you can’t come down and take the plunge, you can share the spirit — by “singing out” about reef preservation.

Topics: Big Pine Key & Lower Keys, Environment, Events, Festivals, Highlights, Local Color, On the Water, Quirks, Voices Main Archive

In early June, Key West landscaper John Mumford and artist Rick Worth decided to set the stage for the island’s 2010 PrideFest celebration by painting the rainbow flag on a local landmark.

Key West landscape "artists" put finishing touches on a giant rainbow flag atop "Mount Trashmore." (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

But this was no ordinary rainbow flag. For one thing, it measured 125 feet by 60 feet and required 87 gallons of paint. For another, the landmark they painted it on was a dormant landfill nicknamed “Mount Trashmore” — the highest and most visible landmass in the Florida Keys.

Big as their flag is (and according to my trusty calculator, it measures 7,500 square feet), it’s far from the largest rainbow banner ever displayed in Key West.

That title goes to a flag created in 2003 — one so massive that it stretched the entire length of the island city’s 1.25-mile Duval Street, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition to its startling length, the 2003 flag had another claim to fame. It was sewn in Key West by Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco artist who created the original rainbow flag in 1978, to commemorate the internationally recognized gay and lesbian symbol’s 25th birthday.

Gilbert Baker savors the moment as his 1.25-mile rainbow flag is unfurled down Key West's Duval Street. (Photo by Mike Hollar/Florida Keys News Bureau)

To construct the Key West flag, Gilbert (whose friends call him “the gay Betsy Ross”) spent three months on the island. He and a handful of dedicated helpers sewed approximately 17,600 linear yards of fabric — no easy feat, since that fabric weighed more than three tons!

Those of us who were lucky enough to witness the flag’s debut, the highlight of Key West’s PrideFest 2003, will treasure the memory for a very long time.

It took about 2,000 volunteers to unfurl the flag from one end of Duval Street to the other. The crowd that gathered to help and watch included gay and straight couples, people of widely varying colors and ages, families with children, and even people in wheelchairs.

Nancy Mathys of Key West couldn’t see the flag, but she was determined to be part of its unfurling. Holding her white cane, guided by a male companion, she stood in line with other volunteers waiting to carry Gilbert’s massive creation as it was pulled out of its support truck.

“I think it’s wonderful that so many people have come out,” Nancy said as she waited. “It’s a special day to be part of all this.”

Gilbert's flag stretches down Duval Street from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean in a sea-to-sea proclamation of pride and diversity. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

As well as honoring the rainbow flag’s birth, the Key West flag recreated Gilbert’s original eight-color design. Pink and turquoise, which couldn’t be reproduced commercially in 1978, were sewn into the mammoth banner along with the now-traditional red, orange, yellow, green, indigo and violet.

“I started crying when the father of the flag was speaking,” said Kelly Davis of Nashville as she watched volunteers carry the flag down Duval Street. “It’s touching how everybody’s just getting along in the community — this flag stands for everybody’s freedom.”

When the rainbow banner was completely unfurled, the crowd chanted “Gilbert, Gilbert” and “Key West, Key West” as Gilbert Baker dipped one end into the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, Key West’s PrideFest organizers and community leaders dipped the other end into the Atlantic — making the flag a sea-to-sea representation of Key West’s pride and diversity.

“The rainbow flag is loved and cherished all over the world,” said Gilbert during the day’s celebrations. “It represents an idea of equality and justice for everyone.”

May that idea prevail as long as the flag is flown.

Topics: Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key West, LGBT, Local Color, Voices Main Archive

“Good Morning America” weather anchor Sam Champion ate dinner at the Hogfish Bar and Grill over Memorial Day weekend. And bicycled over to the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park to catch a few rays. And, most important, did a live broadcast from Key West that helped counter persistent misperceptions that the Florida Keys had been physically impacted by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Sam Champion, "Good Morning America's" weather anchor, lounges at the beach in Key West during his live broadcast May 31. (Photos by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

As he waded off the beach at Key West’s Casa Marina Resort during the live broadcast, Sam had an important message for GMA’s millions of viewers.

“These coasts are clear,” he said before stretching out in a SunKat, which looks like an oversized floating lawn chair, at the water’s edge.

Behind him, kayakers and paddle-boarders enjoyed the water while a small black-and-white dog (I am not making this up) floated by on a boogie board under his owner’s watchful eye.

For those of us who love the Keys, the GMA broadcast was a welcome chance to show that, contrary to relentless rumors, the only oil on our beaches is suntan oil.

Even so, the Keys’ tourism economy has taken a substantial hit. Owners and operators of resorts, inns, fishing charters and dive shops have answered thousands of phone calls from potential visitors nervous about conditions in the Keys, and received countless cancellations.

The super-talented Monks of Phunk provided an island-flavored musical accompaniment throughout the broadcast.

That’s why the “Good Morning America” broadcast by Sam Champion and his “champion” crew was so important.

As well as watersports, the GMA live segments featured music by the fabulous Monks of Phunk, consisting of seasoned Keys musicians Keith Ricks, Chris Case and Matt Watson.

The Casa Marina’s executive chef, Erik Malzahn, tempted Sam with a taste of Key lime pie. While many pie lovers debate the merits of whipped cream topping versus meringue, Erik sidesteps the issue by using both.

Bobby Mongelli, owner of the popular Hogfish Bar and Grill, displayed a selection of Keys-caught seafood for Sam and his audience, ranging from stone crabs and sweet pink shrimp to whole yellowtail and blackfin tuna. (Sam and the crew became Hogfish fans after spending an evening sampling the laid-back emporium’s smoked fish dip and hogfish sandwiches.)

Hogfish Bar and Grill owner Bobby Mongelli (right) shows Sam examples of fish and seafood caught in Keys waters -- the "raw" material for tasty temptations prepared by Hogfish chefs.

Also displaying bounty found in Keys waters was Sean Fisher, grandson of legendary shipwreck salvager Mel Fisher, who showcased more than $4 million worth of gold, silver, emeralds and artifacts recovered from the shipwrecked 1622 Spanish galleons Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita.

Sean even draped a gold chain from the Atocha wrecksite around Sam’s neck — a chain weighing nearly three pounds!

In addition to the live shots, GMA aired a pre-taped segment spotlighting the negative economic impacts along much of the Gulf coast from the oil spill — despite an absence of physical impacts in most locations including the Keys.

Sam Champion models a gold chain recovered by Mel Fisher and his crew from the legendary Spanish treasure galleon "Atocha."

Among those interviewed for that segment were Captain Mike Weinhofer of Compass Rose Fishing Charters, Cece Roycraft of Dive Key West, Adelheid Salas of the Southernmost Hotel Collection, Casa Marina’s Kevin Speidel and Monroe County Commissioner Heather Carruthers, owner of Pearl’s Rainbow.

Throughout their visit, it was very clear that Sam Champion and his crew were captivated by Key West’s easygoing island vibe. In fact, the whole gang was spotted shooting a vignette while standing waist-deep in blue water off the Southernmost Hotel Collection’s Atlantic Ocean beach — fully clothed, toting camera gear, and looking like they were having a great time.

Topics: Events, Food, Highlights, Key West, Local Color, Voices Main Archive

Some people just can’t get enough sweet/tart Key lime pie. Unless, that is, they happened to be in Key West during the Conch Republic Independence Celebration in late April — when a Key lime pie measuring 7 feet in diameter was prepared and served at the island city’s Mallory Square.

David Horan wields a large propane torch to brown the meringue of Key West's gargantuan Key lime pie as "Attila" (holding the microphone) supervises. (Photos by Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau)

The pie, a gargantuan version of the Florida Keys’ signature dessert, was estimated to weigh approximately 450 pounds and serve 1,000 people. It was so big, in fact, that Key West Mayor Craig Cates and the pie’s creators had to use a blowtorch to brown the traditional meringue topping.

“It contains 360 eggs, the juice of 1,080 Key limes, 20 pounds of sugar, 20 pounds of pastry and 90 cans of sweetened condensed milk,” said Sandy Higgs, who has helped mastermind more than a few of the giant confections — and who, despite an easygoing attitude and ready sense of humor, refers to herself as “the Attila of the 7-foot Key lime pie.”

The colossal pie’s pastry crust was baked in four quarters in a pizza oven at the recently opened Bobalu’s on Southard Street (the only oven in Key West large enough for the task).

Key West Mayor Craig Cates takes his turn at the blowtorch to finish the pie's mouthwatering meringue.

“Baking a seven-foot Key lime pie is a little bit more challenging than baking a regular Key lime pie,” said Sandy with magnificent understatement.

Once the four sections were assembled, the massive crust was filled with a smooth-textured “pudding” containing the condensed milk, egg yolks and the juice of the tiny yellow Key lime.

The pie was then trucked down to Mallory Square, where Sandy and its other creators fired up the blowtorch.

“The meringue on the pie is the original recipe — it’s not whipped cream; it’s egg meringue,” she stressed. “’We were fortunate enough to have Mayor Craig Cates brown the meringue with the propane blowtorch.”

The creation of most Key lime pies, of course, doesn’t require such extreme preparation methods.

Key West City Commissioner Mark Rossi (left) and pie creator Bob Bernreuter slice up the mammoth Key lime pie for crowds in Mallory Square.

The famed pie is believed to have originated in Key West in the late 1800s. According to the owner of Key West’s Curry Mansion Inn, a woman named Aunt Sally — the cook for estate owner William Curry — made the first one. On the other hand, Key West historian Tom Hambright surmises that Aunt Sally likely perfected a delicacy that was the creation of area fishermen.

Today, some chefs use graham cracker crust and whipped-cream topping instead of pastry crust and meringue. There’s a quite a debate among Key lime culinarians about which is the “real” way to make the luscious dessert.

In any case, few people visit the Keys without sampling at least one slice of the tart, creamy treat — and on July 1, 2006, its significance was officially recognized.

That’s the day Key lime pie became the official pie of the State of Florida — the result of a vote by the state legislature and subsequent ratification by Florida’s then-governor, Jeb Bush.

As the legislature (and the recent pie-eating crowds in Mallory Square) discovered … how sweet it is.

Topics: Events, Festivals, Food, Highlights, Key West, Local Color, Quirks

Drag racers don’t usually wear hot-pink feather boas, sparkling silver gowns or feather-trimmed boots — unless they’re contestants in Key West’s Great Conch Republic Drag Race, a madcap marathon that takes place each April.

In the Conch Republic, "drag racing" is not for the faint of heart -- or weak of ankle. (Photos by Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

That’s because this rowdy race isn’t designed for high-octane dragsters, but for high-heeled drag stars — female impersonators strutting their stuff complete with big hair, pancake makeup, false eyelashes and elaborate gowns or mini-dresses. (According to race organizers, however, tiaras are optional.)

Each year, more than a dozen daring divas compete in the offbeat event, which is presented by Key West’s Bourbon Street Complex to benefit the Florida Keys’ nonprofit Helpline organization.

“Officials” in black-and-white dresses designed to resemble checkered flags direct the action, while contestants race down a portion of Duval Street, the island city’s aptly nicknamed “main drag.”

In past years, they’ve even had to navigate an obstacle course of tires and trundle unwieldy shopping carts past the crowd. That crowd, by the way, usually numbers several hundred people (and they can get downright fierce about championing their favorites).

Navigating the course along Duval Street can be pretty "tiring" -- particularly for racers in towering heels.

The lively lovelies, handicapped based on the height of their heels above the regulation minimum three inches, are judged on their speed. Judges are also influenced by style (such as it is) — and generally aren’t above accepting a bribe or two to benefit Helpline.

While the energetic entrants TRY to sprint down the course, footwear malfunctions can slow their pace to an uneven stagger. (Sandals and stilettos are carefully prepped for the event, but it’s a rare race that doesn’t include at least one crash.) And a broken heel, the ultimate tragedy, can end a contestant’s dreams of victory.

Past years’ “athletes” have included a Lady Godiva wannabe with towering patent-leather boots, a perfectly-coiffed Barbie Doll clone and a goddess-sized diva whose purple grass skirt didn’t quite match her magenta curls. My personal favorite was a 2009 entrant fetchingly attired in a flowing pink gown, filmy wedding veil and full beard.

Some lively lovelies wear sporting attire with their heels -- a smart choice given the course's peculiar challenges.

The drag challenge is part of Key West’s annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration that commemorates the Florida Keys’ 1982 secession from the United States — a symbolic action prompted by a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint improperly erected at the head of the island chain.

The 10-day celebration also features a gaggle of other events showcasing the Keys’ independent and eccentric spirit.

Highlights include a sea battle with tall ships and weapons that range from water cannons to flying vegetables, the so-called world’s longest parade down Duval Street from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and an open-air bed race billed as “the most fun you can have in bed with your clothes on.”

The 2010 Conch Republic Independence Celebration is set for April 16-25, with the drag race Saturday, April 17. If you’re in Key West at that time, “drag” yourself over to Duval Street and check out the action. Chances are you’ll have (ouch — wait for it) one “heel” of a good time.

Topics: Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key West, LGBT, Local Color, Quirks