Legendary Bars Are Back Open In The Conch Republic
For all its destruction in the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico in particular, there is some good news regarding Hurricane Maria.
It will avoid Florida and most critically, the Florida Keys and Key West.
The latter two places are still reeling from the lashing they took from Hurricane Irma and could not withstand a direct hit from another big storm.
“The model output consistently shows Maria tracking just east of the Bahamas and staying east of Florida,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski.
The weather in the Keys is sunny, but hot and humid. The temperatures in Key West are in the upper 80s. Showers are forecast for Saturday and Monday.
In the Middle Keys, Marathon is due to get thunderstorms on Saturday. This could hinder relief efforts, although 98 percent of electricity had been restored to the Upper and Lower Keys as of Wednesday.
Key West also has power and Sloppy Joe’s bar and restaurant finally reopened on Wednesday after having been closed for two weeks. It’s only serving drinks and not food, but in the afternoon about a dozen patrons were enjoying cocktails in this famous Key West watering hole.
The outside bar at the Hog’s Breath Saloon is scheduled to open on Thursday, Sept. 21. Tree Bar, the cool outside bar that really consists of just a counter making great drinks that’s in the same area as Hog’s Breath, opened the previous Sunday.
At least one hotel has announced it’s reopening this week – awning or no awning – but most are staying closed for at least the next couple of weeks. Florida Keys officials have declared the Keys and Key West basically closed to tourism for the immediate future. They are hoping to begin accepting tourists in early to mid October.
This should not impact to major upcoming events in Key West, Fantasy Fest in mid- to late October and the Jimmy Buffett Parrotheads gathering known as Meeting of the Minds the first of November.
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