Vol. 3, No. 9

July 2007

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Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

CBS Conch Virtuoso

CBS "Early Show" weatherman Dave Price, right, blows a conch shell while Key West champion shell blower Dave Parker, left, looks on recently during a live broadcast from Mallory Square. Price was in the Florida Keys to launch the network morning show's Great American Vacation series.

By Carol Shaughnessy
Florida Keys News Bureau

Florida Keys lobsters on the barbecue.

Lobster lovers are to savor sensational crustaceans during the 11th annual Key West Lobsterfest, a tasty salute to Florida’s clawless lobster set for Friday through Sunday, Aug. 10-12.

The festivities celebrate the bounty of the Florida Keys lobster season that runs from Aug. 6 to March 31.

Lobsterfest is to kick off at 8 p.m. Friday with a rollicking party at Rick’s/Durty Harry’s Entertainment Complex, 202 Duval St., and a Lobsterfest Duval Crawl just after sunset.

The Lobsterfest Street Fair is scheduled from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday in the 100 through 400 blocks of Duval Street.

Lobster offerings ranging from appetizers to full dinners, prepared by chefs from 16 local restaurants, are to be available. All lobster to be served will be caught by Keys lobster fishermen.

The Keys' clawless crustaceans, known as spiny lobsters, are famous for their sweet and tender meat.

The street fair also is to feature live music and vendors' booths.

Lobsterfest benefits a scholarship fund for Keys students.

A Sunday lobster brunch is set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at In Kahoots, 3850 N. Roosevelt Blvd. in the Holiday Inn. For brunch reservations, call (305) 294-9986.

For more Lobsterfest information, visit www.keywestlobsterfest.com or email info@ricksand durtyharrys.com.

By Bob Serata
Florida Keys News Bureau

Alvin Brown mans his fishing rod. Photo by Bob Serata/Florida Keys News Bureau

The concrete bridges left from Henry Flagler's early 20th-century railroad traversing the Keys are enjoyed by anglers, cyclists, joggers and people just taking a leisurely stroll to check out the magnificent views. One of those bridges is now safer and easier to use.

Fishing platforms, which resemble cantilevered balconies attached to the bridges, have been completed on the Tom's Harbor Cut Historic Bridge near mile marker 62 oceanside. Each platform is 20 feet long and stretches 10 feet over the water.

The platforms provide room for anglers to lay out their gear, more fishing spots for individual anglers and safe casting areas. At the same time, the main bridge span remains unobstructed for cyclists and pedestrians.

Tom's Harbor Cut Historic Bridge, which is part of the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail, is the first of the bridges to be fitted with the fishing platforms. Plans are in the works to construct fishing platforms on the Upper Keys railroad bridges that are part of the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail.

The trail, which is to run the entire length of the Keys, is being designed to provide a safe place for recreation and non-motorized connections between homes, businesses and schools.

Captain Greg Bounds shows treasure and artifacts Blue Water salvagers recently recovered. Photo by Bob Care/ Florida Keys News Bureau

When divers from shipwreck salvage company Blue Water Ventures Key West recently discovered a gold bar, eight gold chains including a 2-pound, 6-foot-long chain, 11 ornate gold pieces, thousands of pearls and hundreds of centuries-old artifacts, the objects were quickly transported to a conservation laboratory above the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

Located at 200 Greene St., the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and Museum is an internationally recognized center for excavation, preservation, research and exhibition of New World maritime artifacts.

The museum holds the richest single collection of 17th-century maritime and shipwreck antiquities in the Western Hemisphere — including treasures and artifacts from the Spanish galleons Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita, which both sank off the Florida Keys in a 1622 storm.

Much of both galleons' precious cargo was recovered in the 1970s and ‘80s by pioneering shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher, founder of the society and museum, who died in 1998. The search for artifacts, treasures and additional remains from the vessels continues.

For two years, Blue Water Ventures has been seeking the final resting place of the Santa Margarita under a joint-venture agreement with Mel Fisher's Treasures, now headed by Fisher's son Kim Fisher. The recent finds are believed to come from the Margarita.

At the museum, visitors can view previously recovered objects from the Atocha and Margarita shipwrecks. These include gold, silver bars and coins originally destined for the coffers of Spain, a gold chain valued at more than a quarter of a million dollars, a horde of contraband emeralds, religious and secular jewelry, rare navigational instruments and weapons.

Visitors can even hold a gold bar found on one of the wreck sites.

Tickets to explore the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum can be purchased from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays. For more information, visit melfisher.org.

For more travel information on the Florida Keys:
www.fla-keys.com