Amazing, this was the 25th year of
Fantasy Fest
in Key West and it was our very first time attending. Even as we
landed in Fort Lauderdale and started our drive down The Keys we were not sure
what to expect. We arrived around 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday night.
After checking into our hotel we decided to go see if anything was still
happening on Duvall Street. Boy
were we in for a surprise!
Cheri started the night wearing a T-shirt from The Hard Rock Hotel in
Las Vegas with dice
placed in the "appropriate places" and denim shorts. But it soon became
very clear she was very over dressed. She quickly had a
street painter replace the dice on her shirt with something more appropriate
(the code on the street is cover it or paint it). After that it
was no stopping her and we immediately got into the swing of things, which is
very easy to do in Key West.
Soon thereafter the shorts came off (it was hot) and Cheri
started making friends and collecting beads!
Wednesday -- Our
First Night at Fantasy Fest ... EVER!
What else is there to do at Fantasy Fest apart from drink, sleep
and people watch? We
stayed out late Wednesday, slept till noon on Thursday, put on a costume and walked miles up
and down Duvall Street.
Thursday
-- Toga Night
Although it's officially Toga Night, we got
such a late start that we decided to make it Toga Day. And since our
hotel was quite far from old town and we did not want to go back and change
... especially since parking is a problem and expensive.
Most days we ate at The Hard Rock Cafe,
but today we found The Naked Lunch, a
clothing optional cafe and bar. It is off the main street, so it also
gave Cheri a break from all the photographers. Once on Duvall Street,
drinking isn't a problem as there are street-side bars set up everywhere to
keep you from overheating. $2 beers are at the little mart across from Captain Tony's,
which was our
starting point every day.
Friday
-- Street
Fair Night
For Friday Cheri revived a costume from one of
our Halloween parties, she rode in to town
as
Lady Godiva.
First we had to have a bite to eat at The Hard Rock
Cafe.
It's a great place to sit outside and watch the sights go by. The
break was nice, but when we tried to leave, Cheri was mobbed by
photographers and reporters ... and the Pillsbury Doughboy?!?.
Later, we stopped by the naked lunch to give
Cheri a break. There was no way she was going to make it the entire
day in that wig!
The one thing that completely overwhelmed us
was the amazing costumes and body painting. People must spend weeks
and months preparing for this!
We had
done a lot of research on the web about Fantasy Fest, but we figured what
you saw was the exception ... but it's definitely the rule. In fact,
what you find on the web isn't 1/3 of what really goes on!
By Saturday Cheri wanted
to get in on the body painting and be a little devillish so she revived
another costume from the past ... the flames! Funny how the light over
her head looks like a halo, but of course we all know it's not.
Saturday --
Parade Day
By the time we finished lunch, thousands of people were on the street
and it was tough to get anywhere because of the photographers. The
majority of them were really nice and asked if they could take a picture. Only
problem was the beads were getting heavy and the temperature was rising.
So I became her bead-carrier and confessor.
After the painting it was off to
The Hard Rock Cafe for lunch.
We watched the parade from a reserved table at
The Hard Rock Cafe which was great as we were away from
the crowd, but the group we met up with were
into spanking OUCH!
Fantasy Fest
was so much fun and very
exhausting. We decided to drive to Miami for Halloween and a relaxing
evening at one of our favorite hotels, The Eden Roc Renaissance in south
Beach. Now that was going from one end of the scale to another.
Sunday -- Going
Home
Little did we know this outfit would become the hit of next year's
Fantasy Fest!
Fantasy Fest '03
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