Key West Lou / CARS SPEEDING INTO KEY WEST…..PARTY TIME!

The summer of 2020 has been a long summer. A lost summer.

The end is here, however. We are into Labor Day weekend. Many coronavirus rules have been lifted or cut back.

The barbarians are at the gate. It was obvious yesterday afternoon. I was in the hospital for 3 hours beginning at 11:30. Two hours of that time strapped to a table while all kinds of pictures were taken.

Ran into a friend while waiting in Imaging at the hospital. Rita from the Sons and Daughters of Italy. Coronavirus has prevented any meetings for several months. It was good to see her again.

When I left, I decided to drive to Duval to see if I was correct in assuming the hordes would be coming.

I did not even need to get to Duval. I hit Route 1 at College Road. The cars were streaming into Key West non stop. Fast. One after another. I looked north. As far as the eye could see, cars!

To appreciate what I am describing, everything was moving south. Nothing north.

It took forever to get onto Route 1. Even with a light. The light had been fixed to let 2 or 3 cars make a right. It was green for those heading to Key West for several minutes at a time.

Duval. Some people. Not many. Still coming, checking into hotels, etc. Half the people not wearing masks. Some store fronts empty. Almost half of Duval’s 200 block with consecutive closed stores. The busiest block in Key West with empty stores!

My sense is the bars and restaurants did well last night. Will do better tonight. The hotels, also.

The merchants will make money for 3 days. Then what? I fear in 3 weeks coronavirus is going to surge in Key West and everything will have to close again.

I can and cannot condemn the businesses who will make a buck this weekend.

I condemn them for their greed/desire to make a buck not caring for the people who will get sick because of it.

On the other hand, they are desperate. Need to reopen, make a buck.

El Presidente Trump.

Yesterday was not his best. His military are “losers” and suckers” did not sit well with the American people. It has to have been the worse day of his Presidency. Might have been the one that put a nail in the coffin for real.

I read somewhere this morning that his comments made him look like he was against America. Suggested he might actually be a traitor.

I believe the last sentence a step too far. However, who knows with this guy.

Various governmental agencies require employees to attend ant-racism training programs. Trump yesterday described the programs as “anti-American…..divisive, anti-American propaganda.” He ordered them shut down.

Some believe Trump is a racist. What do you think?

Back to the “losers…..suckers” military cemetery issue.

Trump denies his hair had anything to do with his not attending the ceremony.

To back up his contention, Trump said he “called home” to Melania and told her how upset he was for not being able to visit the cemetery. Told her how the bad weather prevented the helicopter from flying.

He said, I “called home, I spoke to my wife and I said ‘I hate this. I came here to go to that ceremony.”

Some fact checking in order. Facts First reported: “Melania was on the same trip with the President and was scheduled to attend the cemetery visit. She was not in the U.S.”

The man cannot even keep his lies straight. No wonder when he speaks so many.

Senior Adviser to the President Stephen Miller is a sick man. Mentally. He is behind everything bad concerning immigration, writes many of Trump’s highly negative speeches about this and that.

He is a propagandist artist. I have often compared him to Hitler’s Goebbels. They even look alike.

Stephen and Katie were married in February. She too is a political adviser. She was secretary to Vice President Pence. She served as the public relations person for the coronavirus task force.

A mere 28 years old.

A strange duck. She has tattooed on the inside of her lip YOLO. Stands for “You Only Live Once.”

It has been reported that “the only thing she loves or values in the world is power. Anyone she attaches to in her life is a pawn to feed her addiction to it.”

Irma back in the news. The terrible hurricane that hit the Florida Keys on 9/10/17.

I read today that Irma was the “most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the open Atlantic region.”

Note “in the open Atlantic region.” The article discussed Irma’s overall power and damage over a period of several days. Days when it did significant destruction to Barbuda, St. Berthelemy, St. Martin, Anguilla, the Virgin Islands,and the U.S. mainland.

The article stated Irma was a Category 5 two days before it hit Key West. Winds were 180 mph on 9/5. Hit landfall in the U.S. as a Category 1 (when it went over Key West). Only to become a Category 4 when 16 miles later it was over Cudjoe Key. Cudjoe Key 16 miles north of Key West.

Irma’s damage estimated at $50 billion.

I wrote a book about Irma. Titled: Irma and Me. You might enjoy reading it. The book is available on amazon.com.

Today, the Kentucky Derby.

The blog Shoestring Weekend wrote this morning that the Kentucky Derby has ties to the Florida Keys.

A street named Churchill Downs is somewhere near Mile Marker 104 bayside at a tiny bridge crossing a canal near Key Largo.

The Shoestring blog indicated it did not know why a road in the Keys would be named Churchill Downs. I did some searching and came up with nothing, also.

The Kentucky Derby this evening at 7:02 EST. Love horse racing!

My Cocktails at 7 tonight is being moved up 15 minutes so I can watch the Derby. My mint julep a Beefeater on the rocks.

Enjoy your day!

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