The Green Flash?

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Duval Street and Mallory Square, Key West, Florida

There's a guy on one end with a sort-of show involving sort-of acrobatic cats. He laughs at his own jokes with an exaggerated cackle that is more ridiculous than funny. We move on to the black dude with dreadlocks and sunglasses playing a pretty good steel drum. And all around you are several thousand people, all packed shoulder to shoulder, jostling for space, laughing, taking selfies, many drinking alcoholic beverages out of plastic cups. New Year's Eve at Times Square? Nope. This is every single night at Mallory Square in Key West. The party starts building an hour or so before sunset as there is a notable swell of folks heading North on Duval Street until they get to the Northern End or maybe Greene Street where they turn westward and head to the pier.

They are there to watch the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico from the western edge of Key West, the western most (populated) island in the Florida Keys. We join the swelling crowd. As the sun moves lower and lower in the sky, the views are spectacular - sailboats criss cross the water in front of you casting gorgeous shadows in front of the glowing, and growing, disc of the sun. Jet skiers roar past as they are returning their equipment. A few speed boats, ignoring the wakeless harbor speed limit, race past the growing crowd strutting their magnificent equipment. As the sun is just inches from setting, the entire crowd quiets and all eyes turn towards the sun. People wait anxiously as the disc begins to disappear below the horizon. Cameras start clicking. Then, as the last golden sliver of the sun starts to slide into the horizon, everyone is dead silent. There are no voices, there is no movement. Collectively, the crowd holds their breath, the sun makes a final gasp, and disappears. Some in the crowd clap and cheer, others kind of look at each other and ask 'Did you see it?' Most everyone shakes their heads and you hear a lot of 'nopes'. Then, the crowd starts, en masse, heading East - some to their cars and buses, others back to Duval to continue the party.

This is a spectacle, really. A marvel of human crowd behavior. Everyone is, for just a split second, focused on seeing 'The Green Flash'. It is an optical phenomena that is part of the Key West scene - everyone does it, at least once. Apparently some locals, trying to keep the tourism buzz alive, see it every single night. Some people say its one huge tourism fraud and doesn't exist at all. According to on-line sources, like Wikipedia, it is actually a real phenomena caused by the refraction of the sun's rays through the atmosphere as it sets. All along the horizon, it is possible to see, just for an instant the blue/green spectrum of light from the sun bent downwards. It occurs just after sunset but only when atmospheric conditions are perfect. And, because it only lasts a split-second, you have to have your eyes open and focused in the right direction, or you will miss it altogether. Neither Joan nor I saw it last night and, based on the 'nopes' all around us, I don't think anyone else did either. But the human gathering to take in this split second might be the more important show here, and, for that it is worth the experience - Sunset in Mallory Square.

And it is all part of a visit to Duval Street, the party street of Key West. As Joan puts it, this is just insane. Thousands of people are moving up and down a two-mile-long narrow street, barely passable for cars. Lined with art galleries, bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, tattoo parlors, smoking stuff (all kinds) stores, and key lime pie bakeries, it is one long party that starts early and continues late every single day of the year (well, I'm guessing it shuts down for major hurricanes, but maybe not!) There are other places this reminds me of - Taos Plaza (for a week in the fall), Greenwich Village (for maybe the month of September), certainly Bourbon Street in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. But I was surprised by the size of this party and the intensity of it. We were there on a simple Tuesday in April - what would the place be like on a real party day? I can't answer that question, but it has to be completely nuts. And during our several hours there we never saw a policeman, nor did we ever see the need for one. People were having fun, many were drunk, but we saw no overtly bad behavior.

If you're a drinker, this has to be a paradise - there are bars everywhere and having an open container on the sidewalk does not seem to be a crime here. The bars all play loud music and, tellingly perhaps, a lot of it is oriented to our generation - lots of music from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. There's Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Hard Rock Cafe, and dozens of other watering holes. There are crab shacks at every turn and the KW shrimp is a frequent menu item. We had Crab Rangoons and Fried Conch Fritters at Pincers, eating on a balcony overlooking the street (so we could watch the parade). Washed it down with Mojitos and Rum Punches.

If you like to party, you have to come here. If you don't like to party, well, come here for the spectacle and ask yourself 'what's wrong with me?' (17.1.35)

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Photos

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It's Coming?

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Tension is Building

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Almost Sunset

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The Green Flash that Wasn't

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The Customs Building, now a museum.

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Duval Street, Early Afternoon

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Yeah, That's a Walgreen's

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The Oldest House on the Keys

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Hard Rock Cafe

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Smoochies registered AKC name right on a sign!

Comments

[Mickey]

CROWDS
I think this would be too much for me. But I can experience KW vicariously. Thanks.