One of the "must-do's" for every tourist who visits our paradise is to try a piece of key lime pie. Most restaurants in town make a claim "the best key lime pie on the island".
Today, Friday, Nov. 26, the Pier House Resort is hosting the first annual Key West Key Lime Festival to settle the question once and for all. Among the many events scheduled for the afternoon, from 4-9 p.m., a panel of distinguished judges will select the best key lime pie in both a professional and amateur division.
Art that features key limes will be on display on Front Street in front of the Market Bistro. And there will be non-stop live entertainment on stage at the Pier Houses's beach.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Popular singer Christine Cordone will celebrate her 50th birthday this Sunday, Nov. 28, by teaming up with husband Larry Smith for this week's Sunday Showcase at Berlin's Cocktail Bar, upstairs at the A&B Lobster House. Cordone and Smith say they'll perform 50 No. 1 hits, starting with "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth," made famous in 1949 by Spike Jones and the City Slickers. Showtime: 8 p.m.
A few tickets are still available for the Key West Players' Annual Holiday-on-Stage Gala. Join the island's longest-running theatre group tomorrow evening, Saturday, Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. at Wyndham's Casa Marina for terrific food, entertainment, silent auction and awards ceremony. The black0tie-optional event benefit for the Players/Waterfront Playhouse features "The Best of the Key West Classics," a vaudeville meets Key West show starring Joe Leahy, Larry Harvey, Dottie Martin, and others. Former city commissioner Sally Lewis will emcee. For last-minute reservations, call Lori Katz at 296-8269. Tickets are $50.
So popular were the giant yard sales at the East Martello last spring, that the Key West Art & Historical Society will sponsor three Saturday Martello Markets this winter on Nov. 27, Dec. 11, and Jan. 15.
The Martello Market, which features 20 or more different booths, offers a huge variety of artworks, antiques, would-be-antiques, curios, tools, household items, books, jewelry, gifts, and other treasures— some used, some new.
The markets will open at 8 a.m. and run until noon in the East Martello Gardens, 3501 S. Roosevelt Blvd. Market admission and parking is free.
This could be a great opportunity to get a headstart on holiday shopping.
Just in time for Christmas giving, the next Friends of the Library Book Sale is set for next Sataurday, Dec. 4, from 10 a.m. `til 2 p.m., in the Library's Palm Garden.
Special books at half=off the marked prices, along with thousands of books, records and magazines at give-away prices— 25 cents to a dollar! New stock will be added during the day.
Lida Lopez Mancheva, a 23-year-old concert pianist from Havana, will present a free recital of Cuban compositions next Friday, Nov. 26, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 8 p.m.
The evening is sponsored by Conchord Cayo Hueso, originally BASTA!, a local humanitarian aid organization. It has been transporting food and medicine to Cuba since 1992. The group's latest effort will be to carry 100 pianos to Havana by summer utilizing a number of its humanitarian fleet of registered vessels in the Florida Keys.
Interested in joining the Key West Film Society and/or volunteering to help with this season's film series? The Society has set a series of informational meetings at the Monroe County Library, 700 Fleming St., Dec. 1, 8, and 15, 6-7 p.m. The new cinema series begins Dec. 20 at the Waterfront Playhouse. Info: Michael Shields at 294-5857.
X-POSE— An opening reception for artist Janet M. Mueller and her new paintings, oil on canvas, is scheduled for tomorrow evening, Saturday, Nov. 27, 6:30-9:30 p.m., at Glass Reunions, 825 Duval St.
Key West's own King of Soul, Robert Albury appears this Saturday night, Nov. 27, at The Green Parrot Bar. The party starts at 10 p.m.