Islamorada

Caribbee Colony on Matecumbe Key

At the height of the Roaring 20’s, wealthy visitors who escaped to Miami for the winter had discovered a new playground – an exclusive island resort in the Florida Keys known fondly as “Caribee Colony.”

Created by railroad tycoon Henry Flagler and real estate magnate George Merrick for their millionaire friends, it was an oceanfront hideaway reached by a daily train from Miami called the “South Seas Special.” Here at “Caribee Colony”, guests enjoyed the escape of balmy breezes and champagne waters of America’s only tropical islands, but the luxuries included docks for yachts, a rail spur for private train cars and even an offshore casino. Alas, the “millionaires’ beach club,” as it was known, passed into legend in less than a decade.

Today, the worthy successor to the Caribee – The Colony, Islamorada – introduces a new level of luxury and sophistication to the Florida Keys.

Spanning the Overseas Highway on more than six acres Oceanside and five acres Gulfside at Mile Marker 80.2 on Upper Matecumbe Key, The Colony features perhaps the preeminent waterfront setting in the entire Keys. Certainly, there are advantages to being on the Atlantic – immediate access to the Gulfstream and its deep water, sunrises over the ocean and gentle ocean breezes. There are advantages to being Gulfside as well – immediate access to the islands of Florida Bay, Flamingo and Everglades National Park, great back country fishing for tarpon, snook, redfish and bonefish, and memorable sunsets when the shining ball disappears with a flash into the Gulf.

The Wacky Sports Challenge (It’s a Keys Thing)

February 13 Mariners Hospital employees will host the Wacky Sports Challenge (It’s a Keys Thing)from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Coconut Cove Resort Marina. Proceeds from the event will be given to the National Kidney Foundation.

The event is co-sponsored by Coconut Cove and Clear Channel Radio. The highlight of the day will be the sports challenge in which teams compete in four events. Teams will navigate a unique kayak course, paddle across the raft lagoon, try to avoid the water balloon burst and comb through scavenger hunt territory.

Each team will have four or five members. Trophies will be awarded to the top three teams. The entry fee is $100. “you don’t need a team to come out to the challenge,” said Fran Glick, the day’s organizer. There will be entertainment, food and drinks, plus there is a beach and a pool on the property. They have planned the day so that everyone who comes will have a a great time.

Throughout the day, Clear channel will sponsor Cast for KIDneys, a chance for everyone to win a little Valentine’s Day Bling. Do not miss this fun day!

Contact: frang@baptisthealth.net or call 305-434-1601

Florida Key’s Sea Base: 30 Years of Adventure

By ROBERT SILK Free Press Staff

ISLAMORADA — In the late 1970s, Sam Wampler was tasked with finding a home base for a new Boy Scouts of America program that provided adventures on the high seas for scouts from around the country.

Wampler, at the time the camping director for the Boy Scouts’ Miami region, found the spot he was looking for in 1980 on the site of a rundown hotel at the southwest tip of Lower Matecumbe.

Two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand scouts later, Florida Sea Base has become a staple of the Boy Scouts of America and a key player in the economic life of Lower Matecumbe Key and surrounding islands.

“We are literally influencing families across this nation,” said Keith Douglass, the Sea Base facilities director.

Florida Sea Base won’t officially turn 30 until this summer. But on Monday the Lower Matecumbe institution was scheduled to hold its birthday party early to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.

Wampler passed away seven years ago, but wife Sharon remembers that first year, when she guesses 1,000 to 2,000 scouts visited the base.

According to local lore, during the summer of 1980 Sea Base staff had to fend off patrons of the old Toll Gate Inn, who were unaware that the former brothel and seedy watering hole had been converted into a place that could safely be called, well, more wholesome.

Over time those Tollgate customers disappeared entirely and Sea Base flourished. New dormitories were built, as well as an administrative building and conference center. In 1982 the scouts acquired the 105-acre Munson Island off Big Pine Key. Then in 2001 the scouts opened the Brinton Environmental Center on Summerland Key.

All are used in the various Sea Base adventures programs, which include multi-day sails, dive training, fishing excursions and primitive camping on Munson.

According to Sea Base officials, today more than 10,000 scouts a year descend upon the Lower Matecumbe locale, which is one of only three High Adventure bases run by the Boy Scouts of America.

Douglass says all those people mean big dollars to the local community. The scouts often visit local attractions like Theater of the Sea and the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum. If their families come for a visit they stay at local lodges. And Sea Base does a lot of its buying locally.

“We spent over $30,000 in bait alone just last year and that’s all local,” Douglass said.

Meanwhile, Sharon Wampler says she can’t believe how big the Sea Base program has grown over the past 30 years.

“Sam is up there just laughing at the whole thing, happy about it,” she said.

rsilk@keysnews.com

Bud n’ Mary’s Marina in Islamorada – Video

http://www.budnmarys.com/

Islamorada Historical Bicycle Tour

10 AM to 12 Noon, Every Saturday & Sunday
Hurricane Monument @ 81.6 mm
(305) 879-0390

Agenda Summery

The tour is approx 6 miles, with frequent stops. This is not a race and we will go at a comfortable pace.
Bring your own bike. If you don’t have one, ask your concierge or contact Back Country Cowboy 305-517-4177 backcountrycowboy.com for rates.

The tour is free. If you would like, a donation will be collected for local youth sport program
Bring water and use sun screen.

Guitars Gone Wild in Islamorada

On Monday, May 18, at the TIB Bank of the Keys Amphitheater, fans can experience two of the most critically acclaimed guitarists playing today — Jennifer Batten and Vicki Genfan.

At one point Batten was in 6 different bands, playing everything from straight ahead rock, to metal, fusion, and funk. A major turning point came when she was selected from more than 100 guitarists to play in Michael Jackson’s band, resulting in 3 world tours over 10 years and playing in front of almost 5 million people. Spring of 98’ saw Batten joining legendary guitarist Jeff Beck, resulting in two CDs (“Who Else,” “You Had It Coming”) and corresponding world tours. Says the Cleveland Plain Dealer of Jennifer’s Rock N Roll Hall of Fame performance honoring Les Paul: “The evening’s showstopper was Jennifer Batten…amazing and technically dazzling.”

Vicki Genfan has captivated both US and international audiences with a unique style that defies description. Winner of the prestigious 2008 Guitar Player’s “Guitar Superstar”Award, Vicki has developed a sound all her own. As Joel Selvin of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, “Genfan doesn’t just play guitar. She also slaps it, tickles it, fondles it, scratches it, tosses it around in her hands and coaxes all kinds of unlikely, rhythmic sounds out of the otherwise simple instrument.”

Vicki is that rare artist whose live performances are becoming legendary among fans. Genfan’s newest release is “UnCovered.”

Cheeca Burns…Part II

The main building at Cheeca Lodge Resort and Spa in Islamorada caught fire for the second time this year around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Keys fire officials. Islamorada Fire Chief William Wagner, who was in Key West but was monitoring the situation by radio, said three firefighters were transported to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier during the response – one for a sprained ankle, one for a cardiac issue and another for possible smoke inhalation. All were reported to be OK later that day.

The cause of the fire appeared to be accidental, according to assistant Islamorada Fire Chief Bruce Stoll. He reported that the fire started on the outside of the building and spread into a stairwell. Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department Chief Sergio Garcia said firefighters had the fire under control by 1 p.m. but were checking the building for flare-ups and were removing part of a stairwell. Fire and rescue crews from Key Largo to Big Pine Key responded.

Jim Costello, resort manager at Cheeca, said a demolition crew accidentally started the fire while cutting into a metal roof with a cutting torch. Sparks from the torch flew and accidentally caught the old thatch roof on fire, Costello said. Costello said the fire was contained quickly and won’t impact the resort’s plans to reopen by the end of the year.

Zirkelbach said the fire started somewhere along the northeast corner of the building opposite the starting point of the New Year’s Eve fire that severely damaged the structure and closed the resort. Zirkelbach said he heard reports that a welder’s torch ignited the fire somewhere on the fourth floor, but fire officials would not confirm it. Wagner said it appeared the fire could have started on a long thatch roof overhanging what used to be an outside dining area on the side of the building facing the ocean.

A thatched overhang on the north side of the building was the source of the first fire that is believed to have been sparked by an ember. The main building housed administrative offices, a lobby, two restaurants, bars, a conference center and 49 guest rooms.

“I’m just really distraught, how it could catch fire again,” said Wagner, who since the first fire has worked with other Keys fire officials to push for more stringent permit requirements for fire retardant on thatched structures. Wagner said his department hadn’t pushed for Cheeca to check its retardant on the ocean-side thatch, which was partially burned in the first fire, because Cheeca had planned to demolish and rebuild the structure. “They were going to demolish the building, so there was no reason to push the issue,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of a big mess and drama.”

Islamorada’s Holiday Isle in Foreclosure

Holiday Isle Resort and Marina, a major hotel resort in Islamorada, is in foreclosure after lenders filed to recover $77 million loaned on an aborted condotel conversion. VII Holiday Isle Funding LLC, a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Starwood Capital Group, filed against several companies affiliated with West Palm Beach developer Adam Schlesinger, and his company, Ceebraid Signal.

It’s unclear how the filing will impact operations at the property, located at mile marker 84.5. But news of the legal action brought reaction from Islamorada’s Mayor Cathi Hill. “In conjunction with the events at Cheeca, this could not have come at a worse time,” Hill said. A New Year’s eve fire closed down Cheeca Resort and Islamorada officials and business leaders are still are unsure when the tony oceanfront resort will reopen.

Holiday Isle is also well-know for its charter boat row, where deep sea fishing boats line up for guests drawn from Holiday Isle and other resort properties throughout the Upper Keys. Charter captains, already on edge over an uncertain future for the resort and marina, talked Friday about their concerns with a weak economy and fewer people willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for a day of fishing. “I don’t know what our future is right now,” said Capt. J.R. Rudzin of the Captain JR charter boat. Read more…

Art Under the Oaks – Islamorada

The annual Art Under the Oaks features arts and crafts in many media and live music on Jan. 17. The show is at the San Pedro Church, Mile Marker 89.5. Food will be available. Admission is free. For details, call 305-853-0651 on Plantation Key in Islamorada. For information about the Keys, call 800-FLA-KEYS (352-5397) ext. 2 or visit www.fla-keys.com.

Cheeca Lodge Burns in Islamorada

A New Year’s Eve fire has heavily damaged part of a landmark Florida Keys hotel but there were no reports of injuries. The fire happened at the Cheeca Lodge & Spa in Islamorada. The hotel was popular with President George H.W. Bush who visited on bonefishing trips.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Becky Herrin says a caller reported seeing flames burning through the roof of the main lodge building just before 10 p.m. Wednesday and that the fire was under control before midnight. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it apparently started in palm thatching that was attached to the main building.

The resort has nearly 200 guestrooms and was fully occupied. Some rooms during the winter start at around $269 a night. Damage to the hotel is still being assessed. Guests in the main building were relocated to other nearby hotels.