deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

The place where any time day or night you are likely to hear a Jimmy Buffett song playing somewhere. The southern most city in the contiguous US: Key West.

Key West is the county seat of Monroe County Florida. It is an island in the straits of Florida composed of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key and Stock Island. The Spanish named it ‘Cayo Hueso’ (‘bone cay’ because it is an island built on coral.). During the Civil War Florida joined the confederacy but Key West remained in Union hands because of a large naval base located on the island.

Completely depending on tourism, the people of Key West reached a boiling point in 1982. The US Border Patrol set up a roadblock on US 1 supposedly searching for illegal immigrants being smuggled from Cuba and other southern points. Cars were backed up for 17 miles and tourism stopped for a time.

Tongue in cheek people organized and sent the US notice that they were seceding from the US and forming ‘The Conch Republic”.

April 23rd is considered Independence Day for the Conch Republic. Their official motto is: “A Sovereign State of Mind”. The Conch Republic stands for: …”seeking only to bring more “Humor, Warmth and Respect” to a world in sore need of all three”. Well…you can’t argue with that. Today we fly the flag to promote ‘Humor, Warmth and Respect.’