30 December 2018
KEY WEST, Fla. -- New York City may be famed for its traditional New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square, but in Key West revelers can choose from six zany "drops" planned for midnight Monday, Dec. 31.
They include the descent of a drag queen in a huge woman’s high heel; the lowering of a gigantic manmade conch shell; a gargantuan replica of a Key lime wedge "splashing down" into a larger-than-life margarita glass; an offbeat tuna descent; a pirate wench lowered from atop a tall ship’s mast and the newest, the midnight landing of a replica aircraft carrying a “stewardess” at a historic building that housed Pan American Airways’ first ticket office.
All are within walking distance of each other on the subtropical island.
"Here in Key West we love festivities and we love parties, and we know how to ring in the New Year," said Evalena Worthington, who practiced her pirate wench descent late Saturday at the Schooner Wharf Bar. "We have six events here in Key West, including the lowering of the pirate wench.
"I’m hanging on the top of a 100-foot mast having an awesome time ringing in the New Year," she added.
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Video to match this story is available on the Florida Keys News Bureau's FTP server (download details below). B-roll, shot late Saturday afternoon and evening, of objects to "drop" on New Year’s Eve in Key West. File footage of "drag queen drop," "conch shell drop" and crowds celebrating past New Year's Eves in Key West. SOTs with "pirate wench" Evalena Worthington.
FTP Information
Host: news.fla-keys.com
UserID: floridakeys@news.fla-
Password: islands
Folder: News Video
Filename: KeyWestNewYear.mp4
They include the descent of a drag queen in a huge woman’s high heel; the lowering of a gigantic manmade conch shell; a gargantuan replica of a Key lime wedge "splashing down" into a larger-than-life margarita glass; an offbeat tuna descent; a pirate wench lowered from atop a tall ship’s mast and the newest, the midnight landing of a replica aircraft carrying a “stewardess” at a historic building that housed Pan American Airways’ first ticket office.
All are within walking distance of each other on the subtropical island.
"Here in Key West we love festivities and we love parties, and we know how to ring in the New Year," said Evalena Worthington, who practiced her pirate wench descent late Saturday at the Schooner Wharf Bar. "We have six events here in Key West, including the lowering of the pirate wench.
"I’m hanging on the top of a 100-foot mast having an awesome time ringing in the New Year," she added.
###
Video to match this story is available on the Florida Keys News Bureau's FTP server (download details below). B-roll, shot late Saturday afternoon and evening, of objects to "drop" on New Year’s Eve in Key West. File footage of "drag queen drop," "conch shell drop" and crowds celebrating past New Year's Eves in Key West. SOTs with "pirate wench" Evalena Worthington.
FTP Information
Host: news.fla-keys.com
UserID: floridakeys@news.fla-
Password: islands
Folder: News Video
Filename: KeyWestNewYear.mp4