I blew out my flip-flop

Stepped on a pop-top

Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home

                                Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffet, 1977

Rumor has it Jimmy Buffet was kicked out of every bar in Key West. Rumor also has it that Key West needs more patrons to kick out of bars.

But is it that simple? With a national recession, the economy is on everyone’s mind. So far it’s been the number one issue in this election cycle. The exchange rate, after all, is 1 Euro for 1.5 dollars. Iconic communities like Key West are not immune to the effects of an economic downturn. On Duval Street, an estimated 10% of the commercial properties are for sale. Some locals say that business is down anywhere from 20 to 40 percent. Are there really that many fewer people coming to Key West? Maybe Key West needs to adjust to a changing demographic that is visiting the city. After all, you won’t sell a product that people don’t want to buy.

“Retail sales. We’re seeing a decline in the individual who is buying items,” Mayor McPherson told me. From my short experience in Key West, I have to agree. I had dinner at Hard Rock Café Key West on the north end of Duval on Wednesday night, March 12. They were having their Hawaiian Tropic Spring Break Bikini Contest, which drew in a huge crowd. Yet despite the gawkers, I saw almost no one go to the Hard Rock gift shop, which was right next to me, to buy a t-shirt or souvenir. I would have expected to see a lot more sales, given the number of people in the crowd. Hard Rock Café declined to comment.

Jodi Weinhofer of the Lodging Association of the Florida Keys and Key West told The Miami Herald, "Hotels are doing OK," she said. "But you can't turn on the radio or television and hear something negative about the economy. That can affect spending habits." For many of the people in town, recession is a dirty word. Some, however, believe that Key West is changing, not necessarily fading away.

Brant Voss started out at The Original Ghost Tours as a tour guide. He now owns the business. About five years ago, founding owner David L. Sloan asked if anyone wanted to buy. “I said stop right there,” Voss explained. “My girlfriend and I put the money together and we bought the business.” Brant told me that he sees a change in the tourists visiting Key West: more families. He says that The Original Ghost Tours prepared in advance for the change, and has benefited from it. In fact, the business has expanded; before he bought Ghost Tours, the tour would leave from the lobby of La Concha Hotel. Now Ghost Tours has its own store next to La Concha. “Key West has gotten a little cleaner. It’s gotten a little less rambunctious. Ghost Tours actually talks about how change affects Key West. We’re a historical tour, and if you look at Key West, Key West has always been changing.”

Tom Greenwood, Museum Store Manager for the Key West Art and Historical Society agrees. “From my perspective, Key West is a very interesting segment of American history.” He also says that Key West has seen recession before.  “Historically Key West has been a boom or bust town. During the wrecking era, it was the wealthiest city per capita, even while New York, Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, other port cities were doing well. But during the Civil War, Key West fell into hard times. It came back with the cigar industry and with sponging (gathering sponges). During the Depression, the WPA made this a destination for visitors from all over the world to enjoy. It’s been a tourist economy since then.”

One major player in the Key West tourist economy declined to comment, but let me take his picture after I asked. Robert is a 104 year-old haunted doll, and a major tourist attraction in Key West, drawing attention from Travel Channel and Real World: Key West. For his efforts, Robert is allowed to stay at the East Martello Museum for no charge – which can’t be said for all of Key West’s visitors.

Jacque Sands is the General Manager of the Hemingway Home and Museum. “Our hotel rooms have been cut back,” she said, “because they have been converted into condos. They’re more for seasonal livers who come down here four or five months out of the year. And they don’t visit our attractions as much as the tourists do.” With fewer rooms, the price per room goes up, putting it out of range for some visitors. In a tourist economy, that could be deadly. Take it from Carla Rubio and her friends who came down to Key West from University of Florida for Spring Break. They stayed at a campsite because they couldn’t afford a hotel room. That didn’t stop them from having fun. “We’re hitting the beach and having a good time.”

But it’s not just rooms that are out of Spring Break price range. “They have a lot of cool art galleries here, but they’re a little out of my spending budget. I can’t afford it,” University of Miami student Lindsey Weissert said while dining at Crabby Dick’s. “We’ll be here for a couple of days. I plan on spending most of my money on drinks.” That statement may scare some residents of Key West, who want to see it become more upscale, like a quiet island getaway. It’s been upscale before, according to Peggy Schwing, a resident for 22 years. “It’s gone from a ghost town to more upscale to more like a reggae vibe. Now it’s becoming upscale again.” When asked if that was good for the island, she told me, “I think it’s going to close down a lot of our local clientele, our mom and pop stores.”

“We take personal pride in what goes on here. You come to Key West for the local flavor, what you can’t get anywhere else,” Brant Voss reiterated. Nevertheless, the island is changing in an ailing economy that doesn’t know if it should be upscale or scandalous. But if I had to take a guess, I’d say that there will always be rum-running rebels on the island, as indicated by the pirate ship that sails at sunset. This is the Caribbean, after all.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I smell those shrimp. They’re beginning to boil.

Check out my video for more.

Thanks to Markeem Middleton for his help with this week's video!