In 1982 the city of Key West briefly declared its "independence" as the Conch Republic in a protest over a United States Border Patrol blockade. This blockade was set up on U.S. 1, where the northern end of the Overseas Highway meets the mainland at Florida City. The blockade was in response to the Mariel Boatlift. A traffic jam of 17 miles (27 km) ensued while the Border Patrol stopped every car leaving the Keys, supposedly searching for illegal immigrants attempting to enter the mainland United States. This paralyzed the Florida Keys, which rely heavily on the tourism industry. Flags, T-shirts and other merchandise representing the Conch Republic are still popular souvenirs for visitors to Key West, and the Conch Republic Independence Celebration—including parades and parties—is celebrated every April 23.
Sounds like fun right? This year Chris and I had the pleasure of attending this splendid affair. We made it our date night for the week.
The celebration consisted of a reenactment of when Key West tried to gain its independence and became known as "The Conch Republic." This consisted of fake bombs being shot from real cannons from the dock at Mallory Square. There were actors/actresses dressed up as soldiers, a massive sailboat water-fight (representing the US Navy against the Key West Pirates) and toilet paper bombing being dropped from the sky by our very own US air-force
Yep, Key West is kinda cool like that. I mean toilet paper bombs, that is legit!
Then we got some dinner at the infamous BO's Fish Wagon. (sound appetizing?... trust me, it was)
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