Fantasy Fest 09'

Usually in October tourism in the Keys picks up a lot, and if you’ve ever been to the Keys around that time of year you’ll know exactly why. The reason behind the major pick up is the famous Fantasy Fest®. You know when fantasy fest is in town because bars, restaurants, hotels, and local business get swarmed with new customers both locals and foreigners looking to take part in this event. Of course who wouldn’t want to take part in a huge 10-day festival full of costumed fun and excitement!

My co-worker has always enjoyed going to this event and has been for the last few years, however I have never been. Since we all had no plans on Halloween most of the guys at work decided to attend this unique event. The only problem is none of us drive cars big enough to carry all of us and our luggage. The next option was to use multiple cars, it sounded like a good idea at first but then I was told that’s its very rare to find a good parking spot for one car – let alone 3 or 4. Our last option was to rent a vehicle and drive down there, and after hearing that I couldn’t believe it didn’t cross our minds at first!

I have a reputation for renting the big 12 passenger vans when there are at least 6 or more people however this time we didn’t really need that much room so we went with a nice Chevrolet Silverado which was considered a premium car at National Car Rental. I actually used to drive a Silverado a few months ago before I got into an accident so I offered to drive the whole way so I can get back into the feel of things and reminisce on the past.

We arrived pretty early in the morning because we didn’t want to miss a thing, the day that we chose to go were the only days that they were having the massive street fairs so we couldn’t have chose a better time! We settled down in our hotel and got something to eat at a local McDonalds and just aimlessly roamed around town until the party started.

Before it even got dark the streets began to get packed with people and you could already tell you were in for a good time, it felt like the day instantly turned to dark and the party just began that’s probably because time went so quickly, before we knew it we were all dancing around these pretty ladies in costumes to some of the newest music out. I couldn’t believe how much fun I’ve been missing out on during all these years!

To tell the honest truth I had so much fun I’m highly considering building a float for next year’s event! After seeing all the fun everyone was having at this event I can say that this is something you want to do at least once in your life, so don’t miss out on it! And you have no excuses when it comes to finances because with the rental car codes I used renting the car was almost just as cheap as filling up my gas tank on my car!