August 15th Will Be A Sad Day: Good-Bye “Top of La Concha”

The story by Rebecca Rankin [Party At The Top –  Issue #19, July 19, 2013] is so true. Every time I hear of another Key West tradition ending because the wealthy want it to, I feel heartsick and feel that another piece of the island I love is dying. I lived there for 8 years and visited for 36 years before that. The one thing I did as often as I could was trike down Duval, lock my bike and take the elevator to The Top of La Concha. No matter what else was going on, standing there looking out on that beautiful panoramic view of the island lifted my spirits, and that of any visitor I welcomed to Key West. I can’t believe they are really putting a private spa up there and denying all of us the privilege of that wonderful view forever. It is the highest place we could all go for free to see the whole island in all its splendor surrounded by those beautiful merging blue and green waters of the Atlantic, the Gulf, the Straits and the Caribbean Sea. August 15 will be a sad day for locals and visitors to Key West, and I wish it wouldn’t happen.

Peggy Butler

West Palm Beach