Meeting of the Minds Info
Go back to Ken's Buffett and Jim Morris Page
Question? Comment? Email me at
jenkinskb@yahoo.com
MOTM
- In case you don't know, Meeting of the Minds (MOTM) is the annual Parrot Head
"convention" held in Key West, FL in late October or early November (usually
the week after Key West's annual
Fantasy Fest
). It is sponsored
by the official Parrot Head Club umbrella organization,
Parrot Heads in Paradise.
About 3,500+
parrot heads descend on Key West for great friends, music, weather, and fun! It is
officially scheduled for four days, but most people go for about a week.
-
The official home page for MOTM
is at the
Parrot Heads In Paradise web site.
Here you will find tons of info about registration (don't forget to register), the events
schedule, hotel discount info, airline
discount info, entertainment, and all kinds of useful info.
- Check out and/or read about pictures from past MOTM's.
- See pictures pictures from Jimmy's surprise appearances at MOTM 2004.
- See pictures pictures from Jimmy's surprise appearances at MOTM 2002.
-
Key West weather forecast
- Map of Key West
-
Key West Information Page including a map,
and many cool links to travel guides, Key West bars, etc.
Many of the famous landmarks you've heard of are on the map.
- As I mentioned above, check out the MOTM home page for official phone numbers to
get group discounts for car rental, airfare, hotel, etc. Make sure you ask for the parrothead
discount when calling hotels and you will also get a 10% discount if you call the
designated airline group telephone numbers. Actually, you can get a year round
discount at Avis. I have used this before. It's worth it and PHIP gets a
portion of the proceeds for charity.
To reserve a car, contact Avis Meeting Services at 800-331-1600 and use your Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number K199476. Or reserve online and have your discount number automatically included in your reservation and receive an email confirmation.
The host hotel for MOTM is the
Casa Marina, which is on the south end of the island on Reynold's St. They run
a shuttle between the hotel and the Old Town "party district"
, which is pretty much the
north end of Duval where Mallory Square is located -- along with many of Key West's
most famous bars: Sloppy Joe's, Hog's Breath, Capt Tony's, Rick's, etc.
If you look at the MOTM schedule, you'll see that several events are at the Casa Marina.
But there are also a lot of events at the north end of town, so it's pretty much your own
preference as to where you wanna stay. There is a free shuttle running between the Casa Marina
and the north end of Duval, and there are plenty of taxis available too.
Take a look at a Map of Key West.
Duval Street is only about 15
blocks, so you can walk the whole thing in a short period of time. The addresses on
Duval run from the 100 block (Sloppy Joe's) at the north end (Gulf of Mexico)
up to about the 1500 block at the south (Atlantic Ocean) end of Duval, which is also
the Southernmost Point in the continental US.
Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant and store is located at the 500 block.
Once again, you should go to the MOTM web site and try and use one of the recommended airlines.
They have negotiated discounted rates. If you call early you will get a great deal
and are more likely to get a convenient flight.
Drive from Miami or fly to Key West?
Do you want to fly to Miami and drive down to Key West or do you want to fly all the way there?
I can tell you from personal experience the drive is 160 miles and will take you 4+ hours. I've
done the drive twice. Much of the drive is just a single lane in each direction.
Some parts of the drive are really pretty and some parts
make me realize why Jimmy wrote the lyric about how trailers are "smothering my Keys so much".
If you get your airline reservation early enough, it won't cost you much more to get to Key
West than it will to Miami. It's a nice drive to do once if you can't find a convenient flight,
but that's about it. It kills a large part of two days if you do it.
Map of Key West
