Quirky Conch

07/18/2025

If I want honesty, I have to live it first. Integrity starts with me—being real, even when it’s hard. The world doesn’t need more noise; it needs truth. I can’t expect what I’m not willing to give.

07/16/2025

07/16/2025

07/09/2025

Anyone Else Agree??? 🤣💝😂🤷

07/09/2025

The Port of Call HOA has decided to pause their peacock removal plans after an overwhelming response from the community. 🦚

This update shows just how powerful our collective voices can be. While feeding wildlife remains against regulations, the conversation around these beautiful birds isn’t over.

Click below to read their full statement and stay informed about what’s next for Islamorada’s peacocks.

07/09/2025

Raymond Johnson and Johnny “Brush” Pinder were prominent members of two founding families of the Upper Keys. This photo captures them proudly displaying their handmade “sponge necklaces” at Pinder’s residence on Plantation Key—located across from what is now Founders Park.

Raymond was the youngest son of Samuel and Caroline (Tedder) Johnson, while “Brush” was the eldest son of John and Sarah (Russell) Pinder. Both men were respected entrepreneurs whose livelihoods drew from both the land and sea.

Their ventures included agriculture, fishing, and maritime transport. Notably, in 1902, “Brush” Pinder constructed a 60-foot schooner named Island Home. The vessel was used extensively for transporting passengers and local produce and is believed to have inspired the name of the Islamorada town site established a few years later.

In 1906, Henry Flagler’s associate, William Krome, purchased a 15-acre tract of land at MM 82 (bayside) from brothers John and James Russell. He platted a township there, adopting the name Isla Morada—a Spanish derivation of Island Home

07/08/2025

🗞️ BREAKING (but also totally Florida Keys): the Mangrove Monkey is on the loose! 🐒🌴

Last night, just after the green flash blinked out over Big Pine, two stone-cold sober locals watched a rusty-black blur vault a powerline, stick the landing in the mangroves, and melt into the shadows with the confidence of a coconut-thieving pro. Within minutes the chatter fired up:

“Saw him near Spanish Harbor!”

“Pretty sure he eyeballed my banana tree.”

“Tell Bubba to lock the rum-muffins!”

So… are we really talking wild monkeys in 2025?
Turns out the idea isn’t bananas:

1. Historic precedent. In ’73 a biomedical outfit parked 1,383 rhesus macaques on nearby Key Lois. They trashed 30 acres of mangrove before a federal judge ordered a full primate eviction by 2000—but Keys legends have longer lifespans than stone crabs.

2. Hollywood footnote. Apple TV’s series “Bad Monkey” filmed scenes on Big Pine, Sugarloaf, and along U.S. 1 last year. The crew swears every prop (and any monkey stand-ins) went north when they wrapped… but locals figure a couple of “bad monkeys” may have decided the Keys life beats a return to L.A. traffic.

3. Pets gone rogue. Florida still issues Class III permits for capuchins—the cute organ-grinder types. One snapped latch plus a hurricane gust, and voilà: a self-appointed Mangrove Monkey living its best island life.

4. Mainland supply line. Homestead and Miami house several primate facilities; one wrong turn on U.S. 1 and—boom—Keys vacation for a curious capuchin.

Your Quirky Conch field guide

📸 Snap, don’t snack. A clear photo (from a safe distance) helps wildlife officers confirm the sighting.

☎️ Report it: FWC invasive-species hotline 888-IVE-GOT-1. The sooner they know, the better for monkey and mangroves.

🚫 No feeding, no selfies. Even the adorable ones bite—and some macaques carry germs you do not want as vacation souvenirs.

Until then, keep your bananas close, your cameras closer, and remember: in the Florida Keys, the line between Hollywood fiction and roadside reality is thinner than a conch-shell lip. 😉

Thank you to Aileen Foust the original poster in the group
Big Pine Key hosted by Forks & Stix (amazing restaurant)!

Help us track the legend 🐒

⁉️ Spot the furry fugitive? Post the pic, drop the location pin, and tag + . Best shot scores eternal bragging rights.

Follow and ❤️ Quirky Conch for more............

Stay quirky, Keys fam.

07/07/2025

🌴🌀 QUIRKY CONCH HURRICANE HEADS-UP 🐚

The Pentagon just served notice that it will pull the plug on the microwave “night-vision” feed from its three DMSP satellites no later than July 31. Those over-the-horizon eyes let forecasters spot a storm’s eyewall in the dark and catch rapid-fire jumps in strength before sunrise.

Why this matters

Night-time microwave passes will drop from roughly 6-8 to 3-4 per storm, doubling the blind window when a cyclone can power-up unseen.

NOAA warns forecast skill—especially intensity calls—could “lose decades” of progress, reviving the dreaded **“sunrise surprise.”**

DoD cites a “significant cybersecurity risk,” but the replacement Weather System Follow-On satellite won’t feed NOAA until late 2025 / early 2026.

Keys impact—plain & simple
1️⃣ Larger error bars → county officials may call evac orders earlier or wider to hedge the guesswork.
2️⃣ Insurance underwriters price risk off forecast confidence; shakier data often = higher coastal premiums.
3️⃣ Our media feeds will still look slick, but the underlying data is thinner—trust the updates, not just the graphics.

Game plan (Keys-style)
1️⃣ Prep shutters & go-bags now, not when the cone shows up.
2️⃣ Pass this on to the neighbor who thinks spaghetti models are dinner—keeping everyone informed shrinks the danger.

Stay salty, stay ready, and remember: CONCH is spelled C-O-N-C-H—and that’s one roof-rattling “conk” we don’t want to hear this season.

07/06/2025

🌀 Just Landed:
Quirky Conch T's
Get your 🦚 PEACOCK TEEs 🦚 Here.

Our T-shirts have finally dropped, like a fat grouper hitting your line.

Right now, it’s tees only. More gear coming soon – patience, grasshopper.

👇click this link👇
https://www.quirkyconch.com/merchandise