What a shocker. Yesterday Debbie and I heard that one of Key West’s biggest seasonal rental agencies has already sold out for next year. We’re talking 2015/2016. Completely booked even before the end of this season. We have been here for 25 years and this the first time we have heard of such an early full house. Moreover, this is the first year that we have heard our friends in the food and beverage industry tell us that rents had become so exorbitant that staff is being forced to live well up the keys as far as Big Pine. Finally, the “For Sale” market has become extremely tight in Key West with as few new listings as we have seen since the financial crisis. Combine what I have outlined here with two consecutive horrific winters in northern climes, and we in the Keys are expecting a historical surge of seasonal visitors next season.

OK then, my message to you is to make your plans to visit Key West next season today, not next week or next month!

Here is a battle plan for you. If a seasonal rental is for you, contact Truman & Co. If cost is no “barrier to entry,” “contact Sunset Key Guest Cottages, The Gardens Hotel, Marquesa Hotel and or The Casa Marina Resort. Both Matt and Becky had their wedding receptions at the Casa. Try to speak with the on-site front desk and not the central reservation office. And do not let Reservations try to dump you into the Casa’s sister property The Reach. This is simply not a blue-chip property no matter the jive sent your way.

If you are on a budget or simply want to keep it funky in Old Town, check out the Eden House. I walk by the Eden House daily and love this unique local’s favorite. There are many other blue-chip options in Key West, and I have but scratched the surface.

How about if you are ready to throw in the towel and dump your freezer belt manse and move to Key West? The number one property agent in Key West is our long-time friend Lynn Kaufelt, one of the first people Debbie and I met in Key West 25 years ago. You can reach Lynn at Truman & Co.

Two additional notes: (1) Do not hit Key West without your Margit Bisztray info package (and Margit’s Key West Insider app). Margit is a yoga friend of Debbie’s as well as Key West’s leading food/restaurant writer/critic. Her writing on all things Key West food and beverage is the blue chip standard. (2) Debbie and my favorite new Old Town Key West restaurant is Off The Hook on Simonton Street. Reserve for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (beer and wine). Off The Hook is locals casual, as is most of Key West. You will need neither a sport jacket or tie nor a car in Key West.

Finally, hit the Key West link at the top of our home page for a raft of additional Key West posts Debbie and I have contributed through the years. Have a great time in Key West, America’s only tropical island.

I came across this article thanks to the folks over at WSJ Adviser. Apparently the kids don’t want all of your stuff.

A seismic shift of stuff is underway in homes all over America.

Members of the generation that once embraced sex, drugs and rock-and-roll are trying to offload their place settings for 12, family photo albums and leather sectionals.

Their offspring don’t want them.

As baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, start cleaning out attics and basements, many are discovering that millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, are not so interested in the lifestyle trappings or nostalgic memorabilia they were so lovingly raised with.

Thanks, Mom, but I really can’t use that eight-foot dining table or your king-size headboard.

Whether becoming empty nesters, downsizing or just finally embracing the decluttering movement, boomers are taking a good close look at the things they have spent their life collecting. Auction houses, consignment stores and thrift shops are flooded with merchandise, much of it made of brown wood. Downsizing experts and professional organizers are comforting parents whose children appear to have lost any sentimental attachment to their adorable baby shoes and family heirloom quilts.

To make matters worse, young adults don’t seem to want their own college textbooks, sports trophies or T-shirt collections, still entombed in plastic containers at their parents’ homes.

The 20- and 30-somethings don’t appear to be defined by their possessions, other than their latest-generation cellphones.

Related video:

One of the problems facing the U.S. today is that although there are a record number of Americans in the labor force today, there is also a labor shortage. Many businesses are desperately trying to find workers, writes the Heritage Foundation’s economist Stephen Moore. Employers are facing a shortage of either trained employees or low-skilled employees willing to work.

Read here from Mr. Moore his reasoning on why so many Americans are not working and what can be done to help our younger generation get a job.

Unlike Asian autocrats, who tended to be modernizers (like Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew), Arab autocrats tended to be predators “who used the conflict with Israel as a shiny object to distract their people from their own misgovernance,” writes Thomas L. Friedman in the NYT.

Egypt may send troops to defeat the rebels in Yemen. If this should happen, notes Mr. Friedman, “it would be the first case of a country where 25 percent of the population can’t read sending troops to rescue a country where the water comes through the tap 36 hours a month to quell a war where the main issue is the 7th century struggle over who is the rightful heir to the Prophet Muhammad — Shiites or Sunnis.” Read more here about a region “bulging with unemployed, angry youths and schools that barely function.”

Jimmy Buffett played an amazing 30 song set last night in Key West. I’m sorry to have missed it in person, but I enjoyed watching it on Margaritaville.tv from chilly Newport, RI. You can watch JB’s show from last night, live at the San Carlos Institute in Key West, FL, below.

In 2008 he played the Newport Folk Festival where long-time Coral Reefer band steel drum player Robert Greenidge and Ukele savant Jake Shimabukuro covered George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”.

There’s a great cover story in Rolling Stone on Ringo Starr, “Being Ringo: A Beatle’s All-Starr Life” in which he discusses his friendship with Harrison and his current tour. You can hear Starr and Harrison playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with Eric Clapton and an A-list of players below.

Starr will soon be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone asks “If you’re between 20 and 80 and someone mentions Ringo, what do you do?” The answer is that everyone instantly knows Ringo. The magazine explains “His real name is Richard Starkey. His wife calls him Ritchie. He’s 74. He is one of rock’s great drummers, and–even if he doesn’t have the song writing gifts of the other Beatles–he is one of the finest entertainers in the history of Western civilization.” Ringo is ubiquitous, and even after the Beatles he has over 800 solo performances. Certainly Hall of Fame material.

Jimmy Buffett While My Guitar Gently Weeps at the 2008 Newport Folk Festival

Here’s a George Harrison While My Guitar Gently Weeps with its own all-star lineup.

Our friend and guide to Paris’ culinary wonders, David Lebovitz, will be appearing in the U.S. at multiple locations to sign his book My Paris Kitchen.

David writes:

I’m supposed to be locked away, with my nose to the grindstone. But I’ll be making a few appearances in various places in the U.S. during the next few weeks, as well as participating in a literary festival in Ireland in May. As always, you can find out more information on my Schedule page and you can get additional information, and maps, on the Facebook event pages, which are linked below. Although not necessary, you can RSVP for events if you wish.

Note: If you’d like a signed copy of a book and can’t make it to the event, or any of the events, you can order one through from Omnivore Books and they’ll send you a personally signed copy.

Booksigning at Omnivore Books

This Friday, I’ll be back in my old stomping grounds. Yup, San Francisco, at the terrific Omnivore Books, signing books from 6 to 7pm. (Facebook event page)
Cooking Class at De Gustibus in Macy’s

On Monday, April 13th, I’ll be teaching a demonstration class in New York City. You can sign up here, while spaces are available. (Facebook event page)
New York Culinary Experience

I’ll be participating in the New York Culinary Experience, leading a master class on April 11th along with other chefs from around the world. More information is at their website.
An Evening with David Lebovitz

Well, you don’t get me for the entire evening, but I’ll be at the University of Virginia on Thursday, April 16th at 6:30pm for a chat and interview. The event is open to the public. (Facebook event page)
Booksigning in Charlottesville

I’ll be at Barnes and Noble in Charlottesville, Virginia, on April 17th at 5:30pm to sign books. Stop by and say hi! (Facebook event page)

Ballymaloe LitFest

Fancy a trip to Ireland? I’ll be at the incredible Ballymaloe School of Cookery in Cork, participating in the Ballymaloe Litfest. The festival takes place May 15-17th. (Facebook event page)