The Long & Short Of It: Dachshunds Strut In Annual Key West Parade
KEY WEST (CBS4/Florida Keys News Bureau) - Nearly 200 dachshunds and their owners took to the streets of Key West Monday to strut their stuff in the 8th annual Key West Dachshund Walk.
The procession in the island city's historic Old Town was an informal, family-friendly prelude to the more exuberant antics planned to accompany 2013's midnight arrival.
Canine participants included miniature and standard dachshunds garbed in costumes and offbeat accessories. Among the standouts were dachshunds dressed as "wieners" in oversized fabric "buns," a doggie duo portraying rival college cheerleaders, a bride and groom, a ballerina in a purple tutu, Santa Claus and a "desperate housedog."
North Carolina resident Pam Hughes' 9-year-old dachshund Pepperini wore a tiny gown and rode in a replica red high-heel shoe, spoofing Key West's midnight New Year's Eve "drop" of a female impersonator in a super-sized scarlet heel.
SLIDESHOW: Dachshunds On Parade In Key West
Tens of thousands of human revelers are expected to throng Key West's historic district tonight for the "drag queen drop" and three other warmer-weather takeoffs on New York City's traditional Times Square ball drop.
They include a gigantic manmade conch shell, the symbol of the Florida Keys, "dropping" outside Sloppy Joe's Bar; a pirate wench descending from the top of a tall ship's mast at the Schooner Wharf and a huge reproduction Key lime wedge splashing down into a giant margarita glass at the Ocean Key Resort.
Activities elsewhere in the Florida Keys include midnight fireworks displays and the "drop" of a glittering 7.5-foot replica sailfish, a popular Keys catch-and-release sportfish, at the Postcard Inn in Islamorada.
Source: Andy Newman & The Florida Keys News Bureau
