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Key West New Year's Eve Features Pirate Wench, Drag Queen Drops

KEY WEST (CBSMiami/FKNB) - New Year's Eve partiers seeking a warm-weather celebration can find it in Key West where, in a lighthearted takeoff on New York City's famed "ball drop," plans call for the "drop" of a drag queen perched in a supersized high-heeled shoe.

At the Bourbon St. Pub/New Orleans House complex, renowned female impersonator Sushi is to star in the "Red Shoe Drop" festivities for the 24th year.

Seconds before midnight, a gigantic red high heel carrying the elaborately gowned Sushi is to be lowered from the complex's balcony toward the cheering revelers below.

Revelers are also to celebrate in Key West by watching a gigantic manmade conch shell, the symbol of the Florida Keys, descend to the roof of Sloppy Joe's Bar. In the city's Historic Seaport, a pirate wench is to be lowered from atop the mast of the tall ship America 2.0 beside the Schooner Wharf Bar.

Spectators are also to see a huge replica Key lime wedge splash down into a larger-than-life margarita glass during a waterfront gala, and the "landing" of a flight attendant in a replica aircraft section at a spot called the birthplace of Pan American World Airways.
Activities elsewhere in the Florida Keys included waterfront fireworks, other offbeat "drops" and parties to welcome 2022.

Click Here for celebrations in Broward and Miami-Dade.

(©2021 CBS Local Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Florida Keys News Bureau contributed to this report.)

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