“On the south end of Duval Street, just before you hit the water, there used to be a restaurant flanked by red fringed umbrellas with a thatched tiki bar inside. ‘Logun’s Lobster House’ the sign read, and if you wandered into the seaside lot on the right night in the early ’70s, you might have heard a long-haired young Jimmy Buffett play with his band.

‘The first gig we did as the Coral Reefer Band, we did at Logun’s Lobster House, and it was a dollar a ticket,’ says Jimmy Buffett. ‘David had a table on the front row, and at the table was Truman Capote, John Malcolm Brinnin, Dotson Rader, and a few other people.’

The ‘David’ in question was David Wolkowsky, longtime friend and patron of Buffett’s. A few years before the Logun’s gig, in 1968, Wolkowsky opened the Pier House Resort at the north end of Duval Street. The Miami Herald called the opening ‘the turning point in Key West’s transformation from washed-up military outpost to funky tourist destination.’ Wolkowsky recognized the glitter of Key West under the grime of neglect and economic depression. And he recognized something special in Jimmy Buffett. ‘One of the great attributes of his was his tolerance of crazy people … me included,’ he says.” – Keys Weekly