The Florida Keys extend southwest from the tip of the peninsula
The great peninsula of Florida extends over 400 miles south from
the eastern seacoast of North America. Below its southern tip, a
curved archipelago, consisting of thousands of small islands and
coral reefs, stretches another two hundred miles south and west.
It helps to form a great natural barrier between the South Atlantic
Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
They call these islands the Florida Keys. Most of them rise only
a few feet above the shallow seabed and are covered with mangrove
swamps, shallow beaches strewn with shells and occasionally a few
palm trees. A few islands are large enough to support thriving villages.
You can drive 100 miles over the sea to Key West
In the olden days, these tropical isles were the refuge of pirates,
commercial fishermen, treasure seekers and reclusive castaways from
civilization. Today, you can drive along highway one, hopping from
island to island over hundreds of bridges and causeways, until you
reach Key West over 100 miles southwest of the Florida mainland.
As you pass over the many bridges, you can peer down into crystal
clear waters and plainly see the coral bottom 20 feet beneath the
surface with schools of colorful fish swimming about. It is easy
to understand why this is a paradise for snorkeling, scuba diving
and fishing.
Key West has a colorful artistic community
Ernest Hemmingway, the great American writer was a part time resident
of Key West, the southernmost city in the USA. Today, this quaint
old town with its distinctive Caribbean flavor is a thriving artist's
community and popular tourist destination. The most famous attraction
is to gather at Mallory Square Dock an hour before sunset, and enjoy
the street entertainment while watching the tropical sun sink below
the horizon.
Be cautious during hurricane season
Caution: during the late summer and early fall hurricane season,
you must pay attention to the weather warnings. There is only one
road to Key West and back to the mainland. Getting trapped on a
low island during a fierce tropical storm can be a dangerous and
terrifying experience.
Key West Events
Every evening is an event in Key West, as the fabled sunset
celebration sees cobblestoned Mallory Square come alive
nightly with jugglers, acrobats, beds-of-nails-lying-downers and
hoop-jumping cats. Though cheesy, this is more like Stilton than
bland cheddar. For a more concentrated Key West experience, come
down December 31 for the New Year's Eve
festivities; in March for the Conch Shell
Blowing Contest, a 40-year tradition (it's more difficult
than it looks); late April for the 10-day Conch
Republic Celebration, in honor of the short-lived but
festive independence of this would-be Caribbean nation; and late
October for the Haunting of Fort Zachary
Taylor, when the US Coast Guard gets the 'Isle of Bones'
spruced up for a scary historical experience, followed by Fantasy
Fest, Key West's massive Halloween bash.
Other classic Key West events include PrideFest
in June, when the island - already a top destination for gay and
lesbian party people from all over - hosts a fabulous party. Bearded
gents won't want to miss July's Hemingway
Days Festival, topped off with an author lookalike contest,
while kitsch connoisseurs simply must experience November's Pirates
in Paradise festival, when locals transform the old boat
harbor into a rollicking rumrunner reenactment. Yo ho ho!
Key West Attractions
Mallory
Square
The site of Key West's nightly sunset celebrations, Mallory Square
is a cobblestoned area at the northwestern end of town that overlooks
the old boat harbor. Even if you're not up for the evening festivities,
this is a great place to start your grand tour of the city, or pick
up several souvenirs to commemorate your experience.
If none of the knick-knacks seem tempting, head down Duvall St and
pick up a Hemingway Hammer (151-proof rum, banana and strawberry
liquor, blackberry brandy and a dash of white rum) instead at Sloppy
Joe's Bar, the Hemingway Hangout of record. Three blocks away and
almost as famous, Jimmy Buffet's Maragaritaville Cafe serves cheeseburgers
in paradise.
Hangover-free attractions abound as well. Audubon House wasn't built
until after the famous painter visited in the early 1800s, but has
a nice collection of antiquities and historical anecdotes, plus
simply fabulous gardens. Jessie Porter's Heritage House & Robert
Frost Cottage is a Caribbean-colonial showpiece with small museums
to those two artists.
Hemingway
House
Ernest Hemingway - known as much (in Key West, anyway) for his drinking
as for his distinctive style and riveting tales of moral dilemmas
- worked and drank here during one of his most fertile periods.
From 1931 to 1940, Hemingway lived in this lovely Spanish-Colonial
house, where he wrote several bestsellers including A Farewell to
Arms.
It was also here, in the garden, that Hemingway installed Key West's
first saltwater swimming pool: a construction that set him back
so much that he pressed 'my last penny' into the cement on the pool's
deck. It's still there today. Hemingway kept ownership of the house
until his death in 1961.
Though most visitors are here to bask in the presumably still-active
aura of the author's genius, others come just to see the 'Hemingway
cats,' who rule the house and grounds - the brood features six toes
per paw.
Wreckers' Museums
There are two museums dedicated to study of the 'wreckers', who
found unique job opportunities living this close to treacherous
waterways pummeled by violent fall storms. In Key West and Islamadora,
wreckers would salvage goods from sinking and sunken ships. They
weren't pirates - they were federally licensed workers who would
scavenge the wrecks, bringing the cargo into Key West to auction.
The Wreckers' Museum/the Oldest House was the home of Francis B
Watlington. It's filled with period antiques and has enjoyable,
volunteer-led tours. More expensive and more interesting is the
Key West Shipwreck Historeum, which has a narrated film portraying
the lives and times of the wreckers. Knowledgeable volunteers explain
how Key West developed as a port.
Mel
Fisher Museum
The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Museum exhibits the galleon
treasures of the Santa Margarita and the Atocha, discovered by the
late Mel Fisher in 1980-85 (he started his search for these galleons
in 1969). The various jewels, tools, coins and navigational pieces
are displayed on the ground floor, along with a world map showing
the routes of those ships and some hands-on stuff (touch an item
that you can't see and figure out what it is). On the 2nd floor
you'll find displays of modern diving techniques, an electrolysis
tank and the like. Mel, whose motto was 'Today's the day', could
be seen walking through the museum until months before his death
in 1998.
Key West Aquarium
This aquarium, right on Mallory Square, has been here since 1932.
Though its age shows, the friendly and helpful staff make up for
it, and besides, kids always have fun in aquariums. They have touch
tanks with starfish, conchs, sea cucumbers and other interesting
things and lots of fish tanks filled with catfish, doctorfish, snappers,
angelfish and more. Outside are the tanks for barracudas, sharks
and sawfish; there are also turtles. They sometimes bring around
live sharks for visitors to touch as part of their 'Pet a Shark'
program. Signs are well done and staff members are happy to answer
your questions.
Getting There & Away
Key West International Airport is the most-used airport on the islands,
although Marathon Airport also has limited (and generally much more
expensive) service. Key West is also the place to catch flights
(or ferries) to Dry Tortugas National Park.
Greyhound buses leave Miami's Bayside Station for the five-hour
trip to the station at the Key West Airport several times daily.
Stand anywhere on the Overseas Highway (US Hwy 1) and when you see
the bus in the distance, signal firmly and visibly, using all methods
at your disposal - up to and perhaps including a flare gun - and
the bus will stop to pick you up.
By car from Miami, take I-95 south to US Hwy 1 and follow that until
you can't go any farther - that'd be Key West. There are keenly
enforced speed limits at various places along the route, speeding
fines are high, you'll probably get caught, and should you hit a
Key deer while speeding, penalties are stiff. Slow down.
Addresses in the Keys work on a system of mile markers (MM), which
are located along the Overseas Hwy: mile 0 is in Key West at the
corner of Fleming and Whitehead Sts, and the final marker, MM 126,
is 1 mile south of Florida City.
Getting Around
Getting around is pretty idiot-proof in the Keys: there's one main
road to everything and public transportation options are limited
to Key West International airport, Greyhound buses or private transportation.
The City Transit System basically runs from Mallory Square to Stock
Island and the airport, with buses running every 15 minutes or so.
You can get printed schedules right on the bus.
The best thing to do with a car in Key West is to sell it: parking
is murder, parking tickets are expensive, they're quick to tow and
traffic is restricted. You can rent mopeds or scooters at several
places on the island. Bicycle rentals are also easily available. |
|
