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Life revolves around the water in the Florida Keys...and that’s an understatement, you’ll see, the first time you traverse the 200 sunny miles from Biscayne Bay to the Dry Tortugas. From Key Largo, the largest island, to the tip of Key West, the southernmost point in the Continental U.S., you’ll be awestruck at the sheer number of islands, lakes, reefs, bays, and beaches among the Keys. Forty-two bridges along the 126-mile Overseas Highway link the Keys. |
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The Keys were once the home of pirates and military garrisons. Today’s residents are an eclectic mix of fishermen, retirees, chefs, tourism professionals, and artists of all kinds.
It may come as a surprise that most of the commercial and residential development of the Keys has occurred just in the last couple of decades. The problem was getting adequate fresh water from the mainland. In 1942, the first pipeline from the mainland to Key West was built...but it took a week for the water to make the trip. When a 36-inch pipe replaced that line in 1982, development took off.
The Keys boast some of the world’s most popular game fish, and diving and snorkeling areas are innumerable and incomparable. It hardly need be said that the Keys are a paradise for boaters.
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Speaking of nightlife, you’ll want to head to Key West for the most revelry. The spectacular sunsets are celebrated every night of the week at Mallory Square, at the end of Duval Street, Key West’s main drag. Thousands gather for these daily festivals, which include magicians, jugglers, animal acts, and vendors. All of the waterfront bars are full. You can also watch the sunset from a classic sailing vessel. Incidentally, because of the crowds and the scarcity of parking spaces, bicycles and motor scooters are the preferred modes of transportation in Key West.
Dining is also a treat in Key West, and about 95 percent of it is al fresco. Specialties include the mahi sandwich (made of dolphin fish) and conch fritters. Do have a meal at Blue Heaven, which has a gourmet Caribbean-influenced menu. The spacious indoor/outdoor restaurant was once a brothel. What’s now Blue Heaven was also once the site of cockfights and Ernest Hemingway-refereed boxing matches. Today at the restaurant you can sail from the dining area to the bar on a rope swing or play a game of ping-pong. And did we mention the food? Just one example: Veteran on-the-road journalist Charles Kuralt once said that Blue Heaven’s scallop sauce “would make cardboard taste good.”
Another Key West restaurant not to miss is the Meteor Café, which serves great barbecue. A DREAM HOMES staffer once spent many magical hours at the Meteor enjoying the food and the music of the Grateful Dead. |
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Our intrepid staffer, a dedicated snorkeler, too, reported that he preferred the snorkeling off Key West to the much more famed John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, off Key Largo. Our staffer and his family hired a boat from Stock Island, just across the channel from Key West. The captain steered the family about an hour away from the coast, where, for just $35 per person, they spent more than an hour on each of two reefs snorkeling through spectacular coral canyons. They spied a rainbow of fish types, none of which are afraid of people. Barracudas swimming right beside you – what an experience! As in the other Keys, what grows under the water is strictly protected. You aren’t even allowed to touch it.
You’ll get another chance to commune with nature if you visit Nancy Forrester’s Secret Garden. The junglelike atmosphere is complete with an extensive collection of rain forest plants and the music (some might say “screeches”!) of caged parrots. |
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If you’re literary-minded, do visit the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, a Spanish colonial mansion built in 1851 and bought by Hemingway in 1931. It was in this house that he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. The author planted the lush tropical gardens. Caution: If you’re allergic to cats, you may want to avoid the Hemingway Home, which is also home to more than 50 cats, all descended from Hemingway’s felines! All of them – like the originals – have six toes.
Another must-see: the Martello Towers, on the south side of the island. The building of the brick fortifications began in 1858 under the supervision of Union engineers anxious to protect the defenses east of Fort Zachary Taylor. The east tower now houses the East Martello Gallery and Museum, where you’ll get a good education in the history and development of Key West. The west tower is now the site of the Key West Garden Center. Here you’ll spot tropical plants growing among the ruins.
For some fun on the sand, don’t miss the tropical beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Historic Site, at the tip of the island. In fact, don’t pass up a look at the fort itself, which was built between 1845 and 1866. The cannons within its walls make up one of the largest collections of Civil War armaments in the U.S.
The beaches on the Atlantic side of Key West, such as Higgs Beach, have their own charm. The water is so shallow that you can walk out almost a mile. Just be aware that on any beach in Key West, swim shoes are a necessity, because the sand is made of – ouch! – crushed coral. |
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On your way back to mainland Florida, explore some of the “Upper Keys” – particularly Islamorada and Key Largo.
Islamorada claims to be the “Sport Fishing Capital of the World,” with its world-class deep-sea and backcountry fishing, plentiful marinas, charters, and boat rentals for the novice angler to the most experienced. But this fishing resort – spread over the islands of Lower Matecumbe Key, Plantation Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, and Windley Key – is also home to some of the Keys’ richest historical and archaeological features. At Quarry State Park on Windley Key, for example, you can take a gander at the ancient remnants of the coral formations that created the Keys 100,000 years ago.
Another favorite site for divers is the San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Park. Here rest 21 treasure-packed Spanish galleons that sank during a hurricane in 1733. Gold coins, anyone?
Finally, check out the Matheson House, which was built from coral in 1919 and is still furnished in 1930s décor.
The house is part of the Lignumvitae Key State Botanical Site, which can be accessed only via chartered or private boat from the marinas on Islamorada’s western end.
About 30 miles from end to end, Key Largo – as its name implies – is the largest of the Keys. Key Largo touts itself as the “Diving Capital of the World,” and, arguably, it is, because it is home to two of the most spectacular underwater areas in the world lie off its shore. The aforementioned John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park – named for a journalist who urged preservation of the reefs – and the adjacent Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary are comprised of some 190 square miles of coral reefs, mangrove swamps, and seagrass beds. Here you could count 55 types of coral and more than 600 species of fish. |
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Housing in the Keys runs the gamut from inexpensive condos to multimillion-dollar estates on the oceanfront or bayfront. Prices are rapidly escalating because in some areas, such as that encompassing Key Largo and Islamadora, there are strict building limits in order to control growth. Many residents of Islamadora, which is probably the most popular place to buy in the Keys, have their own piers and boat docks. In other areas, such as Key West, there is simply no more room to grow.
One of the most prestigious and popular developments on Key Largo is Ocean Reef, which is surrounded on three sides by water, with a nature preserve on the fourth. Ocean Reef is a completely self-contained community, with its own shopping areas, doctors, banks, plus three 18-hole golf courses.
Come explore the Keys. One of them might hold the key to your dream home.
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Story by Jacqueline Shannon
Photography by Bob Thompson
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