Florida and the Keys

Having left our wonderful visit with our Chicago family, we flew to Miami, picked up a car, and made a 30 minute drive to South Beach. We had never been there, and our only Florida experiences were from the 80's at Miami Beach, so an overnight stay in South Beach seemed to make sense.

We checked into the Ritz Carlton hotel, a fabulous re-do of a 50's art deco hotel, and it was incredible. I would live in a Ritz Carlton if I could....FOREVER. The staff was so wonderful...and the club floor was amazing. This are what hotels are supposed to be....an escape from reality into something dreams are made of.

We took a long walk all over the pedestrian area surrounding our hotel, seeing properties that I had heard about forever. It a was a lot of fun. Then we went back to the hotel, changed for dinner and went to the main walking area along the water and sideled into Quinn's. It was a perfect choice, and although we couldn't get stone crabs (cause they weren't in season yet), we made do with a lot of other seafood!

After dinner, we took a walk around this area of South Beach, hearing the Cuban music drifting out onto the street and smelling the spices from the delicious food. It was really a lovely experience. We were only sorry that we just had one day and night...but we sure crammed a lot into that short time.
The next morning we got up and headed into the Keys with Key West as our ultimate destination.

The Keys extend for 170 miles southwest from the mainland, and for years I have wanted to experience them. You can swim with the dolphins, snorkel, deep sea fish, or just enjoy the beauty of these islands (which is what we did). We stopped in Key Largo,the first major Key out of Miami, and being a Bogie fan, we tried to find the "African Queen", the magical boat from the movie of the same name, which is mired there somewhere. With no success, and wanting to get to Key West early enough, we headed on.

Route 1 starts in Key West, and heads north to Miami. The mile markers along the road tell you how many miles from Key West you are. Key Largo was at marker 112. These markers were the original mile posts installed along the old railroad bed which you can still see running parallel to the highway. That railroad was a marvel in engineering. Mr. Flagler, the railroad builder, would have been proud.

The Keys were founded by the Indians heading south after the Ice Age, herding bison and elephant. Then came the pirates...the farmers...the fisherman... the railroad people...the salvagers, Ernest Hemingway...Harry Truman and Jimmy Buffett. And everyone left their mark on this unique place.

One island, called Marathon, got its name from the railroad people, who said building the railroad was a Marathon!!! There are 42 bridges that connect the Keys, but the longest is 7 miles, and it starts on the south side of Marathon and goes to Little Duck Key and Missouri Key. All of the islands have swimming with the dolphins and great sport fishing. But we wanted to get to Key West, and by 2 o'clock, we arrived....a really lovely ride.

Our hotel, the Ocean Key, sat at Zero Duval Street!! Isn't that a fabulous address? And what an exceptional hotel it is. It sits right on the water, and has so much flavor and history....and did I mention that the rooms are incredible? All with balconies and great views. We were lucky enough to have one overlooking the pier, and later I will tell you why that is so great.

As we always do, we got out onto the street and began to explore. What a great place! Many friends have described Key West as racy, touristy, bawdy and tacky....but no one has ever said it was boring. It was a mecca for drop-outs and drop-ins...millionaires who dock their boats and need to relax from a lot of hard work and people with no particular bent except to enjoy the weather and the scene itself. Whatever your likes, you can find something in Key West. The near perfect weather and the unbelievable coral reef make this a wonderful outdoor place for all kinds of sports people.

The art and architecture in this place abounds. The hotels are all either re-done homes or new resorts. The guest houses and small inns are just lovely and recall a time in history that needs saving. Some of the painstakingly restored historic houses were inhabited by the likes of Harry Truman (who had his Little House here), Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway and John Audubon. These homes are now museums and welcome visitors with great tours.

The waterfront attracted sea captains, pirates and salvagers. There is a museum filled with treasures as well as the Key West Aquarium, the Clinton Square Market and the Shipwreck Historeum. At the end of Duval street, where our hotel sits, is a pier where everyone comes to watch the sun set. As I said earlier, we had a view of this pier from our room, so if we couldn't get a seat at the always packed bar, we could "bid the day good-bye" from our private viewing balcony.

And the music plays on. A lot of people say that Key West is honky-tonk. Well, there are lots of t-shirt shops along Duval Street..as well as bars, restaurants, art galleries and TOURISTS!! But inbetween is a fabulous old movie theater (which is now a Walgreen's), amazing old homes and an opera house. Further along Duval is the house where Hemingway penned many of his books and nearby where Robert Frost came to visit and write.

Yes, it is a little like the French Quarter in New Orleans, but Key West is its own charming place to visit. I would do it again in a heartbeat. And I even had a margarita as per Jimmy Buffett!!!