Conch Out in the Florida Keys - 2

For a taste of funky Florida fare try The Wreck, MM 59 Bayside, tel. 305-743-8282, nearly adjacent to the Dolphin Research Center, or Island Tiki Bar, MM 54, Bayside, 12648 Overseas Hwy., tel. 305-743-4191, in Marathon. Like on most Florida Key menus, look for conch fritters and Key Lime pie among the local dishes.

Heading still further south along U.S. 1 toward the Lower Keys, the towns are mostly nondescript, but there are parks and campgrounds galore that hold hidden secrets. The National Key Deer Refuge around MM 30 hosts 8,000 acres of protected habitat for the endangered Key deer, a small, sprightly deer no bigger than a mid-sized dog, along with many nature trails. Nearby Looe Key is the site of some of the richest coral reefs in the area for snorkeling and diving.

 

• Enjoy a 90-minute tour aboard the Conch Tour Train and see some of Key West's most notable sights.

Sanjoy Gosh

Key West—As Good As It Gets

At the most southern point of the island chain is Key West, the most popular destination in the Florida Keys. There are more reasons to like Key West than there are keys in Florida, and there are an awful lot of keys.

My daughter and I hop on the Old Town Trolley tour, a perfect introduction to the town for those unfamiliar with Key West; for those more familiar, like me, it’s an easy way to get around while being refreshed on the town’s history. (Younger kids prefer the Conch Train tour, but riders can’t get on and off as with the trolley). The trolley winds its way around Key West’s charming streets while a guide tells tall tales of shipwrecks and pirate life. One good place to hop off and explore some of those tales in more detail is the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, founded by the legendary shipwreck salvor. It contains the richest collection of 17th-century maritime and shipwreck antiquities in this hemisphere—most from area waters.

 

• Vacationers can get a glimpse of the undersea realm of the Florida Keys without even getting their feet wet aboard the Key Largo Princess.

Bob Krist

Just a few steps away is the Audubon House & Tropical Gardens, a testament to John James Audubon’s years spent documenting bird species. It’s full of memories of Key West’s early days. And for literary fans, there’s Ernest Hemingway’s house—Key West was the author’s home and inspiration for years. Don’t count kids out for a visit to the house as they might enjoy the 47 cats on property, most with six toes. The accident-prone Hemingway considered such cats good luck.

Other highlights for which we jump off the trolley include a butterfly farm, and the “southernmost point” in the United States, just 90 miles from Cuba. We disembark for the Lighthouse Museum & Keeper’s Quarters, restored to its 1847 heyday, which illuminates the historic business of warning ships of imminent shores—presuming those ships weren’t taken over by pirates. Pirate and shipwreck themes are aplenty in Key West. The Pirate Soul Museum is a hit with children of all ages with a re-created pirate haven and dungeons for the more daring. And there’s a Shipwreck Historeum and Museum with artifacts from vessels that fared none too well in hurricanes. My daughter liked the latter museum’s lookout, which boasts some of the best views in Key West.