Florida Keys vs. Key West

Vacation – just saying the word evokes a certain level of happiness in my daily routine. I would imagine if there was a picture in the dictionary next to the word “vacation” it would most likely be of somewhere tropical complete with palm trees and blue water. While there are a myriad of other locales for vacations (all equally as fun I’m sure) for some reason it just feels “normal” to be in the tropics. I happen to be fortunate enough to live in Florida where there are more beaches than one can visit in a lifetime and believe me I do my best to frequent them as much as possible. While I love the beach and love that I can run over there for a few hours on any given day off there’s something a bit different at the Southern tip of the state. It’s the chain of islands known as the Florida Keys.

The Keys are made up of some 4500 islands that meander to Southwest starting with Key Largo and ending with Key West. As you leave Florida City (the last stop for gas, beverages, food, etc before leaving the peninsula) you drive through some serious marsh land for about 45 minutes with basically no view. Just about the time you get bored from the lack of visual stimuli you cross the bridge over Jew Fish (or is it Goliath Grouper now?) Creek. Congratulations you’ve officially made it to the Keys! If you’re heading for Key West, settle in because you’ve got another 3 to 4 hours. The good news is the drive is one of the most beautiful you’ll ever experience. Bridge after bridge over turquoise water, mangrove islands dot the horizon and tons of island flair in between. Once you’ve gotten this far you most probably have a destination in mind but here is how I decide where to hang my hat.

Key West:

The island of Key West is in a class by itself. It’s the end of the road, literally. This is where you’ll find mile marker “0”. I could write for days on all of the things to do and see but I’ll hit some of my personal favorites:

Key West is a fantastic place to just wander around and soak in the culture. Duval St. is the most famous of the roads to check out. You can do the Duval Crawl where you grab a cold beverage at as many of the famous bars you can manage. This includes Rick’s, The Bull, Sloppy Joes, Hogs Breath and countless others. While libations go hand in hand with Duval Street, there are a ton of shops, museums, restaurants and other fun places to grab a souvenir or take in a bit of history as well. Key West is also one of those scooter friendly towns and you can rent one to buzz around and get away from the “touristy” areas. With this kind of mobility you can run up to Smather’s Beach (one of the few “real” beaches in the Keys by the way), head to the Southernmost Point for a picture, check out the old cemetery or just ride the back roads and enjoy the beautiful old Florida “Conch” architecture. I love stopping by the Hemmingway house as well and spending a few minutes thinking of how nice it would be to actually live there with its saltwater pool and basement! I know I’m weird but I love basements and they are rare in this state. While exploring the island it’s easy (at least for me) to forget that it IS an island and the waters surrounding it play a huge part in its fame. Sport fishing abounds as well as scuba diving and snorkeling. There are charters available for any kind of excursion you’d like. My personal favorites are the late afternoon snorkel / sunset cruises. You head out on a large well equipped sailing catamaran for a few hours of snorkeling on one of the nearby reefs then as you sail in they open up the bar for drinks while you enjoy the sunsets that Key West is famous for. I also highly recommend a day trip out to the Dry Tortugas to visit Fort Jefferson. The history surrounding this fort is quite amazing and you’ll learn a lot along the way including where the phrase “My name is Mud” comes from. The remote islands are absolutely breath taking and the pictures you bring back are astounding! On the ride out and back you may even see Mel Fisher’s crews working the site of the Atocha shipwreck. Speaking of, Mel Fisher's museum in Key West is well worth the price of admission to look at the amazing treasures they have found.  While on land in the late afternoon, make your way to Mallory Square for the infamous sunset celebration nightly. There is a lot of entertainment to enjoy. While there is plenty of opportunity to just lie around and relax while in Key West if you so choose, my personality doesn’t bode well to sitting around idly with so many fun things to do right outside my door. Unfortunately this makes my wallet take a hit so my standard Key West trip is usually only 3 or 4 days. For the extended trip to Florida’s Caribbean I stay on another of the Islands.

Any Island Other Than Key West:

If you’ve been to Key West and / or any of the other islands of the Florida Keys you already know that they are two completely different animals. While they are both filled with natural beauty the islands other than Key West cater more to true relaxation. You can take kayak tours through the mangroves, swim with dolphins, take glass bottom boat tours and plenty of other excursions that you just can't do anywhere else on the mainland.  I’ve visited many of the islands in the Keys but tend to call Marathon my “home”. Marathon is located pretty much in the middle and is a large enough island to support grocery stores and other conveniences to make a trip easy. Many of the smaller islands don’t have these creature comforts and it requires a “road trip” to pick up some eggs or another bottle of margarita mix. I’m a water loving individual so I typically plan my trips with my wife and a few other couples and we rent a home directly on the ocean with a view and a pool. All we need to bring is the boats, fishing rods and snorkel gear and we’re set for a great week or more. Staying on the less populated islands allows for much more “down time” to sit and enjoy the quiet island life. Depending on the time of year we may head to some secret spots and wrecks just off the coast and snorkel up some lobster for dinner or head offshore and try our luck for some fresh fish. Usually in the afternoon we pack the cooler, load the snorkel gear and head to Sombrero Reef. Sombrero is about 10 miles off the coast and offers some of the best snorkeling around. It’s a fantastic way to cool off in the heat of the day. In the late afternoon we simply relax in the pool, fish off the dock and fire up the grill to enjoy the catch of the day. As the sun falls from the sky we get to enjoy the splendor of the sunset nightly and look forward to another relaxing day.

The Florida Keys and Key West are a beautiful part of the United States that offer plenty of excitement and relaxation to fit most anyone’s bill for a great tropical getaway. The only question that remains is which route are we taking for the next time to escape?