DISTANCE: 200 miles (322km)
TIME: 4−5 hours one-way, without stops
START: Miami
END: Key West
POINTS TO NOTE: For the full Keys experience, then instead of returning on Highway 1, keep driving through Key Large to North Key Largo. Here you can see both the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Key Largo Hammock State Botanical Site before taking County Road 905A back to the mainland and re-joining Highway 1 to Miami. You could drive to Key West and back to Miami in a day but it would be a long day. It’s better to stay overnight.
Many of the islands off Miami are manmade, and the natural ones like Key Biscayne are not a part of the string of islands known as the Florida Keys. These are a distinct group of islands sitting on tops of coral reefs and are more properly called cays. They arc around in a gentle crescent to form the most southerly part of the United States, with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. The classic drive starts when you cross over to Key Largo in the north, about an hour’s drive from Miami, and head south on Highway 1, which turns into the Overseas Highway, all the way to Key West.
Christ of the Abyss
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Key Largo
. The first of the Florida Keys, reached from the mainland on Highway 1, is Key Largo 1 [map] This is the name of both the island and the town, and comes from the Spanish Cayo Largo, or Long Key. It’s here that Highway 1 becomes the Overseas Highway, which acts as one long main street. Key Largo is still known for the 1948 movie of the same name, in which Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Edward G. Robinson confronted a killer hurricane. All that remains of those nostalgic Bogie days is the Caribbean Club Bar (MM 104), where a few scenes are rumored to have been filmed, and the original African Queen, from Bogart’s 1951 film, is looking quite forlorn just down the road.
Idyllic Key Largo
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One of the highlights here is on your left as you drive south: the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (Mile Marker 102.5; tel: 305-451-1202; www.pennekamppark.com; daily 8am−sunset; charge), the country’s first undersea park, established in 1963. Here, a 78 sq mile (200 sq km) coral reef extends 3 miles (5km) into the ocean, providing a home for nearly 600 species of fish. The park offers glass-bottom boat rides, sailing and snorkeling tours aboard a 38ft (12 meter) catamaran, and kayak rentals. It also conducts a range of scuba lessons and dives, including to the Key Largo Dry Rocks, where the Christ of the Deep, a replica of Guido Galletti’s statue Christ of the Abyss (in the Mediterranean Sea off Genoa, Italy) lies submerged surrounded by a coral reef.
If you’re ready for a bite to eat, stop off at the characterful Mrs Mac’s Kitchen, see 1.
Resident pelicans in Islamorada
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Windley Key
Continue driving on south, passing over Plantation Key before reaching Windley Key. On arrival look out on your left for the Island Grill, see 2, a great place to lunch. Further on, at the Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park (MM 85; tel: 305-664-2540; visitor center: Thur–Mon 8am–5pm; charge) there’s a rare opportunity to view 125,000-year-old fossilized specimens of coral animals.
Islamorada
Continuing south is Islamorada 2 [map] − actually one community that straddles several keys hence its nickname the Village of Islands. Today the name is generally pronounced eye-la-mo-RA-da, though the Spanish explorers who named it ‘Island Home’ pronounced it ee-la-mo-RA-da.
The Theater of the Sea (MM 84.5; tel: 305-664-2431; www.theaterofthesea.com; reservation desk: daily 10am–5pm; charge) has been in business on Islamorada since 1946 hosting sea lion and dolphin shows, glass-bottom boat rides, and a shark pit. Reserve well in advance if you want to do the Dolphin Adventure package, which includes a swim with the dolphins, and the similar sea lion and stingray swims. Younger children and those less comfortable in deep water can wade with the animals for a lower price.
At the southern end of town, the Hurricane Monument (MM 81.6) commemorates the people who died in the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 − still the most intense hurricane ever to hit the United States.
Seven Mile Bridge
Beyond here the keys are smaller and more spread out for a while, as you pass over Duck Key, Vaca Key and Boot Key before driving across the Seven Mile Bridge. Although actually just a shade under 7 miles (11km) it is the longest between-island stretch you can drive in the Keys. Completed in 1982, it runs over a channel between the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida. Paralleling it is the original bridge built for Flagler’s railroad. The trains ran until the hurricane of 1935 ruined the roadbed and the Great Depression ruined the economy, making an automobile route the more practical alternative.
Pigeon Key
The old railroad bridge leads to Pigeon Key, which you can see off to your right as you cross the Overseas Highway. If you want to visit you’ll need to backtrack to the town of Marathon and take a guided tour by ferry. Henry Flagler built housing on Pigeon Key to shelter the workers he brought to Florida to work on his Overseas Railroad (the town earned its name when one of the workers referred to the project as a marathon). Several of the structures survive and are part of a tour that departs from the Pigeon Key Visitors Center (MM 48; tel: 305-743-5999; www.pigeonkey.net; departures at 10am, noon and 2pm; charge). A film tells the fascinating story of Mr. Flagler and Flagler’s Folly and the railroad he built from Miami to Key West in spite of huge obstacles.
The Seven Mile Bridge and the lovely stretch of beach along the Bahia-Honda State Park
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Bahia Honda Key
The Seven Mile Bridge reaches the Bahia Honda Key and the Bahia Honda State Park (MM 37; tel: 305-872-2353; www.bahiahondapark.com; daily 8am–sunset; charge). Here are two of the best beaches on the Keys: Calusa Beach, next to the Bahia Honda Bridge, and the mile-long (1.6kms) Sandspur Beach. You can rent a sun longer for the afternoon, camp out for a night, go fishing, or explore the waters with rented dive equipment or a kayak. The highlight of a visit is a snorkeling tour out to Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary, whose 5 mile (8km) stretch of reef is one of the world’s most sensational aquatic showcases. You can also buy snacks and drinks and there are rental cabins if you want to stay longer.
Big Pine Key and beyond
Just beyond is Big Pine Key 3 [map]. On arrival look on your right for Springer’s Bar and Grill, see 3, to tuck into some local fare. Big Pine Key is home to the National Key Deer Refuge (visitor center at MM 30.5; Big Pine Shopping Center, 28950 Watson Blvd; tel: 305-872-0774; www.fws.gov/refuge/National_Key_Deer_Refuge: daily sunrise–sunset). The diminutive Key deer, a subspecies of the Virginia whitetail, grow to about 30 inches (75cm) tall and 38 inches (95cm) in length and live on about 20−25 of the islands. In earlier days, hunters, developers, and automobiles reduced the population to less than 50, but efforts at the refuge – including strictly enforced speed limits – have boosted their numbers into the hundreds. Some of the deer are quite used to humans and may approach closely, but please do not feed them. Turn right near MM 30 onto Key Deer Boulevard to the Blue Hole, a flooded quarry that attracts both deer and alligators.
Cycling in Key West
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Off Big Pine Key is No Name Key, but to show they didn’t run out of names for the keys there are several more to cross as you continue on, now heading west. The Torch Keys are named after their flammable trees. A short distance off Little Torch Key is a private island home to the secluded and exclusive Little Palm Island Resort and Spa. The restaurant, however, is open to the public and accessible by a ferry from Little Torch Key. Summerland Key offers scenic side roads if you want to get off the Overseas Highway for a while, and Cudjoe Key has modern campsites for large trailers. On Sugar Loaf Key, turn right just past MM 17 to view Perky’s bat tower, built in 1929 to house bats in the hope they would swallow the island’s mosquito problem, but once released from the tower, they never returned.
The Saddlebunch Keys are little more than a series of mangrove outcroppings. Big Coppit, Rockland, and East Rockland house the servicemen of the US Naval Air Station on Boca Chica Key. Stock Island serves as a suburb of Key West and is the home of the Tennessee Williams Performing Arts Center (tel: 305-295-7676; www.twstages.com).
The iconic Sloppy Joe’s
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Key West
Before crossing the next bridge, prepare yourself for a very different world. You have literally reached the end of the road, Key West 4 [map]. The character of Key West derives from its history as a haven for transients. Its proximity to the American mainland and the West Indies has introduced many different influences, but the city has transformed those influences into something totally its own. The Calusa Indians managed to get to this speck 100 miles (160km) from the Florida peninsula, 90 miles (145km) from Cuba, and 66 miles (106km) north of the Tropic of Cancer. The Spanish were the first Europeans to build settlements here, but Indians and pirates made life dangerous. In fact, a young Spanish cavalryman, granted Key West by his governor in 1815, gladly sold it six years later for just $2,000 to Alabama businessman John Simonton. The settlement became part of the US in 1821 when Florida was ceded by Spain. In 1845 the government began constructing a Naval Base (now called Truman Annex) and in 1866 completed Fort Zachary Taylor A (Southard St; tel: 305-292-6713; www.floridastateparks.org; daily 8am–sunset, fort closes 5pm; charge), now a museum of Civil War artifacts. The East Martello Museum and Gallery (3501 S. Roosevelt Blvd; tel: 305-296-3913; www.kwahs.com; daily 9.30am–4.305pm; charge) was one of two towers that were begun – but never completed – to help defend the fort. Today it houses local-history exhibits.
Old Town, the original part of the city, encompasses some3,000 historic buildings, as well as Mallory Square and the Historic Seaport. There are two ways to get an overview of the island: the venerable Conch Train (tel: 305-294-5161; www.conchtourtrain.com) and the Old Town Trolley (tel: 305-296-6688; www.historictours.com). The trolley allows riders to hop-on and hop-off along the route. Both leave every 30 minutes from different locations around town. If Old Town is the heart of Key West, Mallory Square C is its commercial soul. Throngs of visitors gather here every evening for the famous Sunset Celebration, entertained by jugglers, fire-eaters, acrobats, and peddlers.
Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park
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Hemingway’s legacy
Key West has many museums and buildings to visit, but its claim to fame is the Hemingway connection. At the corner of Greene and Duval streets is one of Key West’s most famous bars, Sloppy Joe’s. Touted as one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite watering holes when he lived here from 1931 to 1940 with his wife Pauline, Joe’s also plays host to the popular Hemingway Days in July. Purists will want to visit Captain Tony’s Saloon (428 Greene St), the oldest licensed saloon in Florida. Hemingway would stroll down to the saloon from his home, now preserved as the Hemingway Home and Museum (907 Whitehead St; tel: 305-294-1136; www.hemingwayhome.com; daily 9am–5pm; charge). His writing studio appears as it did when he worked there on such novels as To Have and Have Not. Descendants of his six-toed cats still have the run of the place. Almost next door, the Six Toed Cat is a good place for a fish lunch, see 4.
The Dry Tortugas
To reach the westernmost of the islands, you have to travel by boat or seaplane to the Dry Tortugas, 68 miles (109km) beyond Duval Street’s last bar. The name told 16th-century mariners that the island was “dry,” as in there was no fresh water; tortugas, Spanish for turtles, meant there was no fresh meat. There wasn’t much on the island until 1846 when the US government started work on the Tortugas’ Garden Key to create Fort Jefferson – the “Gibraltar of the Gulf” – and provide a safe haven for American vessels. Abandoned in 1874, the fort is now the Dry Tortugas National Park (for ferry information, tel: 305-292-6100; www.fortjefferson.com; departures daily at 8am, return at 5pm; charge).
Food and Drink
1 Mrs Mac’s Kitchen
99336 Overseas Highway, Key Largo; tel: 305-451-3722; www.mrsmacskitchen.com; Mon−Sat B, L and D; $$
Serving food since 1947, it’s plain old-fashioned home cooking with conch chowder and chili among the house specialties. The key lime pie here is a treat.
2 Island Grill
85501 Overseas Highway, Islamorada; tel: 305-664-8400; http://keysislandgrill.com; daily B, L and D; $$
This unassuming café-style place hosts regular live music in the evenings and is known for its tuna nachos but the seafood choice is wide: steamed clams, scallops, fresh shrimps, and the catch of the day. Another branch in Key Largo.
3 Springer’s Bar and Grill
31251 Avenue A, Big Pine Key; tel: 305-872-3022; http://springersbar.com; Tue−Sun L and D; $$
With an outdoor patio and live music, this simple place serves the stalwarts of coconut shrimp, conch chowder, burgers, and pizza, as well as three choices of pot pie.
4 Six Toed Cat
823 Whitehead Street, Key West; tel: 305-294-3318; daily B and L; $$
This casual café buys its fish straight from the boat and you can have a simple fish sandwich or the catch of the day, although there’s also paninis, salads, cakes, and an all-day breakfast.