Florida Keys

Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar

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We make it a point to stop by the laid-back Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar (AKA “The Pulse of Islamorada”) on the way to or from Key West and enjoy a nice lunch outdoors amid the scenic tropical atmosphere. I recommend the Sunset Conch Fritters, Key’s Conch Chowder and the Tuna Nachos, although I have yet to try Lorelei’s World Famous Fish Sandwich. By the way, Lorelei also offers a vegan dish: Lorelei’s Vegan Sautee. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, Lorelei also features Daily Happy Hour Specials from 4 PM to 6 PM and a daily sunset party with live music. It is located at 81924 Overseas Highway in Islamorada (Mile Marker 82). Check it out!

Southernmost Point Buoy

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I took these photos before 8 AM on a Saturday, the perfect time to wander aimlessly through the streets of Key West with the roosters and visit the colorful Southernmost Point Buoy that allegedly marks the “Southernmost Point in the Continental United States” before the crowd descends upon this immensely popular photo hotspot and true Key West landmark! Erected by the City of Key West in 1983, the Southernmost Point Buoy, which lies approximately 90 miles away from Cuba, can be found at the corner of South and Whitehead streets. The adjacent conch-blower statue honors the late Bishop Albert Kee, who was known as “Key West’s Official Ambassador of Goodwill.” The life-size bronze statue of Kee was sculpted by Tom Joris. Sitting at the office completely bored out of your mind? Check out the Southernmost Point webcam and imagine you’re hanging out in Key West! .

Bahia Honda Rail Bridge

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Completed in 1912, the Overseas Railroad (aka “Flagler’s Folly” and the “Eighth Wonder of the World”) was partially destroyed by the tragic Labor Day Hurricane in 1935. Today, visitors to the Florida Keys heading down the Overseas Highway toward Key West can view the only remaining segment of the railroad, the Bahia Honda Rail Bridge, between Bahia Honda Key (home to Bahia Honda State Park) and Scout Key (formerly known as West Summerland Key). We pulled off at Scout Key and took a short stroll along a sandy path to an overlook where the road ends abruptly (be careful since there is quite a drop-off and no barriers of any kind). The reward is a great view of the Bahia Honda Rail Bridge itself. On the way back to the car, we noticed a creepy, rusted-out scooter (see image above). For more information about the fascinating history of the Overseas Railroad, I recommend Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean (2003) by Lee Standiford.

 

Key West Aquarium

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Postcard Collection

One of the oldest aquariums in the United States, the Key West Aquarium first opened its doors at 1 Whitehead Street on February 18, 1935, as the first tourist attraction in Key West (admission was 15 cents for adults and 5 cents for children!). Constructed as part of the Works Progress Administration Program during the Great Depression, the aquarium was the brainchild of Dr. Robert Van Deusen, a director of the Fairmont Park Aquarium in Philadelphia, and originally featured an “open-air concept.” During World War II, the U.S. Government leased the aquarium briefly to the Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard for use as an indoor rifle range. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Merrill referenced the aquarium in his poem, “Key West Aquarium: The Sawfish.” Current Key West Aquarium exhibits include Alligator Exhibit, Atlantic Shores Exhibit, Jellyfish Exhibit, Feed a Shark, Touch Tank and Sea Turtles Conservation Tour. The Key West Aquarium is open daily from 9 AM to 6 PM. Admission is $17.19 for adults, $10.74 for children (ages 4-12) and $15.04 for seniors.

Seven Mile Bridge

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sevenmilebridge

An engineering masterpiece, the Seven Mile Bridge (which is actually 6.79 miles long) was constructed between 1979 and 1982 on the Overseas Highway at a cost of $45 million and serves to connect the Middle Keys (Marathon) to the Lower Keys (Little Duck Key). Each April, the bridge is closed for a couple of hours for the Seven Mile Bridge Run, an annual event that began in 1982. Movies filmed over the years in the vicinity of the bridge include True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Licence to Kill, Criss Cross and Up Close & Personal. Outlaw country music singer David Allan Coe wrote a song titled “Seven Mile Bridge.” The bridge, which replaced a much narrower roadway built atop the remains of Henry Flagler’s railroad bridge, can reportedly withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour.

Fort Jefferson

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drytortugas

The largest all-masonry fort in the United States, Fort Jefferson (named after Thomas Jefferson) was constructed with more than 16 million bricks between 1846 and 1875 on Garden Key, which lies approximately 70 miles West of Key West. A federal outpost during the Civil War, Fort Jefferson held more than 500 prisoners by 1865 and in July of that year added Dr. Samuel Mudd, Edmund Spangler, Samuel Arnold and Michael O’Laughlen – all of whom had been convicted in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Mudd was eventually pardoned by President Andrew Johnson after treating the victims of a yellow fever epidemic at Fort Jefferson in 1867. The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), which starred Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart, was loosely based on the life of Mudd. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated the area as Fort Jefferson National Monument and the fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Fort Jefferson lies within the 64,701-acre Dry Tortugas National Park, which is accessible only by boat or seaplane.