Sights in Florida Keys
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Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park is America's most inaccessible national park. Reachable only by boat, it rewards you for your effort in getting there with amazing snorkeling, diving, bird-watching and star-gazing.
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Key West Aquarium
Gaze at marine life.
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East Martello Tower
The East Martello Tower is home to Robert the haunted doll, the inspiration for all those Chucky movies. (He's in a glass case to keep him from making mischief in the rest of the museum.)
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Key West Lighthouse
You can climb up 88 steps to the top of this lighthouse, built in 1846, for a decent view. But honestly, it's just as enjoyable to gaze up at the tower from the leafy street below.
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Key West Cemetery
A darkly alluring Gothic labyrinth beckons (rather incongruously) at the center of this pastel town. Built in 1847, the cemetery crowns Solares Hill, the highest point on the island (with an elevation of all of 16ft). Some of the oldest families in the Keys rest in peace – and close proximity – here. With body space at a premium, the mausoleums stand practically shoulder to shoulder. Island quirkiness penetrates the gloom: seashells and green macramé adorn headstones with inscriptions like, 'I told you I was sick.' Get chaperoned by a guide from the Historic Florida Keys Foundation, with guided tours for $10 per person at 9:30am on Tuesday and Thursday; departs from…
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Hemingway House
Key West's biggest darling, Ernest Hemingway, lived in this gorgeous Spanish colonial house from 1931 to 1940. Papa moved here in his early 30s with wife No 2, a Vogue fashion editor and (former) friend of wife No 1. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and The Green Hills of Africa were produced here, but Hemingway didn't just work; like all writers he wasted a lot of time, specifically by installing Key West's first saltwater swimming pool. The construction project set him back so badly he pressed his 'last penny' into the cement on the pool's deck. It's still there today, along with the evil descendants of his famous six-toed cat, who basically rule the house and…
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Casa Antigua
This was technically Hemingway's first house in Key West and the spot where he wrote A Farewell to Arms, but it isn't all that notable, except for a lush garden in the back and one of the kitschiest 'guided tours' in the US. Here's how it breaks down: go to the Pelican Poop Gift Shoppe, which now occupies the Casa, pay the $2 garden entrance fee and let the kitsch begin! Go into the peaceful green area out the back, then a recorded tape plays at the volume God uses whenever he says anything that begins with 'Let there be…' At this ear-splitting volume, a man with a voice that can only be described as Big Gay Al raised in Dixie lays down the history of the Casa for you.…
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Studios of Key West
This nonprofit showcases about a dozen artists' studios in a gallery space located in the old Armory building, which includes a lovely sculpture garden. Besides its public visual-arts displays, TSKW hosts readings by local authors like Robert Stone, literary and visual workshops, concerts, lectures and community discussion groups. Essentially, it has become the accessible heart of this city's enormous arts movement, and offers a good point-of-entry for visitors who want to engage in Key West's creative scene but don't have a clue where to start. You may want to call ahead before you visit in case exhibits are being installed.
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Long Key State Recreation Area
The 965-acre Long Key State Recreation Area takes up much of Long Key. It’s about 30 minutes south of Islamorada, and comprises a tropical clump of gumbo-limbo, crabwood and poisonwood trees; a picnic area fronting a long, lovely sweep of teal water; and lots of wading birds in the mangroves. Two short nature trails head through distinct plant communities. The park also has a 1.5-mile canoe trail through a saltwater tidal lagoon and rents out canoes (hour/day $5/10) and ocean-going kayaks (two/four hours $17.20/32.25).
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Heritage House
Of all the many historic Key West homes open to visitors, this Caribbean-Colonial house is among the most wonderful to walk through. That's because it's rarely crowded, has passionate guides, and contains original furnishings and antiques, from a piano from the court of Marie Antoinette to a set of dining chairs from the 1600s. All have been collected and preserved by seven generations of a local family. The Robert Frost Cottage, where the poet stayed for 16 winters, is out back, along with another wonderful garden. Numerous lectures, readings, writers' workshops and weddings are held here.
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Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
'America's Southernmost State Park,' this park is oft-neglected by authorities and visitors, which is a shame as it's a nice place to while away a quiet afternoon. The actual fort walls are still standing, and within the compound those most-blessed of nerds – historical re-enactors – put on costumes and act out scenes from Civil War and pirate days (we have yet to see a Civil War soldiers vs pirates fight here. But we can hope). Butterflies flit over the grounds, and the beach here is the best one Key West has to offer – it's got white sand to lounge on, deep enough water to swim in and tropical fish under the waves. Beach divers who head about 20ft from shore may…
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Little White House
While we were first tempted here by the prospect of a Lego-sized execution of the presidential digs, this is in fact the spot where ex-president Harry S Truman used to vacation when he wasn't molding post-WWII geopolitics. It is as lushly luxurious as you'd expect and open only for guided tours, although you are welcome to walk around the surrounding botanical gardens for free. Plenty of Truman's possessions are scattered about, but the real draw is the guides, who are intensely intelligent, quirky and helpful.
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Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum
The Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum offers tours every half-hour, during which bearded docents spin yarns of Papa. You'll see his studio, hear about his unusual pool, and witness scores of descendents of his six-toed cats languishing in the sun, on furniture, and pretty much wherever they feel like.
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Southernmost Point
The most photographed spot on the island, this red-and-black buoy isn't even the southernmost point in the USA (that's in the off-limits naval base around the corner). The most overrated attraction in Key West.
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Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden
Nancy, a local artist and fixture of the Keys community, invites you to bring lunch (but no cell phones!) into her oasis of lush palms, orchids, and chatty caged parrots and macaws. Although the place is called a secret garden, Nancy considers it to be a piece of art in and of itself – the last acre of undeveloped (although tended and cared for by human hands) natural space within the heart of Key West. The garden-artwork becomes a bridge between the natural world and the Key West that surrounds it. However you choose to interpret it, most agree this is a serene, near-magical place.
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Museum of Art & History at the Customs House
There is art at the end of the road, and you'll find the best at this museum, which is worth a look-see if only for its gorgeous home – the grand Customs House, long abandoned until its impressive renovation in the '90s. Actually, this place is worth a look-see for any number of reasons, including a permanent display of massive portraits and some of the best showcases of international (particularly Caribbean) art in the region. The raw, almost cartoonish paintings of Key West done on wood by Mario Sanchez are a particular draw.
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Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum
Hearan impressive tale of tenacity and treasure hunting at the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum and gawk at the treasures salvaged from the Atocha, a Spanish galleon that sank nearby almost 400 years ago.
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South Beach
Key West is not about beach-going. In fact, for true sun n surf, locals go to Bahia Honda whenever possible. Still, South Beach is a lovely and narrow beach, with calm and clear water. At the end of Simonton St.
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Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory
This vast domed conservatory lets you stroll through a magic garden of flowering plants, colorful birds and up to 1800 fluttering butterflies, all live imports from around the globe.
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Key West Shipwreck Historeum Museum
The Key West Shipwreck Historeum Museum is lively, with a cast of actors taking you back to 1856, when the Isaac Allerton was destroyed by a hurricane in the Saddlebunch Keys.
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Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center
So, you've been making your way down the Keys, visiting all these lovely state parks and nature reserves, thinking, Gosh, could there be a place that ties all the knowledge of this unique ecological phenomenon into one fun, well-put-together educational exhibit? OK, maybe those weren't your exact thoughts, but this is exactly what you get at this excellent center. This place does a marvelous job of filling in all the wild details of the natural Keys. The kids love it, and by the way, it's free and has free parking, an abnormality around here.
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Higgs Beach
Higgs Beach is at the end of Reynolds St and Casa Marina Ct. It has barbecue grills, picnic tables and a big crowd of gay sunbathers and Key West's Eastern European seasonal workforce.
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Wreckers’ Museum/Oldest House
The home of Confederate blockade-runner Francis B Watlington, the Wreckers’ Museum/Oldest House is filled with period antiques and has enjoyable, volunteer-led tours.
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Smathers Beach
Smathers Beach is further east than the other city beaches, off S Roosevelt Blvd, and is more popular with jet skiers, parasailers, teens and college students.
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Office of the Secretary General of the Conch Republic
Here you can see all manner of CR crap.
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