Hemingway moved out 85 years ago and mass tourism has arrived since, although the roosters remain: from Key Largo to Key West, the Keys might not be what you expect. 

It is funny: when I said we were going to Chile it did not get much of a reaction but say Florida Keys and people seem to have a halcyon vision of the place – even many Americans. 

Of course the incredible Overseas Highway – US Highway 1 – feeds the image of driving south with the scattered islets of Florida Bay to one side and the Atlantic on the other. This wasn’t always as easy as it is today.

Henry Flagler constructed a railway to Key West between 1902 – 1912 which included Seven Mile Bridge. The road was built after a 1935 hurricane destroyed the track. The highway covers 113 miles and connects the entire length of the Keys over 42 bridges. Today’s Seven Mile Bridge was built in the early 80’s, paralleling the original which looks in a rather sad state.

We came into the Keys on Highway 1 from the Everglades. It merges with Highway 905 at MM (mile marker) 109 and becomes the Overseas Highway – the countdown to Key West had begun.

The Florida Keys are basically a chain of 113 limestone islands which extend from the southern tip of the Florida mainland 220 miles to the Dry Tortugas. They are island remnants of ancient coral reefs (Upper Keys) and sand bars (Lower Keys) which were exposed and fossilised in the last ice age 100,000 years ago. When the glaciers melted 15,000 years ago the area flooded and became what we see today. 

Key Largo

Key Largo was our first introduction to the Keys and we celebrated leaving the mossies of the Everglades behind with a big breakfast at Doc’s Diner (MM99). The motto is ‘Come hungry’ and the nondescript exterior hides a traditional style diner where eggs come every which way you want once you work out the terminology.

The girl at the Tourist office warned us:

‘There is nothing to do in Key Largo that doesn’t involve water’. 

That certainly applied  to our first stop at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park which was the first underwater park in America. It protects part of the Florida Reef, continental America’s only living coral reef.  There are a couple of minor short walks but the focus is on getting out to the reef, whether by diving, snorkeling, kayaking or a glass bottomed boat tour.

As luck would have it, we weren’t having the best weather. It was windy and the sea was unsettled to the extent that the glass bottomed boats had been grounded (if that’s the right word!?).

The little of the park on dry land consists of a pleasant beach area backed by mangrove forest. There are a few rather incongruous cannons: apparently 60 of them were dredged up from the wreck of the HMS Winchester, an English Royal Navy ship which ran aground on the reef in 1685.

There is quite a fun snorkeling area just off the beach where cannon and an anchor lie scattered from a 1715 Spanish shipwreck. It is also worth checking out the visitors centre with its large aquarium. The park has a campsite but, in common with every state park in the Keys, it was unfortunately booked solid – reservations open 11 months in advance for Florida residents, 10 for the rest of us. 

Private campsites are limited in the Keys but our first night stop was just north of John Pennekamp at King’s Kamp (MM103). It is unfortunate that these places resemble huge car parks, as they are largely occupied by giant RV’s (recreational vehicles). The friendly lady gave us a space between two huge motorhomes, although having to pay US $70 for it was quite painful after our beautiful wild camping in Chile.

However, I could forgive the place a lot as it had excellent hot showers and a dinky beach area with Adirondak chairs and a couple of jetties for feet dangling. Sunset arrived with a myriad of colours over a serene seascape. Later children chased shrimps by torchlight, looking for the telltale giveaway of red eyes reflecting in the light. 

Islamorada

The following day we drove south along a highway edged with diners, shopping malls, boat yards and RV parks – there was nothing of any interest on it at all apart from garish signs. We rapidly came to the conclusion that one has to seek the coastline, the elusive sea view, accessing it via the numerous bars and restaurants that are hidden behind the main strip.

Whisking over yet another bridge in an infinity of blue on the Overseas Highway, we came to Robbie’s (MM 77).

This place is a total tourist trap, combining tiki bar, restaurant, souvenir tat shops, and boat or kayak rentals, but provides some cheap entertainment in the form of tarpon feeding. These sleek primeval looking fish can reach 8 feet in length and are considered big game by sea anglers but buy a US $5 bucket of small fish and you can feed them off the pier – or US $2.50 if you only want to watch.

The latter is just as much fun as it is hilarious watching people tentatively trying to feed these giant fish which have surprisingly large mouths whilst trying to fend off a determined mob of hungry pelicans. The fish will lunge out of the water at dangled bait and we saw whole hands disappear – like ‘sandpaper’ apparently!

It is not a good idea to frighten the pelicans either: one took off with rather dire results – several people were copiously crapped on!

In another area of the marina a huge manatee revealed his whiskery nose whilst lapping up water from an overflowing hose. In the background a fisherman filleted fish, throwing the remnants to a hoard of waiting pelicans – there was certainly a lot happening.

The weather was playing havoc with our plans again. I had hoped to take a canoe out to Indian Key Historic State Park, a mere 20 minute paddle off the coast, but it was too windy. The small 11 acre island was bought by Jacob Housman, a wrecker, in 1831 but his fortunes declined and he had to mortgage it. 

Dr. Perrin moved over in 1838 and  attempted to grow tropical plants on the island but was killed just 2 years later in an  Indian raid. Now just a few ruins of the homestead remain which can be explored on a self guided tour.

In better weather The Kayak Shack at Robbie’s has double kayak rental for US $60 for the day (9 am – 4pm) or US $45 for a single, so allowing plenty of time to explore Indian Key and the mangroves, snorkel and picnic. 

We continued on and stopped for a classic Keys lunch at The Island Fish Company and Tiki Bar (MM 54.5) near Marathon, with seating overlooking yachts, jetties and pelicans.

I tried my first conch fritters which were fairly tasteless. All the conch are imported these days. We discovered that Americans pronounce the word ‘conk’ and those people who are born and bred in the Keys are called ‘Conchs’ – or even ‘freshwater conch’ if they have moved in from elsewhere. 

No Name Key

Our second overnight stop was to be Big Pine Key Resort but before we checked in we did a quick detour out to No Name Key. Chiefly known for being the practice area for the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, today it is a slightly off the beaten track sort of place, with refreshingly low key and authentic housing.

We were looking for the famous Key Deer and we were not to be disappointed. As we drove along the one through road we glimpsed two in the neighbouring vegetation. About the same size as a roe deer, they are related to white tailed deer and are a remnant from another age when the Keys were connected to the mainland.

Providing a handy source of food for sailors and residents over the years, they were critically endangered by the time the National Key Deer Refuge was set up in 1954. Their numbers have now stabilised around the 300 mark and they can be found on No Name Key and Big Pine Key.

The road dead ends at the mangrove coastline where a couple who were leaving warned us about an angry crocodile – by the time we found him he was firmly buried in the leaves at the edge of the water. Maybe he had taken objection to their dog!

We drove back slowly, seeing another deer en route. There is a rough track which leads south into thick scrub which can be followed for a couple of kilometres if you want to explore further and the popular No Name Pub on the way back. 

The nearby Blue Hole on Big Pine Key is an abandoned quarry, once used as a source of limestone. Now filled with freshwater, it supports a variety of wildlife. A short walk to a lookout revealed two alligators and there are even some tarpon which were swept into the pool in a hurricane.

Big Pine Key Resort was an expensive campsite at US $99, but we had a spacious site overlooking a bay with lots of birdlife. A storm came over with thunder, lightening and rain so we had little chance to enjoy the scenery although the showers were good! 

Seven Mile Bridge & Pigeon Key

There are a couple of things you don’t realise in advance about this iconic section of the Overseas Highway: firstly that the concrete edgings largely obscure any view that you might have, and secondly that the original railway bridge still runs beside it in a derelict state. 

Today’s road roughly follows the original railway route into the Keys but deviates on the longer bridge sections, leaving the original construction as a rather sad shadow, with just a few areas maintained for fishermen or for access to Pigeon Key.

As you drive past there is one object of interest: a large tree, presumably descended from some bird deposit. It is known as Fred the Tree and has its own Facebook page. At Christmas it is decorated. It even has a couple of smaller companions these days – in a hundred years there will be a forest! 

As Americans don’t seem to get any exercise in their normal everyday lives they have to invent it, so early the next morning we joined the energetic on the two mile long old bridge walk to Pigeon Key. 

It was a bit like a rather aged version of the Byron Bay daily parade with less flattering activewear and bad coffee, but it still felt a pretty unique walk to us.

Pigeon Key was used from the early 1900’s to house the workers who built Fragler’s railway to Key West, initially in tents and later in houses. 

A 2 mile yomp – with milage thoughtfully marked out – along the old railway line / road rewards with 360° ocean views (typically rather grey the day we did it) and a grandstand view over charming old yellow clapboard houses, now used to house a marine research facility. The actual road comes to an abrupt halt too as its continuation is in a derelict segmented state.

It is possible to tour the site and for the less active, a little shuttle tram runs to and fro from the visitors centre just north of Seven Mile Bridge at the MM1090 mark. It is quite a pricy $25 but one can fish, swim, snorkel or feed the fish, so it would be best to take a picnic and make a day of it. 

As we returned an osprey flew over our heads with a large fish in its claws and pelicans flapped past like bombers on a mission. One of the delights of Florida is the many birds that can be seen – check out the Florida Birding Trail to see over 500 places with great birding opportunities. Another bizarre sight was a couple with two ridiculous toy dogs, one of which the chap was pushing in a pram! 

South from 7 Mile Bridge

The Veterans Memorial Park and Beach (MM 39) is a pleasant little beachfront park just south of Seven Mile Bridge with great ocean views. There are some covered picnic tables and it was a pleasant place to stop for a couple of hours, with free parking and access.

The next stop was Bahia Honda State Park (MM 36), reputed to have the best beach in the Keys, and also another lookout point over the old bridge. It has good snorkeling, kayaking and a great campsite if you can get in. 

At the northern end of Spanish Harbour Keys it is possible to pull in and walk to a lookout at the water’s edge which gives a superb view over another section of ruined road. It is a surreal sight and quite a picturesque one as this section has a lot more iron girder work.

A few paces to the west leads one under the present day bridge which has an alarming amount of concrete struts which have had subsequent reinforcement – sometimes it is better not to look too closely beneath the surface! 

It is worth mentioning too the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail, a cycling trail which runs the length of the Keys, often utilising the old train line. It is separated (though not by much) from the ceaseless traffic, the sea views are superb and best of all, it’s flat!

Nearing Key West, we stopped for an unusually good and fairly healthy lunch at Baby’s (MM15) where a small coffee (big by our standards) cost US $1.50 and a tasty toasted bacon and cheese bagel only US $5. They claim to be the southernmost coffee roasters in America and sell a variety of roasted coffee beans with such names as Voodoo Queen and Death by Coffee.

We checked into Boyd’s campsite on Key West, an easy 10 minutes drive from the centre. We were to have three nights at this pleasant little campsite which was still costing US $100 a night (US $120 if you want one of the admittedly nice waterfront spots). However there were more tents and small vans around so it felt a bit more low key and less cluttered than the other places at which we stayed. 

Key West

Our search for free parking downdown (Margaret Street is a safe bet) introduced us to the best of Key West: pretty, quiet back streets with old clapperboard houses of varying design and lots of character. There were shady verandahs, outside shutters and leafy gardens, reminiscent of New Orleans.

We walked through the old cemetery which is worth a quick look. Old and new seem to be jumbled together with an American Army memorial in the middle;  a flag flutters on each grave. The local big wigs, the Curry family, have some good monuments and chickens are everywhere.

To celebrate our arrival in the infamous town, once famed for its wreckers, hookers and gambling, we headed to Captain Tony’s Saloon just south of Duval on Green Street. This introduced us to the worst of Key West as people headed out on happy hour pub crawls along the mile long Duval strip.

Captain Tony unfortunately died in 2008 but sounded as if he would have given Hemingway a good run for his money, having fathered 13 children with 5 different women. He ran guns to Cuba (only 90 miles away) for Castro and was involved in bootlegging and smuggling. 

Captain Tony’s is the site of the original Sloppy Joe’s, the famed Hemingway haunt and the place where Papa met Martha Gellhorn, who was to become his third wife. 

Today’s Sloppy Joe’s is a huge, raucous dive on Duval Street so we decided that of the two, Tony’s is the more authentic, although equally a dive but on a smaller scale.

The bar stools are labelled with famous names, dollar bills are stapled all over the place and bras and knickers hang from the ceiling. There are a couple of pool tables, newspapers clippings and, on our visit, a live singer belting out classics in his own inimitable style. 

We drank expensive draft beer in plastic cups and felt we had done our bit – sunset happens at the Mallory Square end so we headed on. There were lots of street entertainers and stalls selling trinkets or food.

Wandering on around the harbour side we found lots of bar and restaurant life but nary a sunset – the cloud had persisted all day. Bizarrely, a Tiki bar sailed past us as the sunset cruise boats came forlornly back to harbour.

Checked Out, last advertised for US $5 million in 2021, was berthed nearby  amongst other super yachts, and a little further on there was a line up of racing boats, looking peculiarly truncated, but still very sleek. 

A man fishing from the pier was surrounded by pelicans and an egret. We turned back and ambled along Duval Street, a little quieter after the happy hour chaos of 4-6 pm, but still lively enough. The smell of marijuana was everywhere, the miasma hanging in the warm air.

Being big Jimmy Buffett fans we decided to eat at Marguaritaville in homage to the great singer who died on 1st September 2023. Even the state is now thinking of renaming the A1A coastal highway, which runs 340 miles south from Fernandina Beach to Key West, the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway.

Marguaritaville had a dodgy live imitation singer belting out Trop Rock amidst the tropical decor but the ‘It’s 5 o’clock somewhere’ rum cocktail tasted pretty good and the burger when it came may not quite have been delivered in Paradise but was as good as any of them, if a bit light on the fries. We shared a key lime pie which again did nothing to excite me but it was an enjoyable if highly overpriced evening!

We ambled back along Duval Street, reading the pornographic t-shirts in the shop windows – from ‘Any cock will do’ – those roosters are everywhere – to ‘l’d fuck me!’ I could see why the city is working on moving them inside! I actually found the presidential one quite amusing: it proclaimed ‘Trump: More jobs, Obama: No jobs, Clinton: Blow jobs and Biden: Nut job’.

It rather sums up Duval Street: a mile long strip of tourist tat, marijuana sellers, and drug (as in ‘chemist’) stores (I was amused to see I could buy 500 ibrobrufen and kill myself for US $30), interspersed with loud bars and dubious restaurants. We dodged the drag queens and the allure of the nudist bar  and headed home. 

The Hemingway House

Hemingway and his wife Pauline initially arrived in Key West in 1928 and lodged at the Trev-Mor Hotel at 314 Simonton Street, above a Ford garage whilst they waited for a new car to be delivered. Hemingway finished A Farewell to Arms there. It is now a private home but it has an escape room feature if you want to get inside!

However it is the house at 907 Whitehead Street which gets all the attention. There are really only two reasons to visit it: an interest in Papa himself or a love of cats – and I would say the cat lovers come out on top!

It is actually a nice airy colonial style house with cool wrap around verandahs. Built in 1851 from the local limestone on site (thus creating a cellar) for a wealthy merchant, it had fallen into disrepair when Hemingway’s father-in-law bought it for his daughter and her husband in 1931 for US $8000. In 1937, Pauline spent US $20,000 on having a large pool excavated which caused a major argument. Today, it is still the largest private pool in Key West.

The story goes that Hemingway threw a coin on the floor in disgust and said she had cleared him out to his last cent – she promptly had it mounted in the floor and it can still be seen there today at the bottom of a pillar.

Entry is US $18 and you are free to wander at will or join one of the guided tours – the guides vary in quality from unbearable to amusing. Rob was very good and was tipped accordingly.

Hemingway only lived in the house for about 8 years, although Pauline stayed until her death in 1951. Hemingway decanted to Cuba in 1939 with Martha Gellhorn, his 3rd wife.

However he found time to do some serious work there first, including Green Hills of Africa, The  Snows of Kilimanjaro, and his 1937 novel To Have and Have Not, writing in a study that was built above the carriage house. Today it contains his original typewriter and Spanish birthing chairs are scattered here and there – apparently Hemingway used them as fishing stools.

It is actually a little hard to get a feel for the place as I don’t think much is particularly original, apart from Pauline’s chandelier collection and the bed with a ornate wooden Spanish gate positioned as an unusual headboard. A black cat was soundly asleep in the middle of the bed.

Speaking of which..! It all started with one when a mariner gifted Hemingway a síx toed kitten from his cat Snowball. Polydactyl cats were popular in the navy for their supposed skill in hunting and balance and Snow White’s line continues to this day. As Hemingway said ‘one cat just leads to another’ and today there are 61 cats on the property, including three unneutered toms who carry the precious gene.

Not all the cats have six toes (some actually have seven) but you can have great fun tracking down those that do. They can be found on every seat, under shady palms or even curled up blatantly in the house! All are called after a famous person.

The cat hunt is a good excuse to linger amongst the acre of shady lush gardens with a plentiful array of chairs. There is also a rather unusual fountain feature whereby a large earthenware olive jar overflows into a tiled trough – look closely and you will see it is actually a urinal from Sloppy Joe’s.

The house stayed in Hemingway’s possession until his suicide in Idaho in 1961, after which his three children auctioned it off for US $80,000. It opened as a museum only three years later.

Of course, another famous author lived in Key West for nearly four decades until his death in 1983: Tennessee Williams, who wrote The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar named Desire. He is strangely overlooked, fading into the background under the Hemingway aura. You can find his old conch cottage at 1431 Duncan Street but it is in private hands – it was actually sold with a clause saying that it could not be used to profit from his name – and there is a small museum at 513 Truman Avenue.

Just across the  road from Hemingway’s House is the lighthouse. The original opened at Whitehead’s Point, the southernmost point in Florida, in 1826, but was destroyed in a hurricane 20 years later.

Its replacement was moved half a mile inland to a 14 foot high hill and opened in 1848. Hemingway claimed it was a useful guide home after a night out!

It was finally deactivated in 1969 and subsequently opened as a museum (entry US $17). Be warned: there are 88 steps to the top. There are also pricy sunset tours and even a proposal option!

Whilst in the area we visited the black and red buoy which marks the southern most point in the US. Simon isn’t in the photo as the queue was about half an hour long and I don’t do queues – the real southernmost point is actually over the fence anyway in the Naval Base.

We also walked past the end (or start) of Highway 1 on Whitehead Street. It is conveniently located by a very kitschy souvenir shop and the Green Parrot, the oldest bar in Key West and another dive.

The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

Today’s the day! It took him 16 years but in 1985, professional marine treasure hunter Mel Fisher finally found the wreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha.

28 ships in the Tierra Firme fleet had left Havana in September 1622, bound for Spain. It was terrible timing: within a day they had hit a hurricane off Florida and seven ships were lost. 

The Atocha was swept onto the reef with the loss of 260 lives and only 5 survivors.

She was carrying 40 tonnes of gold and silver and 70 pounds of Colombian emeralds amongst other treasures. Although the Spanish themselves attempted a salvage operation they could not penetrate the wreck at the time and another hurricane a month later scattered it beyond recovery.

In 1980 Mel Fisher had found the wreck of the Santa Marguarita, the sister ship to the Atocha, but he really hit paydirt with the Atocha – the treasure was valued somewhere around the $450 million mark. An argument ensued with the Florida authorities as to who actually owned it – after years of fighting, Mel won the case before dying in 1998 so he had a bit of time to enjoy it.

A lot of it has been auctioned off but a small but impressive amount is on display in the museum, including a wall of silver bars from Potosi in Bolivia (there were originally 1038 of them weighing 70 lb each), each one marked with it’s production number, it’s purity value, and it’s owner’s mark, as well as the final stamp by the silver master as it was loaded on the ship. 100,000 silver coins were also bought to the surface.

Gold from the Andes was melted for transport and poured into a depression in the sand made by a finger so producing smaller ‘finger’ bars. There were copper ingots from Cuban mines (582 originally weighing 70 tons), as well as gold chains, jewellry and a cross inset with emeralds. Don’t miss the charming golden parrot earring with an inset emerald – it’s twin has not been found.

It was a fascinating display from a frozen moment in history. Other exhibits covered slavery, pirates, the Cuban crisis and marine archeology – all in all it was US $17. 50 well spent.

From the museum, we  meandered past the Truman house, which was built in 1890 for naval officers. It later became popular amongst various US presidents and Truman used it as a vacation home and mini White House between 1946-1952. The area is very manicured and has some very expensive real estate.

We ended up at Truman Waterfront Park where a jolly market was under way. Buying some fresh sourdough and dips, we picniced on the seawall and enjoyed a fine sunset over the water.

As the sun slowly sank from view, the navy played the national anthem on a bugle. People actually stood to attention – I cannot see that happening in England! 

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Our last day in Key West and the weather had regressed somewhat but we stuck to our original plan and headed out to Fort Zachery Taylor on the western tip of the peninsula. It was built in 1845 and named after a fairly unmemorable president who died in office after only a year.

It has the largest collection of Civil War armaments in the US, largely due to them being used as landfill when the fort was adapted in 1898 – some of the 140 cannons have been excavated and are now on display in the casements below.

The walls and buildings have been reduced from the original 3 stories to one but there are good sea views and you can take a clandestine peep at the Naval Base next door.

The park is also supposed to have the best beach and snorkeling in the area, and indeed it was a pretty spot with picnic tables amidst scattered, shady palms overlooking a small but pleasingly sandy strip of beach. On fine days it is worth sticking around until sunset but it got very grey and we didn’t wait. A giant cruise ship, the Carnival Sunrise, slid past and disappeared in the murk – you know something is big if even the Americans are impressed!

Homeward bound, we drove past the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Gardens but more amusing entertainment is just beyond their gate: the Munroe County Sherriff’s Office Animal Farm is one of the more unusual attractions on Stock Island, quite close to Boyd’s campsite. Open the second and fourth Sunday of each month, it started in 1994 with some roosters (what else?!) and now houses up to 150 rescued or abandoned animals ranging from the domestic varieties to more exotic species such as an ostrich and a sloth – at least it is a way of keeping the juvenile delinquents occupied. Donations appreciated or take vegetables! 

Heading North

We awoke to the sound of freedom, the disadvantage of having a Naval Air Station on one’s doorstep. The jets seemed to be practising their take offs and landings, although at least they waited until 7.30 am to start – don’t buy a condo near the place!

That said, their noise permeates throughout Key West, alongside the incessant noise of Highway 1 and the wandering free range hens and roosters, apparently protected birds descended from fighting cocks – the sound of silence is rarely heard in the Keys!

The weather was sunny but windy, limiting our beach options, so we decided to check out a couple of the state parks as we drove north. 

Curry Hammock State Park

Curry Hammock State Park is tucked away at MM 56. Often overlooked, it actually has a nice little beach and picnic area – and a campsite if you are lucky enough to get a spot – the best technique seems to be to turn up and hope for a cancellation. The day use fee is US $6 for a car with two people.

There is a popular 2 hour canoe trail trail through the mangroves where numerous little snowflake-like Cassiopeia jellyfish are found, but presently it appears canoes are not rented out on site, although local outfitters will deliver one.

Instead we had a wander on the 1½ mile Nature Trail which is about a mile to the south of the park entrance with free access from a highway car park. It wends around a tropical hardwood hammock with lovely pigeon palms to a lookout over Florida Bay. 

Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park

A rather overlooked sight in the Keys, this park (MM 84) turned out to be unexpectedly enthralling and entrance is only US $2.50.

It is basically an old quarry which Fragler mined for his railroad but the neatly chiselled walls provide a fascinating glimpse of what was once an ancient coral reef, with fossils of brain and elkhorn corals and assorted sealife.

The excavated areas are about 8 feet deep and spread out widely due to the shallow water table inhibiting deeper mining, so one is also walking on the fossils. Some old mining equipment is still en situ in the main quarry under the visitor’s centre. Although this quarry is now closed, the stone is still mined elsewhere and can be seen all around you in the Keys, most notably in the Key West Post Office and the 1935 art deco Hurricane Memorial (MM 82) in Islamorada which marks the grave of 425 victims which were killed when a tidal wave hit the train which was evacuating them.

Don’t miss the fig on the back wall whose roots form a decorative network over the stone. It is also worth looking at the top of the reef at eye level just to see exactly how shallow the top soil is.

There is an informative little museum and a series of short minor trails amongst the surrounding hammock forest and three quarry areas – actually on the highest point of the Keys at 18 feet. An informative guidebook details all the native vegetation en route and their uses, the road is easy going gravel and it is all very well done and enjoyable.

Our final stop in the Keys was Shipwrecks bar at 45 Garden Cove Drive, just before Highway 1 swings inland. They have US $1 draught beers on tap which nicely accompanied a serving of conch fritters and coconut shrimp on an outside terrace overlooking the water.

I too came to the Keys with a halcyon vision which harked back to the Hemingway days of big characters and louche lifestyles, but those days are long gone – college boys on tour just do not make the grade and Papa himself would shudder if he saw Duval Street now.

I think if one had a boat (possibly combined with fishing) it could still be good amongst all the islands. One local actually said the best time was just before a hurricane arrived when everyone cleared out!

These days many older visitors are escaping the cold further north, seemingly happy to settle for crowds, second rate beaches and sky high prices for an extra 10° of warmth – in retrospect, I would head for the lovely coastline between Naples and Tampa where I think the overall experience would be better – better beaches, better restaurants, better prices, great museums and more to do.

Someone also mentioned the Panhandle where Florida goes west; sadly we didn’t have time to get up there but it sounds interesting. I have also heard it referred to as the Redneck Riviera – sounds our sort of place!

Come to that, if you want the old Key West experience these days, someone else told me to just cross the border to Mexico where the living and the marguaritas are cheap and no one gives a shit – maybe he’s got a point! 

NOTES

Homestead in southern Miami makes a good stepping off point for the Keys. We stayed at the Hooseville Hostel at 20 SW 2nd Avenue (305 363 4644) where a simple double with shared facilities cost £60. It has a big garden at the back and some very friendly pet rabbits!

We camped all the way down the Keys, but if you are feeling flush, the historic Seascape B&B in Key West is nice, has a pool and is centrally placed on Olivia Street.