Florida Keys Vacation Travel Guide | Expedia

straddling the deep waters of the Atlantic and the warm shallows of the Gulf of Mexico the Florida Keys are strung together by the Overseas Highway an engineering marvel which arcs across 44 of the archipelago's 1700 keys [Music] [Music] there's a saying in the keys that for every mile traveled down the Overseas Highway in the real world gets left further behind [Music] after the one-hour drive from Miami celebrate your arrival at the Upper Keys by kicking back at the Caribbean club the setting for the bogart and bacall movie classic Key Largo [Music] from Key Largo follow the mile markers down to plantation key the sleepy gateway to Isla Mirada a 20-mile stretch of six Keys known as the sport fishing capital of the world a twinned leaky fossil reef geological State Park follow the hammock trails to quarries where a century ago laborers cut great blocks of coral for Henley Flagler's overseas railroad nearby at the keys history and Discovery Center learn more about this incredible railway which ran all the way to Key West until it was forever derailed by the 1935 storm of the century hurricanes have played a recurring role in McKees history pride of place at the Discovery Center are incredible artifacts salvaged from the ill-fated Spanish fleet of 1733 whose treasures were blown across an 80 mile stretch of Keyes coastline [Music] Clearwater's rich marine life and the lore of sunken gold have long made the keys a magnet for divers while you're in a la mirada be sure to drop into the history of diving Museum which celebrates humankind's never-ending quest to explore a world that's even less well mapped than the more [Music] eylem errata offers treasures far more accessible than the Spanish galleons which line the coast you'll find it in the liquid gold creations of Florida Keys Brewing Company and in the golden flame of the artisans torch at rain barrel village it said the sunkissed salsa which graces the catch of the day and in the silver flashes of a hungry tarpon at BRABUS marina but most of all it's in the stiffening breeze which shapes the evening clouds and carries the promise of even more adventures [Music] from i la mirada leave the upper keys behind and begin your middle key wanderings amid the gumbo limbo crab wood and mangroves of monkey skatepark a few miles off in Marathon top up your tank with a lobster Reuben then make tracks to Crane Point hammock where you'll find 64 acres of trails historic sites that a Nature Center that helps the keys injured birds find their Wild Wings again the spirit of conservation continues just down the highway at marathons turtle hospital which specializes in the rescue rehabilitation and release of some of the keys most chilled out visitors when you're ready to continue your migration south across the breathtaking seven mile bridge to the Lower Keys pull over at Bahia Honda State Park where a five-minute rest stop can easily melt into five hours of bliss after drawing off head to the end of the Overseas Highway to Key West known to fun-loving locals as the capital of the conch republic Key West is more than just a stunning destination it's another state of mind [Applause] Keywest seven square miles are flat so swap out the rental car for flip-flops and head for Duval Street which runs right through the heart of the old town start at the streets northern end at Mallory Square where cruise ship day trippers fan out into the city with margaritas on their minds follow Duval south along a pastel streetscape where the architectural styles of the Bahamas and Spain rub shoulders above the passing parade of souvenir shoppers and bar hoppers at Duval Street southern end weighed into the waters of South Beach where Tennessee Williams took his morning swims during his 34 years stay storytellers have long been lured by chemo s freewheeling spirit and no writer embraced that spirit more than Ernest Hemingway just a block off Duval Street call in to Hemingway house where the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author spent some of his happiest and most productive years [Music] right across the street climbed the stairs of the Keywest lighthouse which often guided the writer home after a long night of carousing Keywest has also been a favorite with presidents down by the waterfront look for the pearly walls of the little white house the winter headquarters of president harry s truman just up the street bedazzled by Spanish gold silver and emeralds in the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum named after the treasure hunter who scoured the seafloor for 16 long years before finding the wreck of the legendary galleon the abduction you could spend days exploring Key West's architectural historic and creative treasures but as often happens in the keys it's Mother Nature who steals the show [Music] dive into the keenest echo Discovery Museum and learned the secrets of Florida's rich undersea and intertidal worlds then head to the historic seaport raise the mainsail and head off for an afternoon of snorkeling on North America's only living reef [Music] the road may end in Key West but the keys continue for a further 70 miles to Dry Tortugas National Park take the 2 hour cruise or treat yourself to a 40 minute seaplane flight and step ashore and one of the USA's most spectacular national parks spend the day exploring the casements and parade grounds of Fort Jefferson who 16 million bricks were all shipped from the mainland then pull on your face mask and snorkel in some of the clearest most pristine waters on the planet [Music] all that Sun and sea spray can make a person thirsty so after a day on the high seas tiya back at Key West and wet your whistle on a rum tasting tour or in a mojito making class if free-flowing cervesa his warrior thing just follow the sounds of good music and laughter to a comet watering holes like the Green Parrot the favorite that locals and blow ends for over 125 years but there's no greater show in Key West no better time to be had then at Mallory Square at dusk this is where it all comes together the characters the music the flavors of the keys as the Sun hangs above the horizon like a molten Spanish doubloon bathing every face with its golden glow a spirit this shared by all it's a spirit which says look at us we've made it we escaped the real world and found paradise [Music]

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Keywords: cvg, vacation travel guide, where to go, places to visit, vacation package, vacation, things to do, travel florida keys, florida keys vacation, things to do in florida keys, where to go in florida keys, travel to florida keys, usa, florida keys beaches, florida keys tourism

Id: gEhzMmlahUg

Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)

Published: Wed May 27 2020