Florida Keys
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Overview
It's easy to be drawn into the lazy charm of Key West. Visit the house where Ernest Hemingway once lived and join the nightly festivities in Mallory Square. Laze on sandy beaches in Bahia Honda State Recreational Park and snorkel the reefs at Key Largo's John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park or Looe Key Marine Sanctuary.
Background
The Florida Keys trail in a broken arc from southern Florida towards Cuba and the further south you travel, the more Caribbean they become in lifestyle. You can swim with dolphins in Key Largo, the northernmost town in the Keys and the gateway to reef and wreck diving. Highway 1 bisects the islands and at Marathon becomes Seven Mile Bridge, spanning the Middle and Lower Keys. From here, you have easy access to wildlife conservation areas and the Keys' best sandy beaches in Bahia Honda State Recreational Park. At the southern tip of the Florida Keys, you'll find eccentric Key West, a super-relaxed place where pretty much anything goes.
First-time visit
Book weeks in advance to meet dolphins at Key Largo's Dolphin Cove and Islamorada's Theatre by the Sea. Join wreck dives at The Elbow reef in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, off Key Largo. Kids love the comic pelicans at Florida Keys Wild Bird Center at Tavernier in the Middle Keys. Drive across the dramatic Seven Mile Bridge spanning Florida Bay and stop off at Bahia Honda State Recreational Park, home to the Keys' best beaches. At sunset, see juggling antics in Key West's Mallory Square and bar hop along Duval Street.
Return visit
In Key West, discover sleepy Bahama Village and tour the house where Ernest Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. Your kids will love the simulated dives at the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center on Key West's Truman Annexe waterfront and feeding tarpon at Robbie's of Islamorada on Upper Matcumbe Key. Float over shadowy coral formations in Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary and follow nature trails in Crane Point Hammock, near Marathon on Key Vaca. On Big Pine Key, challenge yourselves to tracking down the elusive No Name Pub for pizza and a riotous night out.
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