Attractions in the Florida Keys

You could only be in Key West, Florida's accessible slice of island spice. The final course in The Florida Keys' full menu of fun. Imbued with a tropical flavor that extends to its ubiquitous dishes--conch chowder, conch fritters and, of course, Key lime pie--this tiny town at The End of the Road is a slightly sugary, slightly tart, somehow sublime little custard of sights, sounds, tastes and tempos. As impious as eating dessert first, it's perfectly placed to introduce this curving island chain's curious charisma.

Like its sister Keys that Henry Flagler's railroad linked, Key West's influences have been Bahamian, Cuban, military, visionary. Its industries have ranged from shipwreck salvaging to turtle hunting to cigar making to tourism. Its wealth has been vast (in the 1880s, before lighthouses helped treasure-laden ships avoid treacherous reefs) and lost (in the 1930s, after 42 miles of railroad succumbed to storm-tossed seas).

Its Old Town historic district--pedestrian-friendly and architecturally rich--is where wreckers' and shipbuilders' hybrid homes are now high-end bed-and-breakfasts admired for their tin roofs, gingerbread trim, signature shutters and wraparound verandas. Where former hangouts of hard-drinking heroes and hippies are now vacation-photo backdrops for families and frat boys. Where fierce, fighting roosters' docile descendents quaintly roam free, legally protected. That's Key West: tradition with a Key lime twist.

But of all its aspects, the self-nicknamed Conch Republic is arguably best known for having perpetuated a simple habit of nightly saluting the blazing horizon, albeit with an atmosphere increasingly more theme park than Thoreau.

In fact, if you strayed there straight from the airport or cruise ship, today's Mallory Square sundown scene could cause culture shock. Amid the pet-toting locals and souvenir T-shirt masses, first-timers tend to feel a bit like bit players on a crowded movie set. But for those who've been before, or who drove in through all those other quirky Keys, well, you've seen enough to know it's all for real. Surreal as it may be.

Driving the mostly two-lane Road That Went to Sea from Miami to Key West is like backtracking to the days predating endless exit ramps. Through the car windows--interspersed with mangroves, cattails and "passing lane 3 miles" signs--appear pirates posed in full regalia, monster lobsters, towering mermaid cutouts, lots of crusty cannons, a few giant anchors. Conspicuously placed as if to encourage a pull-off photo op, followed by a stop inside the air-conditioned comfort of whatever restaurant or shop sits close by, such oddities lend the landscape an innocent charm.

Then there are the signs: "Seafood" spelled in seashell mosaic; a neon turtle; even a rhinoceros-topped billboard. After many miles of this sort of scenery, one reaches the landlocked concrete buoy emblazoned "Southernmost Point" a little more prepared for Key West's mystique.

But don't think you have to head all the way to that oft-photographed red, yellow and black landmark to have arrived. Simply stop at almost any populated Key (taken from the Spanish cayo, or "small island") along the way and you'll usually be well fixed with great R & R opportunities. A good number of Florida Keys vacationers do just that, making family traditions out of annual stays at tuck-away campgrounds, easygoing efficiencies, "botels"--lodgings where marinas replace parking lots--or sport-fishing hot spots flush with charter boats, guides and all-inclusive resorts.