Any knowledge of Key West?

[rwsmith]

It looks like we'll probably head for Key West sometime in July and will be there for five days. My wife lived at the air station when she was a little kid but hasn't been back.

We are going to spend one day on a fishing charter. I'll be interested in getting a little feeling of Hemingway. What else is there to see and do down there?

The boys may want to go snorkeling, but the sharks have been so bad down there....

On the way up and down, the first thing that crossed my mind was to see Alligator Alley, but we have too many huge gators here so that dropped to the bottom of my list, unless there is something to see besides gators.

My wife and I like nature and museums and we all like to eat.

The boys are late teenagers. My son likes fishing. Other than that they like late teenager stuff.

We will probably stop at Coconut Creek north of Miami to see my sister. She has her ex's gun collection and is deathly afraid of them. I'll probably take them to sell. I hope there is something interesting in there.

 

[ditrina]

SURE..

Drink.. Fall Down.. Get Up.. Repeat.

Drink.. Go Fishing..Drink.. Fall Down.. Repeat

Drink.. Eat.. Fall Down.. Get Up.. Repeat

Go home

 

[CATI1835]

I know its REALLY hot in the summer...

And this being from a Texas boy. We went down for a week in late June several years ago and the heat combined with the humidity forced us to spend a large amount of time at indoor waterholes drinking cold adult beverages in an effort to stay hydrated. And there a a lot of those waterholes. It was tough.

 

[ladder13]

I was there for New Years about 15 years back. I had a good time even though I don't drink.
Lot's of weird **** happening on the streets.

 

[Straightshooter2]

Expect diversity in people.

 

[Rpg]

My experience with Key West is not encouraging.

If you enjoy over priced middling food, pricy booze, a concentrated tourist trap selling scads of junky tourist stuff, overpriced fishing, below average snorkeling and diving, cruise boat stops and high heat and humidity, you'll love it!

Lots of better spots in the Keys to eat, snorkel, fish, dive, snorkel and stay.

 

[Farmer17]

We went there this New Years holiday and stayed in Southbeach and took a bus ride over to Key West for a day. It was nice for a day and we went snorkeling but didn't see much, the ocean was cloudy and we went out several miles and the water was only 10 feet deep. The water is probably much clearer in the summer and we did see some dolphins. The town is fun and is very small with old historic buildings but I think I would get bored if I spent a whole lot of time there. I would recommend taking a bus ride to Southbeach, we had a blast and the beaches and water were beautiful. Key West doesn't really have beaches just rocky shores.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Right beside the Hemmingway home is a nice Coast Guard museum and light house. You can go up the lighthouse and spy down on the Hemmingway cats. For nice snorkeling check out John Pennicamp under water State Park in Key Largo, the coral reef was nice fifteen years ago.

 

[Rule3]

My advice is don't go! Key West USED to be pretty nice many many years ago, it is horrible now! I can not go into the many reasons here on the forum. It is a ZOO. Watch out for the Roosters (really) I think you have to pay to go to Mallory Square to watch the Sunset and have an expensive drink.

Many place much nicer in the upper Keys to stay and do things.
No need to go all the way down there.

Right at the end mile Marker the prime property, is Public Housing

I will never go back there.

 

[hittman77]

It'd be funner without the kiddies ....... just sayin'

 

[wingriderz]

Biah Honda State Park

 

[NYlakesider]

People watching can be very interesting there!

 

[ladder13]

My advice is don't go! Key West USED to be pretty nice many many years ago, it is horrible now! I can not go into the many reasons here on the forum. It is a ZOO. Watch out for the Roosters (really) I think you have to pay to go to Mallory Square to watch the Sunset and have an expensive drink.

Many place much nicer in the upper Keys to stay and do things.
No need to go all the way down there.

Right at the end mile Marker the prime property, is Public Housing

I will never go back there.

Next trip I'm headed for Clearwater

 

[rwsmith]

I 'dig'......

I dig the diversity thing. I'll bring this stuff up with the family. Maybe being in the Keys is better than being in Key West.

Yeah, it might be more fun w/o the kids, because our likes are diametrically opposed, but this is with our boy that we lost for several years, so we want to have a trip together.

We found a fishing charter that is about $800 for the four of us, which seems to be the going rate here for ocean fishing.

 

[DWalt]

All things considered, for fishing you are probably better off in the Gulf of Mexico. I went to Key West some years ago, and the fish ignored me. I can't say I ever had any urges to return. My brother went down there with his wife earlier this year, and they wished they had gone somewhere else.

 

[shell627]

I haven't been since 1997 .It was a lot of fun. Try doing the Duval crawl.

 

[Tradewind36]

Lived there '72-'75, stationed at NAS. It was great back then, laid back and quiet compared to today. Hemingway house, some museums and people watching on Duval are interesting. The Conch train will take you around town and give you a history lesson. It's become a busy tourist town now with expensive restaurants and bars. Haven't been since 2011, when I go these days I tend to visit my old haunts from 45 years ago, the few that still remain. Probably more bars per capita than anywhere in the country!

 

[Onomea]

Took my mom, wife, and two of the kids back in 1998 for a week. It was July or August, but cooler than where my mom lived in Tidewater, Va., that time of year. We had a great time just walking around and chowing down.

A lot of excellent food. Seriously.

Yeah, it was, uh, diverse, back then, too, but that didn't seem to bother anyone, including us. Very laissez–faire kinda place, Key West.

Right after we got there, my mom's knees started to bother her a lot, and she suddenly wanted to go home. But we looked in the Yellow Pages — Ha! I bet you younger guys have no idea what I am talking about! — and found a place that rented wheelchairs. Wheeled Mom all over the place. She had a great time, as did the rest of us.

 

[rburg]

But we looked in the Yellow Pages — Ha! I bet you younger guys have no idea what I am talking about! —

Next you'll be telling us about finding a phone booth. That even had a phone directory. With some of those numbers even hooked up to land lines.

 

[rwsmith]

Do you mean....

Biah Honda State Park

Honda Park is blah?

 

[RobertJ.]

We went there in 2010, and we had a blast. We went, unbeknownst to us, when the Parrot Head Convention was happening. I'm a long-time Jimmy Buffet fan, so that was okay by me! Didn't see JB, but there were members of the Coral Reefer Band playing with different local bands. Duvall Street was a Mardi Gras type block party, and like I said, we had fun. Almost every bar had JB's music blaring, but there was one playing Liza Minelli. Diversity, I guess! I paid the flute player 5 bucks to take his photo, and it's one of my favorites from that vacation.

We spent one afternoon doing our own thing, my wife went on a snorkel cruise, and I went fishing. I caught this small barracuda on a salmon lure off the pier while the pelican sat and watched.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Spent a week down there in first week in December 2015. Did what Sal suggests only I did a bit more drinking. Be CAREFUL as one tends to do strange sh...stuff when one is under the influence and by ones self (wigfe and daughters were off at the museum). That's how I came home with a pierced ear and a 14k shackle earring. What can I say....the jewler was cute and bent over a lot
There's also places where the girls can get mighty friendly.
Something one should do at least once in one's life. MUCH better than the french quarter-doesn't smell and the people down there really try to put the tourist first. We stayed at the Best Western Hibuscus which is towards the north end (away from Mallory square) and a block off DUval. Best part is you can walk everywhere-Duval street end to end is little more than a mile.
Yea it's touristy-yea it's over priced but what the hell you only live once!

 

[Bugkiller99]

Expect diversity in people.

If you enjoy people watching, it's the Olympics for that.

 

[g-dad]

I went a few yrs ago in March for Daytona Bike Week. Spent some time there and then rode down to Key West. The weather was perfect.

Here's some pics.

 

[jeffsmith]

i Suspect you will be Taking Rte 95 down
You go Past St Augustine Daytona Beach & Kennedy Space Center

Seeing any of them will break up your trip
Daytona & KSC might even have something "Special" going on at that time

 

[PJO1425]

No one so far mentioned President Truman's summer home, I think it was a worthwhile tour. Next time down there, I want to tour Hemingway's home.

 

[Jessie]

If you haven't been there, go ahead.
It's an experience!
I would recommend that you research when you're going to be there and make sure you're not caught up in some festival or other you'd rather not be in.
It can get real crowded and weird which will detract from any eating/drinking experience you may have been looking toward too.
I can guarantee that it's changed since your wife was last there!

 

[vigil617]

A favorite port call three or four times when I was in the Coast Guard, but that was back in the early 80s, and I haven't been back since. Even got to fly down there once for a drug trial at the government's expense for a couple of days. Fun times!

Those chickens wandering around were a trip. Not the most curious thing to see, though -- the people are like nowhere else...

 

[Tyrod]

Being a long time Florida resident, but not a native, I've from time to time felt the urge to see some touristy things. I've been to some of the most interesting places in Florida. Being a history buff, my most favorite place is Saint Augustine. Stay at the Casa Monica for a pricey but clean room. My second favorite place is Cedar Key. About half way up the west coast of Florida. If you're looking for great seafood (especially oysters), a quiet weekend, fishing off a public pier and all the quaintness of old time Florida, then Cedar Key is the place to go. The only downside is that you can see the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant which is just down the coast a bit. So, if your conch fritters are glowing, limit yourself. Just kidding! I've eaten there quite a few times with no negative effects. I wouldn't consider Cedar Key a kid friendly place. Nothing bad going on. No obvious diversity. There's just not a lot of activities aimed specifically for kids. Many artists gather in the winter months to practice & ply their trade.

 

[Levallois]

Stopped there as part of a cruise and had a nice day with the family hanging out, eating, drinking and snorkeling (not in that order). The only thing I regret about the trip was buying some hand rolled cigars made from Cuban seed tobacco. The worst cigars I have ever smoked!! Even after a year of aging in the humidor they were still terrible. I had to throw them out. Have fun!