Key West Trip Idea

Today I was working on planning a Key West trip for a friend of mine. Key West isn't the first place I go to when visiting the Keys but if you're going to go to the Florida Keys, it does have more to do (and more restaurants) than other parts of the Keys. The funny thing about the Florida Keys is that it's really like small-town living, in a popular vacation destination. 
This is a good trip if you want to see the Keys and do a quick trip. It's also good if you don't want to snorkel or swim. The surprising thing about the Keys is that there aren't many actual beaches. Sand isn't natural in the formations of the islands. Most are made out of limestone and coral which doesn't lend it self to sand. But there are some beaches on Key West and some of the other locations. The Gulf/Bay side has more beach areas but also has different marine life. I will be posting more Florida Keys info later on this month. 


What I think would be a great trip for 4 days (3 nights) in the Keys. 
Day 1 - fly to Miami airport and rent a car. Drive down to Key West (it takes awhile because Hwy 1 is mostly two lanes). Check into hotel/motel/B&B. I would recommend staying somewhere near Duval Street in Key West. Then you can walk most places. Key West can be difficult to get around driving. 
Day 2 - Glass bottom boat tour. A lot of boat companies do these tours. One I found was: http://www.furycat.com/key-west/glass-bottom-boats.htm 
Or you could do a snorkeling tour. Then spend the afternoon walking around the town. See the sights - the Ernest Hemingway house, the Southernmost point, the museums. A great Keys tourism website is: http://www.fla-keys.com/ It has links and info about lots of things to do and places to stay in the Keys. 
Day 3 - Dry Tortugas day. Find a company that will take you to the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson. This would be a day trip. You can tour the Fort and spend some time on the beach. 
Day 4 - head back to Miami. You can take your time, visit places along the way, see Miami Beach and catch a flight home. 


There are lots of restaurants and interesting things to see in Key West. A lot of history for such a small island. There are also other great things in the Florida Keys. It's a relaxing place that you can spend a day relaxing on a hammock or renting a boat to go out on the water. It's surprising to me how laid back the Keys are, for such a popular vacation destination. It's a pretty unique place that's still within the continental United States. Enjoy!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Going Greek

Well, it's one of my favorite times of the year in Columbia. Football season, fall and...the Greek Festival! If you live in the area and haven't been, you need to make it a point to go. It's a great festival with lots of great food and some real friendly people. Now, disclaimer, it gets crowded! They usually take up one block with booths, games, entertainment stages, and food vendors so every free space there is can be filled with people. I recommend going during one of the off-times. Like take a late lunch or an early dinner. Or even an early lunch. They're open from 10 am - 10 pm Thursday through Saturday. They also have Sunday hours. But while you're there, try and make it a point to tour their church. It was just built in the last couple of years and they are always working on adding new artwork. It's beautiful. You can sit there and study all of the Greek Ikons and learn about the history of each painting. Greek Festivals are great family activities and I ...
Read more

Battle of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site

Image
2020 Hiking Post 4 You might remember how last May, we visited the  Battle of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site . Recently, we returned there so we could explore the park more. This site is the only SC State Park where Confederate soldiers fought Sherman's troops as he made his way from Savannah to Columbia. There is a short trail (less than a mile) that takes you around the battleground and shows you the battle and what conditions were like at the time. There are still earthen rifle pits and other embankments that the soldiers built. Lots of informational signs along the way. Rifle pit mounds Retreat Trail There's also another trail that marks the route that the soldiers took as they retreated and a cemetery that has the dead from the battle. The park is free and has good visuals of how the battle took place and who was involved in it. There is also a community center and some neat events that take place throughout the year that show you what life wa...
Read more

Charleston Area State Parks

Image
2019 Hiking Week 41 Charles Towne Landing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It’s been quite the year traveling all over the state and seeing all that South Carolina has to offer. We didn’t anticipate at the beginning of this year that we would visit all of the South Carolina State parks but we finished and received our certificate! We ended our state park visits with Charleston area parks. We stayed in the area and visited Edisto , Colleton, Givhan’s Ferry, and Charles Towne Landing . We had previously visited Colonial Dorchester State Park on a day trip.  Edisto Beach State Park covers a large part of Edisto Island. There is an inland section with trails, camping, a boat dock, and nature center, as well as a beach section of the park. It was pretty cold when we visited but still beautiful. Edisto is one of the barrier islands that is remote and takes awhile to get there. It’s about an hour’s drive from Charleston. We’ve stayed there a couple times and it’s one of...
Read more