Traveling up from Keys over to Marco Island. Looking for advice on condition/size of roads, scenery if any, remoteness in case of flat tire... Is getting off the TP and making our way over to 41 West direct to Marco a good bet? (We don't need to stop in towns or tourist traps but would like to be able to find a lunch place.) Or should we stick to the interstate, which is farther north (over to Naples) then we need to be, but might be more "civilized?"

US41 is an ok road for a daytime drive. It's a 2 lane, high speed road through the middle of nowhere. There are a few (very few) places to stop along the way. A few airboat places, but not much else until you get further west past Cypress.

I don't like US41 at night since you have cars and trucks zipping past you in the other direction just across the yellow line. I-75 is a typical interstate. It's still through the middle of nowhere. Not necessarily any more civilized, but definitely a more comfortable drive.

If you're going to Marco island US41 makes more sense than I-75, depending on your starting point (Miami vs Ft. Lauderdale).

Seconding 41 for Marco. Get off at Everglades City exit and drive the three miles into town. Lots of funky places to eat. If you have a little more time, drive out to Chokoluskee and visit the store. There is also one cafe there, and it has pretty good food for a place with a monopoly.

Everglades City has a very interesting history. Most recently (1970's?), the whole town was involved in the drug trade. Basically, the feds shut the town off from the rest of the world and negotiated who would go to jail and who would stay home and take care of the families of those who did time. Interesting little museum tells the story -- which may well differ from what I remember.

I always took US 41, so a third yea vote.

Maybe stop at Shark Valley visitor center in Everglades and do the tour if you have time; maybe stop at Clyde Butcher's Gallery near the boundary of Everglades and Big Cypress if you are interested in photography. Both are easy on-off from 41.

http://www.clydebutcher.com/
http://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/svdirections.htm

Another vote for 41 during daylight hours. And there should be lots of alligators visible along the canals/ditches on the north side of the highway.

Another thought -- on Key Largo, instead of taking highway 1, you might consider continuing north (on 905, I think) and then taking Card Sound Road -- across a toll bridge and then stopping at Alabama Jack's for conch fritters and a cold one. Card Sound Road comes out just south of Florida City, and you can then go north on 997, through Homestead, to 41. Lots of big palm nurseries along that road, and a couple places that sell gorgeous and reasonable orchids.

Here's another vote for the Tamiami Trail (41) during daylight hrs. You will see tons of alligators just lazing along the roadside ditches.http://www.southfloridaonline.com/ar...iami_trail.htm

Second on Card Sound Road. You'll think you've dropped off onto a different planet for a while until you see Miami in the distance. The real deal.

If you are coming up from the lower keys and will be leaving key Largo around lunchtime, Card Sound Road with a stop for lunch at Alabama Jacks is an option. If you are leaving in the morning from Key Largo, don't waste your time on Card Sound road as it is no more scenic then the landscape you will drive over during the rest of your trip, and will eat up about 10 more minutes of your time.
Frankly, as a longtime SF resident I have always wondered what the charm was in Alabama Jacks unless you were there on a weekend or holiday. I have been many times by boat for lunch during a normal weekday and usually there aren't many people there. On one side of the open air room you have "lovely" vistas of passing car traffic, and on the other side you have a view of a narrow channel with a mangrove shoreline on the opposite side. The Conch fritters are supposedly "award winning" but to me they are no better and no worse than any conch fritters I have had in the upper Keys. I guess some people feel that eating mediocre food with with a view of traffic lined up to pay a toll is great as long as you are in a rustic shack while doing it. I do admit that on weekend afternoons the atmosphere changes with a big crowd and live band and it can be fun, but it is more of a "bar" at that point than a restaurant.

LarryBee -- a question for you -- is Highway 1 construction done between Key Largo and Florida City? That was one of the reasons we took Card Sound Road 2 years ago.

travlsolo2: no, it is not done, but that is not a reason not to take US1. I make the commute from Miami to Key Largo two times a week, sometimes more, and since they completed the new Jewfish Creek bridge, I have never yet been in a traffic standstill on that stretch of. The construction is all taking place off to the side.