Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - FL Keys Trip Report

We just returned from a five-day trip in Key West and enjoyed it immensely! We were celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary and better yet, it was without our busy 10 and 12 year-old boys! We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, rented a Ford convertible (Yeah, no Van!!), listened to Jimmy Buffett cd's and slowly drove down the Keys. We dropped the car off at Key West Airport because you really don't need a car in Key West - as per fellow Fodor members accurate advise. Thank you, Thank you for all the post to others! They helped us make decisions and I hope this will in turn help someone else.

We would also recommend that you stop at the first Visitor's Center/Chamber of Commerce. Pick up some information about the islands. You can easily drive through and miss a lot! Mile markers are very important. If there is any place that you don't want to miss, find out which mile marker (mm) it is located at and keep an eye out for it. Oceanside is on your left and bayside on your right when heading south. Remember Southern Most Point is MM 0 and of course you should see it. You've come all this way, why not stop.

Key Largo: We spent the night at the Holiday Inn, mm100. It has two great outdoor pools with live entertainment and yummy Pina Colada's. We would recommend their breakfast buffet - excellent variety and very tasty! You can see the African Queen and the On Golden Pond boat. Coconuts is a short walk. I had a Mudslide. They prepare it with chocolate syrup drizzled in the glass first. You can never have enough chocolate! Snappers, mm 95 oceanside, you can enjoy the ocean and a tasty meal on their dock. You can also feed tarpon here, we just watched.

Islamorada: Blue Water Potters, mm 86 oceanside, is a great little place for one-of-a-kind pottery. There are several other shops that we enjoyed going through here. It's a must see if you like to shop! I'm glad the boys weren't along...although, I might have gotten more if they were along from a few broken items - you break it, you bought it :-)

Layton: We stopped by a small place called Robbie's. It is on your right side heading south right after you cross the 7 mile bridge, mm77.5. This was one of our favorites!! You pay $1 to get in and $2 for a bucket of fish. You can feed the tarpon. Believe it or not but it's quite entertaining. One tarpon decided to nibble on my hubby's hand along with the fish he was feeding it. It's amazing how big they are!! Also, there is a small gift stand outside with great prices. The employees here were very friendly. We would stop here again. Our boys would love this place!

Key West: We stayed at the Gardens Hotel on Angela St. It's a truly wonderful, warm inviting, and tropical Bed & Breakfast. The employees are friendly, professional and ready to take care of all your needs. This romantic property is surrounded by flowering trees, palms, orchids, tropical plants, fountains, birds and even turtles. Our room had a private veranda garden entrance, comfortable king size bed, robes, marble bathroom with Jacuzzi tub, all the amenities that you could possible think of, continental breakfast with muffins freshly made on the premises. A swimming pool with bar. I was in heaven here! I thought about leaving some of my hubby's prized possession behind so we would have to come back soon. I told them not to send us anything we forgot. They are to just call and we'll be back to get it! My boys would love this place too, but I would never take them there. It's too peaceful and I like to remember it that way :-) Highly Recommended!! We are definitely going back here! It's good for my marriage.

Some of our favorite restaurants were: Turtle Kraals, Alonzo's, and Blue Heaven. We could eat at these places every night...of course, if money was no object.

Snorkeling: Fury Catamaran has excellent snorkeling with free wine, beer, soda on return trip. The ride out and back is awesome! We snorkeled near the reef and saw a lot of different fish - even 2 barracuda's. Yikes, didn't realize they were fast movers....faster than me anyway! Highly Recommended! Our boys would love this!!

We heard so much about the Dry Tortugas and the Seaplane. I was so excited and looked forward to taking this trip. Unfortunately, it was not available during our stay. Hurricane Charley caused problems on the island. :-(

Sunsets: Best view we found was from the Crowne Plaza La Concha top floor. Grab a drink from the bar inside and enjoy the view outside.

Fun Streets: Duval and Mallory Square. Mallory Square has the street entertainers which always adds to the atmosphere.

Ghost Tour: We only did the one from Crowne La Concha. Rachel, our guide, did a great hair-raising job!

Museums: Mel Fisher's is amazing with all the information on the Atocha discovery!! You can even lift a gold bar! The real souvenirs from here are very costly, as they should be. A nail was over $1000. However, you can buy a small musket, I think, for about $50. I guess for Christmas I could ask for 2 and then make them into earrings :-)
Our boys would love this place!! They'd think it was cool - they're into history.

Ernest Hemingway museum is also another one we found interesting. It was very informative and our guide did an awesome job. Our boys would probably lose interest in this place. They're not into architecture and still to young to appreciate EH...ahh "Old Man and the Sea" ...one day they will ....at least I hope.

Packing: Two shirts for every day. In August, you will sweat! You'll need to go back to your room sometime to change it and get refreshed. You may even need to change shoes. It rains a lot in Florida.

We loved our trip to the Keys!! Key West is such a wonderful unique town. We've added to one of our favorites - right up there with Charleston, Savannah, Boston, DC, and New York.

I was glad to come home to our boys. After a couple of days, I missed their high energy and laughter. Although, a couple times today I had this strong desire for a Pina Colada, holding hands with my hubby, and strolling through the hot streets of Key West. I'm dreaming of going back someday - soon.