4/11/2023 0 Comments Minute of islands keyA three-story observation tower offers views to distant Alligator Lighthouse, marking the reef where the wreckers plied their trade, and, in the opposite direction, Lower Matacumbe Key, the source of fresh water, which allowed the island to flourish. Today, the ghost of its town square is a large field surrounded by rock foundations of storehouses, cisterns and homes, eventually abandoned after the Second Seminole War in 1842. “Like used car salesmen, there were some bad apples.” Bertelli, looking the part with a bandana tied around his head. “Wreckers were thought of as the pirates of the day,” said Mr. Prominent Keys travelers, including the ornithologist John James Audubon, passed through. In the 1830s, Indian Key was the seat of Dade County, site of a bowling alley and an inn promising “one of the most favorable situations in the United States for persons who are suffering from pulmonary, dyspeptic and numerous chronic diseases, and obliged to seek refuge from the chill blasts of a northern winter,” according to a sign posted on the site. The 11-acre, mangrove-fringed island, with a shady tamarind grove and spiky sisal plants bordering the paths, holds the remains of a 19th-century wrecking village devoted to salvaging goods from ships that ran aground on the reef. He and I launched rental kayaks from Robbie’s marina in Islamorada, a popular stop for feeding tarpon the size of teenagers, and headed for the offshore Indian Key Historic State Park. A new self-guided tour available via a free cellphone app from the history museum Florida Keys History & Discovery Center introduces hurricanes, pirates and island pioneers, winding up back at Cheeca Lodge where many of these original “Conchs” were buried. Modest roadside inns, including the newly rebuilt Pines & Palms Resort with apartment-like rooms, eclectic restaurants like Midway Café and an arts district with a brewery and galleries contribute to Islamorada’s bohemian character. The casual Morada Bay Beach Cafe and the more refined Pierre’s draw nightly sunset crowds to tables set in the sand near speakers disguised to look like coral rocks emitting samba music as twilight paddleboarders stroke by. That ocean-side beach is private, but the two restaurants that the resort runs on the Gulf side aren’t. On this November day, three fashion photography crews were using the beach as a backdrop. “Not a blade of grass was left,” said Debbie Pribyl, the general manager of the Moorings, where the cottages have all been reroofed and the landscaping replanted. At Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, I stretched my legs in a native hardwood forest alongside bird-watchers who could identify a palm warbler just by its call, before hitting the bustling Fish House restaurant trimmed in strings of tiki- and flamingo-shaped lights. Upper Keys Key Largoįrom the rental car center at Miami International Airport, it’s just over an hour’s drive on mostly suburban highways to the Everglades bogs that edge Key Largo, the northernmost Key and the first to introduce visitors to both the natural attractions of the islands and Keys kitsch. You could drive it in a single afternoon, but you won’t want to. In November - 14 months and much cleanup later - I drove the route to assess the scars as well as the renewal, from recently opened (or about to open) resorts to a new coterie of mermaids.īelow is a guide to this classic coastal road trip. Hurricane Irma, which struck in September 2017 with Category-4 fury, threatened the delicate balance by which so many humans and animals exist amid the mangroves and bays. Over the course of repeated trips, I’ve come to appreciate the nature and wildlife of the Keys, home to endangered Key deer, mangrove forests and the only living barrier reef off the continental United States.
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