Key West - The City at the End of the Country

I LOVE KEY WEST. I love driving to Key West. I love the freedom I feel every time the Florida Turnpike ends and I start the drive south and west on the Overseas Highway. Key West is everything that Miami lacks. Let me first say that I do like Miami. I don't love it because how can you love something that really has no soul and no identity? Miami and Miami Beach are the supermodel of cities - heartbreakingly beautiful, put together, lovely to look at, wonderful for a one night stand but try to talk to her about art, or culture.....and.....? Yeah. I know that Miami is really trying to have a great art and culture scene. I give props to my friends who work hard at having Miami being taken seriously as a cultural capital but after all the galleries, the concerts, the happenings - Miami Social comes along and kills any good press with a swipe of a perfectly french manicured fingernail.

But enough of Miami....I want to talk about Key West. Strangely enough, a lot of my South Florida acquaintances think Key West or the Keys, for that matter, is really a euphemism for the Tiki bar in Islamorada - NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!!!! Stop! The Keys and Key West is so much more than that! Let me explain.

For me, the drive on the Overseas Highway is nothing short of the drive to freedom. Best done in a convertible (alas, my little LeBaron died), any car will do in a clinch. For the drive it is a requirement to put on the Margaritaville channel on Sirius radio (a Jimmy Buffet or Bob Marley CD will work fine, too). Leave your attitude in Miami or Weston and drive. I like to drive slow, stopping for a wonderful conch chowder at The Island Grill http://www.keysdining.com/islandgrill/, This, by the way is part of the real Islamorada - not the Tiki Bar. And it's not that I'm getting old - I always hated places that reek of pre-mixed pina coladas and vomit. Always have. Even at 20.

After a satisfying pitstop to refresh and have a little chowdah....it's heading south. This is where the scenery turns brilliant. take the time to stop at a parking spot and look down into the water. You'll be treated with manta rays, grouper and lobster - fantastic! I love to look at the old railway tracks and stop at the Hurricane Memorial in Islamorada, just south of the Cheeca Lodge.

Before the Seven Mile Bridge, I like to stop into The Island Fish Company for a brewski (just one - another 50 miles to go) and some conch fritters. Yes - this trip is all about eating, drinking and walking. Soon we're on the famous seven mile bridge - where I still marvel at running it on foot. But you can drive - most people do. Then we get into kitschy territory - The Dolphin Research Institute, The Turtle Hospital (complete with turtle ambulances), and the giant pink shrimp mobile (i don't know....I just don't know).....

My next favorite is the Key Deer sanctuary area. We always pull off the road to look for these amazing little dog-sized creatures. And we always spot one or two. So beautiful.

More bridges, more islands....the islands getting smaller and the bridges more and more frequent in the lower keys. The Gulf on your right and the Atlantic (really Florida Straits) on your left. Until...Key West!

We always stay at the same Bed and Breakfast, The Popular House. It feels like home to us - large and pink with cedar walls and funky decor. Our room has a giant fake Gauguin oil as a headboard. In Key West, there is of course Duval Street - known for bars, bars, and.....bars. But there is so much more in Key West.

Look at the houses - nearly every one is a historic site with a story. There is the Little White House the vacation home of Truman. The lighthouse, The Audubon House (OK - Audubon never lived here....but he might have)....The Hemingway House where you can see and play with Ernest Hemingway's famous six toed cats.....The Southernmost Point (only 90 miles to cuba), Mallory Square with the Sunset Celebration and the amazing acts that perform every day (tips are really appreciated and well earned). You can have a margarita at the original Pan Am building, (Now Kelly's a restaurant owned by Kelly McGillis), an incredible meal at Michael's (my favorite posh spot), or go looking for ghosts (my personal favorite thing to do)....

I love Key West. I like picking a side street and getting lost among the scent of honeysuckle on a warm summer night. I like finding a new restaurant (like The Cafe) and hunkering down to a Nice lazy lunch. I like listening to a cover band at Sloppy Joe's, knowing I am walking in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams. I like visiting the cemetery and shouting a hello - half waiting and half dreading a reply. What is it about Key West that attracts the strange, the artistic, the eccentric and me? Maybe it really does feel out of touch with the rest of the country - anything goes here - the politics and the social moires of the rest of the country don't matter here. Maybe because there is sea air from everywhere and gentle breezes blow eternal. Maybe because it is so different...yet so welcoming.

And so, after a boat trip to see dolphins, some absolutely amazing clam chili at Alonzo's Oyster bar and a sunset ale, it's time to drive back to Miami....Back to life, back to reality....