The Florida Keys

Relax: you’re in the Florida Keys. Where the locals that do work enjoy an average commute of 12 minutes, leaving plenty of time for watching the sun set and fishing and swimming and boating and enjoying the winter temperatures of 25 degrees C (in summer, it gets up to 30).

The Keys is an archipelago of 800 islands, running from the southernmost tip of mainland United States to the island of Key West, within 100 miles of Cuba. At its heart is a chain of 100 islands, linked together by bridges and causeways; the dot-to-dot was completed in 1938 and today, along its perfectly maintained tarmac surfaces, it remains a perfect opportunity for a road trip.

Starting at Miami International Airport, the gateway to the Keys for UK visitors. The roads narrow and narrow, from eight lanes to six to four until at Manatee Bay you find yourself on a single-lane highway with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Wind the window down and feel the breeze on your face; welcome to the Florida Keys.

You’ll have heard of Key Largo, your first port of call, immortalized by the 1948 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The Caribbean Club beach club was an inspiration and location for the film and it’s still here, a boho mix of bikers and salty seadogs and a friendly place for a beer.

Offshore, the Keys are protected by the world’s third largest barrier reef, and there are boat trips out for both experienced and new snorkellers and divers. If you take a trip from John Pennekamp State Park, there’s the added bonus of glass-bottomed boats, offering a panoramic view of the ocean floor and its army of blue tang, barracuda, angel, parrot and butterfly fish.

Pirates used to lie in wait between the Keys for Europeans returning from South America and the Caribbean. Even after the Keys became a naval base in the 1830s, merchant ships would still get wrecked, coming unstuck in the tricky waters around the reef. Only when lighthouses were built in the mid-1800s did these become properly safe waters; only when a railway was built in 1912 did the Keys become accessible over land, with Route One following soon after.

One of the highlights of the drive down through the Keys comes just past half-way: the Seven-Mile Bridge between Marathon and Bahia Honda State Park. Driving with turquoise water on both sides, when the bridge rises at its centre to allow the passage of boats underneath, you lose sight of the land ahead of you and feel a sensation of driving towards the sky.

South of the bridge you will find arguably the best beach in the Keys; a snorkeller’s paradise. And for the perfect place to watch the sunset, walk or cycle your way around the State Park’s trails to the remnants of the Old Bahia Honda Bridge, Seven-Mile Bridge’s predecessor.

The Keys feel more remote and rural beyond this point; roadside shops are replaced by
mangroves, hardwood and pine forests and salt marshes. Herons and egrets circle overhead, fishermen try their luck off the bridges, and yachts, kayaks and speed boats cut through the water on either side of you.At the end of this raw nature, Key West flashes up like a beacon. It’s the end of the road, but makes a grand finale.

Key West is at once modest and brassy: there’s plenty of tourist bustle on the Gulf side; fudge shops, a Disney-esque Shipwreck Museum, an aquarium, Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum and the daily Sunset Celebrations, when fast food stalls and street entertainers spring up from nowhere.

The Old Town, conversely, surrounds you with a confection of 19th-century architecture. Elegant Victorian mansions stand across from pastel-painted Bahamian cottages and clapboard houses with neat shutters and shingle driveways. Many of these homes were in a terrible state of repair in the 1970s until artists, writers and flower children bought them up and restored them to their former splendour. Of those that stayed, many curate the plethora of art galleries in the Old Town that are a delight to browse.  

Among the houses you can visit is Harry S Truman’s Little White House. Known original as Quarters A, the former president took up residence in this naval building for a working holiday in 1946 and returned time and again after falling for the charms of Key West.

Ernest Hemingway also lived here with his second wife Pauline – you can take a look around their old home on Whitehead Street, now a museum. You can see it on a wonderful guided tour, along with other glimpses of the couple’s life, including some of the writer’s work, African safari souvenirs and even meet descendants of their six-toed cat, which share the same physical trait.

When you’ve had your fill of sightseeing, head across town to the Atlantic Coast. Here you will find a collection of sandy beaches stretching as far as the eye can see. With their sprinkling of palm trees and parasols, they wouldn’t be out of place in the Caribbean. This side of town attracts a more laid-back crowd, who prefer to watch the sunset to the sound of breaking waves rather than join the Gulf Coast’s carnival shebang.

When you finally have to drag yourself back home – there's one more treat in store. You do have to set off from Key West before sunrise, but the sacrifice is well worth it. Heading north on the Overseas Highway as the dawn back-lights the low-lying keys and the sky warms in colour, you will feel as if you are driving through a National Geographic Photographer of the Year competition.