High life in Florida’s Keys
Katie Wright visits the island idyll in its bicentennial year
Rumour has it there are two things that will get you kicked off Key West, one of the hundreds of islands that make up the Florida Keys.
“Being pretentious and being normal,” explains Carol Shaughnessy from the Key West tourist board, as we tuck into freshly caught fish served with tostones (caramelised refried plantains) and spicy ‘mojo’ sauce at bustling Cuban eatery – and island institution – El Meson de Pepe.
The Florida Keys celebrates its 200th birthday on July 3, commemorating the establishment in 1823 of Monroe County, which encapsulates the island chain. To mark the milestone, fireworks and festivities are planned, including the return of the world’s longest rainbow flag (originally unfurled in 2003) for June’s Pride month and the creation of the world’s largest Key lime pie (the region’s most famous culinary export).
Technically a city, Key West has a relaxed, small-town vibe, and is incredibly picturesque, the leafy streets lined with colourful, colonial-style wooden houses erected by shipbuilders in the late 1800s. Clucking and crowing on almost every corner you’ll find roosters, hens and their fluffy offspring, a product of the longoutlawed cock fighting circuit.
On a whistle-stop ride around the city’s historical hotspots (Key Lime Bike Tours; £39 per person), Bruce Mitchell – a charismatic Key Westerner with the gift of the gab – explains what happened when the sport was banned in the late 1970s: “People opened the cages and let ’em loose – they’ve been roaming around ever since.”
While it’s forbidden to feed the chickens, you’re not allowed to get rid of them either – you can be fined up to £400 for stopping them from going about their business.
In the vibrant Bahama Village neighbourhood, Blue Heaven promises ‘breakfast with the roosters’ in a leafy yard.
Dishing up thick, fluffy blueberry pancakes and decadent lobster benedict, the property used to host cockfighting, gambling and boxing matches refereed by literary legend Ernest Hemingway.
The house occupied by Key West’s most famous resident from 1931 to 1939 is a couple of blocks away. At the Hemingway Home and
Museum (£15 general admission), you’ll find 54 docile cats mostly descended from Snow White – a six-toed moggie given to the writer by a ship’s captain.
A guided tour of the house traces the life of the iconic author, who penned some of his most famous novels in the spacious secondfloor writing room (when he wasn’t fishing, boxing or drinking).
One hundred years before Hemingway arrived, the Keys prospered thanks to many ships that ran aground on the vast
Florida Reef. ‘Wreckers’ would sail out to the vessels and lay claim to the cargo, then auction it and give a commission to residents, making Key West the richest town in the world per capita for a time.
I get a sense of life in the 1800s when I fly over to historic Dry Tortugas National Park, an islet just off the coast of Key West, with Key West Seaplane Adventures (£319 per person for a half-day excursion). Clambering aboard the tiny, 10-person plane, I peer out of the window and spy three shipwrecks as we cruise low over the turquoise sea.
The island is dominated by Fort Jefferson, a hexagonal red-brick behemoth built to provide offshore protection but abandoned shortly after construction was completed in 1874.
I get a closer look at the Keys’ marine wildlife during a boat trip to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (£31 plus equipment hire). Donning my snorkel gear and plunging into the pleasantly cool water, I swim out to find purple coral wafting in the current, teeming with life.
Rainbow-hued parrotfish nibble at the reef, shoals of little silver perch zip about, barracuda lurk menacingly near the seabed with their teeth bared, and a couple of smooth, grey stingrays glide across the sandy ocean floor.
HOW TO PLAN YOUR TRIP
A six-night visit to the Florida Keys with Purely America costs from £1,649pp (two sharing) including return flights from Heathrow to Miami with British Airways, car hire, room-only accommodation. Visit Purelytravel.co.uk,