Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Don’t rush the ride down the Keys
There are other great places besides Key West to make your base, including Islamorada, only two hours from Broward County.
The one piece of advice I give anyone going to the Florida Keys is: Don’t rush on the drive south. Stop along the way – frequently.
In fact, don’t feel you must go to Key West at all. There are other great places to make your base in the Keys. My favorite: Islamorada.
Located in the Upper Keys, Islamorada is only two hours from Broward County. Long known as a fishing destination, Islamorada is developing an interesting cluster of cultural attractions along with several of the Keys best outdoor recreational opportunities. It also boasts some outstanding restaurants and iconic tiki bars.
Here’s a guide to some of the best things to do in Islamorada:
Feed the tarpon at
Robbie’s Marina: No matter how many times I do it, I can’t drive down the Overseas Highway without stopping at Robbie’s Marina bayside at Mile Marker 77. The big draw at Robbie’s is the chance to see 50 to 100 enormous tarpon swimming around the dock in clear water only a few feet deep. You pay $1 to go out on the dock and it’s another $3 for a bucket of fish pieces to toss to them. It might be the most entertainment you’ll find in the Keys for a few bucks.
The restaurant at the marina, the Hungry Tarpon, is popular and very good. Info: Robbies.com Kayak to Indian Key: One of those little green islands you see from the Overseas Highway is actually the former county seat of Dade County. Now a ghost town, Indian Key is a state park accessible only by boat that preserves what’s left of a community that thrived in the 1830s until an Indian attack in 1840 ended its development. It’s a beautiful and fascinating place, and a perfect destination for kayaking through the shallow clear waters. You can rent kayaks at Robbie’s Marina, MM 77, and it’s an accessible trip good for families. There are also tour boats that visit both Indian Key and Lignumvitae Botanical State Park. Info: Robbies.com/statetours Swim and picnic at Anne’s Beach: Anne’s Beach at MM 73.4 is a lovely, sandy beach, shallow for a long ways out. The shore is lined with mangroves, through which a boardwalk, with periodic picnic tables, weaves. Anne’s Beach has two small parking lots. It’s free and very popular. Beaches in the Keys aren’t great, and this is one of the best in the Upper Keys. Bike the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail: A bike trail extends from Key Largo to Key West, but it’s not finished and some sections put cyclists next to highway traffic in a narrow shoulder.
In Islamorada, however, this trail takes the Old Highway and this section makes a delightful, scenic and safe 20-mile roundtrip. For 10 miles, the old state road (State Highway 4A) parallels U.S. 1 on the ocean side. It’s a scenic stretch, but has only occasional water views as it mostly passes through a woodsy residential area. It’s fun to spend time seeing life in the Keys up close, including places where people live and work. (A nice stop along the way is the Old Road Gallery, 88888 Old Highway, Tavernier, where you also can see one of the concrete “hurricane houses” built by the Red Cross after the 1935 hurricane.)
The bike trail here is actually just a low-traffic residential road. Consult a map: It’s not clearly marked.
Learn more about biking in Islamorada at FloridaRambler.com/ bike. Explore the Morada
Way Arts and Cultural
District: The center of the Morada Way district is the historic 1935 Hurricane Monument at Mile Marker 81.6 oceanside and the nearby iconic Green Turtle Inn. It stretches along the half-mile section of the Old Highway, which was the only road when the railroad ran down the middle of what is now the Overseas Highway.
With its embrace of the off-beat, the Florida Keys have always appealed to artists, and Islamorada (and all the Florida Keys) are home to many artists and craftsmen.
The liveliest time to visit the district is the evening of the third Thursdays each month, when there is an Art Walk with live music and performance artists.
Restaurants grouped in the district include the No. 1-rated restaurant in Islamorada, Chef Michael’s, and the popular Ma’s Fish Camp.
It’s also home to the Florida Keys Brewing Company, which opened in 2015. The taproom is decorated in a colorful Keysworthy way — with mosaics made from thousands of bottle caps from breweries worldwide – and it offers games that keep kids (or adults) occupied. There is always a variety of beers, so it’s fun to try a flight of different brews.
Nearby, at the end of Beach Road is the picturesque and expensive Moorings Village, where the Netflix series “Bloodline” was filmed.
Visit the Florida Keys History & Discovery
Center: Despite their small size and population, the Upper Keys are full of colorful history – from shipwrecks, hurricanes, pirates and sunken treasure to vacationing movie stars. It’s where presidents go to fish, where classic movies have been filmed and where the Key Lime pie first became a must-have regional specialty.
The Florida Keys History & Discover Center, 82100 Overseas Highway, Islamorada, is committed to telling those stories in an entertaining way. The museum opened in 2014 and is still completing its permanent exhibits. It’s located on the grounds of the classic resort, The Islander, 82100 Overseas Highway. Info: KeysDiscovery.com
The Florida Keys History & Discovery Center is not like a lot of local history museums – small dusty rooms inside a public library. It’s a two-story 7,500 square foot oceanfront museum with a state-ofthe-art theater and exhibits designed by the same firm that did the interior of the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.
One recently completed exhibit is a scale model of Indian Key in 1840 when it was the county seat of Dade County. If you kayak to Indian Key – a great activity – you’ll want to see this to understand the island’s fascinating story.
The museum’s biggest challenge may be catching the eye of visiting tourists. Due to strict Islamorada sign ordinances, the only sign for the museum is a banner on a trailer next to the iconic mid-centurymodern sign for the Islander resort. There is no signage on the Overseas Highway at this point.
Watch sunset at Lorelei Cabana Bar and
Restaurant: Lorelei Cabana Bar, MM 82 Bayside, Islamorada, has decks, chickee huts, palm trees and a sandy waterfront that create an expansive and outstanding place to watch the sunset. Hundreds gather nightly, lining the beach and filling every space, to watch. It’s a perfect way to end a day exploring Islamorada. Info: LoreleiCabanaBar.com