Travel + Leisure: Ultimate Florida Keys Road Trip

Above, the end (or beginning, if going the opposite direction)
 of U.S. Highway 1 in Key West. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When I visited Key West, Florida two years ago, it was a day stopover through a cruise from Fort Lauderdale on down to Havana, Cuba. But if one is so inclined, a drive down the Florida Keys is a big option and Travel + Leisure has posted a guide on how to take the ultimate Florida Keys road trip.

They begin it with:

The cool dark of the bar provided respite from the hot, afternoon sunshine and it was a minute or two before our eyes adjusted to the scene inside. Settling onto a couple of stools, we ordered beers and took in our surroundings. Dollar bills, most bearing messages penned in magic marker, covered every inch of the walls and ceiling, three and four layers deep in some places. Two sunburned couples across the bar ordered another round, tapping their plastic cups in a toast while Johnny Cash crooned overhead.

“I kind of feel like we’re in the Twilight Zone,” my husband said as the bartender set baskets brimming with french fries and fried grouper in front of us. We’d landed in No Name Pub, a longtime Florida Keys institution quite a ways off the beaten path. A few hours earlier saw us part of a different Keys tableau – sipping our coffee while gazing at the Atlantic across a lawn dotted with swaying palms. The ocean and a busy woodpecker were the only sounds we could hear.

A drive down Florida’s Overseas Highway from Key Largo to Key West offers the perfect blend of eccentric bohemia and chic joie de vivre. As the mile markers decrease, Old Florida charm sharpens into focus. Strip malls hawking beach sundries and snorkeling tours along the upper reaches of U.S. 1 give way to dazzling turquoise flashes as the road becomes more bridge than highway. The route south is festooned with the Keys’ ubiquitous kitsch — a giant, spiny lobster presides over a local arts village, lipsticked manatees clutch mailboxes, and hand painted mermaids tempt passersby with the promise of sunset cocktails.

Though Hurricane Irma, which ravaged the archipelago in September 2017, is not yet a faint memory for those who call the Keys home, the region has made a remarkable recovery. Most hotels and resorts have reopened – many after completing extensive renovations – and a few new spots have joined the roster. Restaurants, beach bars, state parks, and legions of watersports outfitters have also rebounded, leaving visitors hard pressed to find evidence of the storm’s Category-4 destruction.

You could drive the 113-mile stretch in a little over three hours, but why would you want to? Road trips, especially one as iconic as this, are all about the stops along the way. So put the top down and cue Jimmy Buffet. Here’s our guide to the best the Florida Keys has to offer.

To read more, go here.