Top Keys In Key West, where the Caribbean-style tunes of Jimmy Buffett are more prevalent than Beethoven, a professional symphony orchestra might seem like a fantasy dreamed up by a few classical music connoisseurs. But in Key West, 74 noted musicians and soloists will tune up in mid-December, making the fantasy a reality for the seventh consecutive season. Get information on the Key West Symphony. Top Keys Diving News More than two years after the Spiegel Grove, a retired U.S. Navy ship prematurely sank and capsized in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, local tourism and environmental officials are delighted with its role as an artificial reef attracting both marine life and divers. Learn more about the Spiegel Grove off Key Largo. Top Keys Fishing News The final event of a trilogy of celebrity fishing tournaments that raise money for cystic fibrosis treatment and research is set for Dec. 3-5. Read more about the Mercury Cheeca/Redbone Celebrity Tournament in Islamorada. |
Upcoming Keys Events: |
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Nov. 14-21 Some of the fastest offshore powerboats in the world compete in a week-long event that has made Key West one of the top racing venues anywhere. Call 305-296-6166 for information or click here. Nov. 25 to Dec. 5 Historic Seaport and other venues throughout Key West are transformed into a pirates stronghold with mock sea battles, a thieves market featuring arts and crafts, and more. For more information, click here. Dec. 11 Decorated boats parade along the shoreline of Blackwater Sound. Call 1-800-822-1088 for details. Dec. 31 Southernmost City celebrates New Years Eve with conch shell drop at Sloppy Joes Bar, "wench" drop at Schooner Wharf Bar, and red high heel drop with drag queen Sushi at Bourbon Street Pub/ New Orleans House. Call 305-292-9520 for information.
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| Vol. 1, No. 1 | November 2004 |
Florida Keys Emerge Unscathed from Brushes with Recent Storms
Key West's Smathers Beach is picture-perfect after the cores of four hurricanes
missed the Florida Keys in August and September.
Numerous lodging facilities in the Florida Keys are offering added-value specials this fall to lure visitors to the Florida Keys following several hurricanes that threatened the Keys, but skirted the subtropical island chain.
Click here for details on specials, including pricing and valid dates.
The Florida Keys, like many destinations throughout the state, are smarting from an incorrect percention that the island chain was devastated by cores of four hurricanes that actually came ashore in other regions of Florida during a six-week period in August and September.
In fact, dangerous hurricane-force winds from all storms stayed well offshore of the region, from Key Largo to Key West, according to Matt Strahan, meteorologist-in-charge for the National Weather Service in Key West.
"There's a misperception out there that all of Florida was damaged by the hurricanes," said Julie Fondriest, owner of the 37-room historic hotel in the center of Key West's old town district. "It's beautiful here now in the Keys. “
Some visitors and even travel journalists were surprised at the lack of hurricane-related damage.
“I was expecting to see at least some damage, but I don’t see any remnants (of the storms) at all,” said Valarie D’Elia, host of “The Travel Show” that is heard on WOR and 70 other stations throughout the country.
To view a series of live Keys Web cams click here.
More details on the Keys are available by perusing www.fla-keys.com or by calling 1-800-FLA-KEYS.
Stone Crab Claws Back on Menus at Keys Restaurants
It’s
that time of the year again.
For both Florida Keys visitors and residents alike, fresh stone crab claws are back on restaurant tables and in seafood market displays.
"The stone crab is definitely a Keys delicacy,” said Gary Graves, vice president of Keys Fisheries, the largest stone crab processor in the Keys. "The meat is incredibly sweet and has a distinctive taste found in no other seafood."
The waters off the Florida Keys are the state's leading supplier of claws and accounts for about 40 percent of an average 3.1-million-pound harvest according to Joe O'Hop, a biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
The stone crab is the state's only renewable commercial fishing resource.
Legal-size claws are snapped off and the crab's body is returned to the
water to grow new extremities. Crabs can regenerate claws up to three
times within their seven- to eight-year lifespan, said Dr. Theresa Bert,
a research scientist with the FWC's fish and wildlife research institute.
Graves’ Marathon-based facility offers a program for visitors to ride on commercial boats to experience stone crab claw collection. Charters provide the opportunity to learn about the heritage of commercial fishing; the risks and rigors of the profession and a unique opportunity to dine on fresh, hot stone crab claws.
Stone crab season began Oct. 15 and continues through May 15.
