It’s not always easy to stay afloat. Especially if your vessel is made of a 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood, two 8-foot-long two-by-fours, a roll of duct tape and a pound of fasteners. But staying afloat is the goal for teams in the Schooner Wharf Minimal Regatta, a Key West Memorial Day weekend tradition.
A Florida Keys vacation is an opportunity for personal renewal and meaningful pursuits that nurture body, mind and spirit. A respite for replenishing the stress-depleted soul while connecting to a genuine culture, community and lifestyle. And a perfect chance to experience “unplugged” relaxation and in-the-moment activities that support personal wellness.
Commemorate the Florida Keys’ bicentennial with a sunset celebration on the Middle Keys’ Old Seven Mile Bridge, a gala sea-to-table dinner in Islamorada, a family-style waterfront picnic in Key Largo, and Lower Keys festivities and fireworks featuring the creation of the world’s largest Key lime pie. All activities salute the Keys’ 200th birthday.
The legacy of Florida Keys sculptor Stanley Papio, a pioneer of recycled art, is being celebrated on Earth Day 2023 with a colorful people-powered parade of recycled and repurposed artistic creations. The Papio Kinetic Sculpture and Art Bike Parade features sculptural floats with moving parts, decorated bicycles and other mobile works of art.
If you’ve spent time in the Florida Keys, you’re aware that Keys residents are generally easygoing and friendly. But unless you want to make them cringe, don’t ever say “kontch” — because the widely-used word “conch,” despite its spelling, is properly pronounced “konk.” Especially at the upcoming birthday party for the Keys’ Conch Republic.
Most people don’t know it, but Key West played a major role in the history of international air travel. In 1927, the island was the birthplace of one-time aviation giant Pan American Airlines. Actually, its aviation heritage dates back to 1920, when the pioneering Aeromarine Airways began America’s first official international airmail service.
Celebrate the bicentennial of the subtropical Florida Keys island chain throughout 2023, starting with the “200 Years of Paradise Kick-off Concert” and dazzling drone show Saturday, March 25, in Key West. Events salute the 200th anniversary of the Florida legislature’s founding of Monroe County, which contains the entire Keys, on July 3, 1823.
Conch shell blowing, a time-honored tradition, is Key West’s most indigenous form of musical expression. Every March, the island’s Conch Shell Blowing Contest draws dozens of entrants who demonstrate their “pucker power” by blowing through the conch’s fluted, pink-lined shell. The 2023 contest is set for March 4 at the Oldest House Museum.
During the Florida Keys’ colorful two-century history, the island chain at the southern tip of Florida has been shaped by individualists, visionaries, shipwreck salvagers and environmentalists. Today visitors can explore scores of intriguing sites in the Upper and Middle Keys that recall their presence and showcase the region’s rich and vibrant heritage.
He peddled tacos from a three-wheeled bicycle when he first moved to Key West — and Tom Corcoran never forgot the irreverent, weird, magical island he discovered from that vantage point. In his Alex Rutledge mystery series, the island is portrayed with an authenticity that leaves readers practically able to smell the shoreline seaweed.