Joe Maxey looks a lot like Ernest Hemingway. That fact was amply proved when the 68-year-old white-bearded retired banker won Key West's annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar. More than 140 aspiring Ernests competed, vying to be named "Papa" on the island where Hemingway lived and wrote during the 1930s.
There are some people who simply belong in the Florida Keys — visitors who become mesmerized by an indefinable magic about the island chain that makes them unwilling or unable to leave. If the "symptoms" here apply to you, there’s a good chance you’re already under the spell of the laid-back subtropical destination.
Mel Fisher's 1985 discovery of the $450 million treasure of the shipwrecked Spanish galleon Atocha is being remembered July 11-13 during Key West’s Mel Fisher Days. Highlights include a dock party with the salvage crew, behind-the-scenes tours of the Fishers' private artifact conservation lab, and the chance to hear adventurous tales recalling Mel’s exuberant spirit.
The Florida Keys are among the country’s top wedding destinations. A visit to the Keys can be a lighthearted vacation opportunity for the entire wedding group — so the experience becomes a unique, eagerly anticipated occasion for everyone involved. Plus the attitude is easygoing and casual, and many ceremonies are delightfully informal.
Looking for a way to chill out over the July 4 weekend? Then head for Key West's famed "Pink Triangle," the heart of the LGBTQ entertainment district, for some indoor climate-controlled revelry — including the annual Firecracker Competition at Aqua Nightclub. The competition may be hot, but the venue is always pleasantly cool.
Where can you chow down on a luscious lobster Reuben? Or melt-in-your-mouth fried Key lime pie? Or a unique and gorgeous sushi dish made from lionfish? The restaurants in Marathon and the Middle Florida Keys offer all these and more — so embark on a tasting excursion to sample, savor and smile.
Some of the world’s most incredible natural resources can be found in the Florida Keys — including the continental United States’ only living coral barrier reef. Visitors can discover them, and become motivated to protect them, during soft-adventure activities, eco-travel experiences, diving or kayaking treks and stops at environmental attractions and wildlife refuges.
It’s easy to “unplug” in the Florida Keys & Key West. But a visit to the Keys is also a great opportunity to connect with — and become inspired to protect — the priceless environment of the United States’ southernmost island chain. Explore earth-friendly options and activities to make the next Keys adventure unforgettable.
Creative recycling, offbeat artistry and lively “people power” combine into a spectacle that entertains spectators in Key West each May, during the lighthearted Papio Kinetic Sculpture Parade. Designed to fascinate fans of earth-friendly repurposing and “outsider” art, the annual human-powered parade of colorful mobile sculptures will meander through Key West’s downtown area on Saturday, May 4.
With its funky charm, quirky characters, end-of-the-road mindset and reputation as a bastion of the bizarre, Key West might seem more like a fictional setting than a real locale. But while the continental United States’ southernmost city is real enough, it definitely proves the old proverb that reality can be stranger than fiction.