Who can say where you will go on a honeymoon trip or when you may hit the road? I am going to have this guide book I seem to be writing start in Florida and head around the country from there. I want to mention some special places that most people don't know about. I am not interested in talking about Disney World, Sea World, Busch Gardens, or watching cars ride around in a circle at Daytona. For me, roller coasters are a matter of nauseous endurance rather than fun, and nothing could be more boring to me than watching cars race around a track. I get plenty of that every afternoon on an urban freeway.
Primarily, Flo
rida is all about the beach. Beautiful white sand beaches cover more than 90% of the coastline from Fernandina Beach just south of Georgia to Pensacola on the gulf. Where they allow cars on the beach (St. Augustine Beach and Daytona Beach) be sure to consult the tide tables. Every year cars get stuck in the soft sand and get covered by the waves. Don't stay out in the sun more than an hour, and slather yourself up with sunscreen. Unknowing tourists stay out for three or four hours and get brutal burns that they only become painfully aware of at about 5:oo in the afternoon - when it is too late. Don't park your car in a questionably legal spot. It will probably be towed and cost hundreds of dollars to get back. Strong riptides often move south to north along the Atlantic Beaches, about twenty yards out. Every year a few dozen weak swimmers are swept out to sea and drown. You might see large dolphins leap into the air as they swim along quite near the shore, and you. They won't bother you. Sharks 
are a different story. Most shark attacks occur about 50 yards out. Surfers are frequent victims. Sometimes, however, they strike at somebody in only a few feet of water. Have fun and good luck!
I am going to start with the tip of the peninsula. (Florida has often been described as America's dangling penis.) The Florida Keys are the most truly tropical part of the state. They are the most northern point in the Caribbean crescent of islands that curve eastward and south all the way to Trinidad off the coast of Venezuela. Americans don't think of the Florida Keys as being part of the Caribbean, but in fact, within the United States, it is possible to drive down into a tropical island paradise.
At the end of the
road is Key West. It is a famous party town for binge drinking and quick hook-ups (hetero or homo). For those of us who share our intimacy exclusively with the partners we love, there are other things to do. Key West has an aquarium to wander around in, tons of tourist shops for t-shirts and stuff, art galleries where people can pay way too much for watercolor and oil 
paintings of lighthouses and ocean waves, and a bar, now re-named "Sloppy Joe's", where the writer is said to have indulged his alcoholism. This joint is always packed with tourists, and seems to sell almost as many t-shirts as it sells mugs of beer. Every year they hold a Hemingway look-alike contest, and overweight geezers with beards flock in.
A more interesting place to have a beer would probably be at the "No Name Pub", about twenty miles up the road from Key West, on Big Pine Key (This is the island famous for having Key Deer, tiny little deer about the size of a fox terrier. They are an endangered species, confined to this one island, and road signs warn against running them over). Here is its story from Radio Roger, a tough looking trucker from Ohio, cut and pasted from his blog:
"The No Name Pub is definitely not a sanitized, trendy restaurant. It is a fun, quirky bit of Florida Keys culture, and the food is great. The pub's signature gimmick is the thousands and thousands of dollar bills stapled to every square inch of the establishment's walls and ceiling. How this began remains unclear, but their website says that there was so much illegal money passing through the Keys in the 70's and 80's that they started hanging it on the wall
s. The current estimate is that there is over $12,000 worth of dollar bills on the walls and ceiling, but I believe that an accurate figure would be much larger. It's amazing to see all of these dollars dangling from the ceiling, fluttering from the movement of air through the ceiling vent. Your waitress will supply you with a Sharpie pen and a stapler, should you choose to add to the collection. Most of Big Pine Key's restaurants, businesses and attractions are located on or very near US 1. The No Name Pub is an exception. It is located away from all other businesses on a remote part of the island. At the Big Pine Key traffic signal on US 1 (there's only one), turn north on Key Deer Blvd. and drive about 1 ½ miles to the first major crossroads intersection (Watson Blvd.). Turn right (east) on Watson Blvd and drive about ½ mile. The No Name Pub is on the left. It's easy to miss, so have your navigator keep his eyes peeled for an old pastel yellow building with aqua trim and a palm tree in front. The sign atop the building reads "No Name Pub... You Found It".
From Big Pine Key, driving north, you cross the famous Seven Mile Bridge to Bahia Honda. I'm sure you have seen it in the movies: miles of narrow bridge, surrounded by ocean with no land in sight. As you drive from one island to the next, take a break and stop at a tourist shell shop and you can buy yourself a pink conch shell to put on the coffee table, or a coral necklace. The last island at the north end of the Keys is Key Largo (It was the setting and title of an old movie with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and an old song made famous by Sarah Vaughan).
There are lots of good hotels and cabin rentals in
the Keys. Abra will remember staying in the Coconut Bay Lodge in Key Largo , where you could lay around in a hammock, or snorkle-dive right from the dock. However, Key Largo has one place to spend the night that is truly spectacular and unique - Jules' Undersea Lodge. I think you are supposed to have taken scuba diving lessons and have a certificate or something, but just imagine, your luggage is sealed up in a water-tight case, and you scuba down to your hotel room, which is completely under water!
Speaking of being under water, from Key Largo you can pay t
o get on a boat that will take you about 3-8 miles out into the Atlantic to coral reefs where you can snorkel or scuba dive down to the Christ of the Deep Statue. Abra and her brothers did this when she was younger.
Primarily, Flo
rida is all about the beach. Beautiful white sand beaches cover more than 90% of the coastline from Fernandina Beach just south of Georgia to Pensacola on the gulf. Where they allow cars on the beach (St. Augustine Beach and Daytona Beach) be sure to consult the tide tables. Every year cars get stuck in the soft sand and get covered by the waves. Don't stay out in the sun more than an hour, and slather yourself up with sunscreen. Unknowing tourists stay out for three or four hours and get brutal burns that they only become painfully aware of at about 5:oo in the afternoon - when it is too late. Don't park your car in a questionably legal spot. It will probably be towed and cost hundreds of dollars to get back. Strong riptides often move south to north along the Atlantic Beaches, about twenty yards out. Every year a few dozen weak swimmers are swept out to sea and drown. You might see large dolphins leap into the air as they swim along quite near the shore, and you. They won't bother you. Sharks 
are a different story. Most shark attacks occur about 50 yards out. Surfers are frequent victims. Sometimes, however, they strike at somebody in only a few feet of water. Have fun and good luck!I am going to start with the tip of the peninsula. (Florida has often been described as America's dangling penis.) The Florida Keys are the most truly tropical part of the state. They are the most northern point in the Caribbean crescent of islands that curve eastward and south all the way to Trinidad off the coast of Venezuela. Americans don't think of the Florida Keys as being part of the Caribbean, but in fact, within the United States, it is possible to drive down into a tropical island paradise.
At the end of the
road is Key West. It is a famous party town for binge drinking and quick hook-ups (hetero or homo). For those of us who share our intimacy exclusively with the partners we love, there are other things to do. Key West has an aquarium to wander around in, tons of tourist shops for t-shirts and stuff, art galleries where people can pay way too much for watercolor and oil 
paintings of lighthouses and ocean waves, and a bar, now re-named "Sloppy Joe's", where the writer is said to have indulged his alcoholism. This joint is always packed with tourists, and seems to sell almost as many t-shirts as it sells mugs of beer. Every year they hold a Hemingway look-alike contest, and overweight geezers with beards flock in.A more interesting place to have a beer would probably be at the "No Name Pub", about twenty miles up the road from Key West, on Big Pine Key (This is the island famous for having Key Deer, tiny little deer about the size of a fox terrier. They are an endangered species, confined to this one island, and road signs warn against running them over). Here is its story from Radio Roger, a tough looking trucker from Ohio, cut and pasted from his blog:
"The No Name Pub is definitely not a sanitized, trendy restaurant. It is a fun, quirky bit of Florida Keys culture, and the food is great. The pub's signature gimmick is the thousands and thousands of dollar bills stapled to every square inch of the establishment's walls and ceiling. How this began remains unclear, but their website says that there was so much illegal money passing through the Keys in the 70's and 80's that they started hanging it on the wall
s. The current estimate is that there is over $12,000 worth of dollar bills on the walls and ceiling, but I believe that an accurate figure would be much larger. It's amazing to see all of these dollars dangling from the ceiling, fluttering from the movement of air through the ceiling vent. Your waitress will supply you with a Sharpie pen and a stapler, should you choose to add to the collection. Most of Big Pine Key's restaurants, businesses and attractions are located on or very near US 1. The No Name Pub is an exception. It is located away from all other businesses on a remote part of the island. At the Big Pine Key traffic signal on US 1 (there's only one), turn north on Key Deer Blvd. and drive about 1 ½ miles to the first major crossroads intersection (Watson Blvd.). Turn right (east) on Watson Blvd and drive about ½ mile. The No Name Pub is on the left. It's easy to miss, so have your navigator keep his eyes peeled for an old pastel yellow building with aqua trim and a palm tree in front. The sign atop the building reads "No Name Pub... You Found It".
From Big Pine Key, driving north, you cross the famous Seven Mile Bridge to Bahia Honda. I'm sure you have seen it in the movies: miles of narrow bridge, surrounded by ocean with no land in sight. As you drive from one island to the next, take a break and stop at a tourist shell shop and you can buy yourself a pink conch shell to put on the coffee table, or a coral necklace. The last island at the north end of the Keys is Key Largo (It was the setting and title of an old movie with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and an old song made famous by Sarah Vaughan).
There are lots of good hotels and cabin rentals in
the Keys. Abra will remember staying in the Coconut Bay Lodge in Key Largo , where you could lay around in a hammock, or snorkle-dive right from the dock. However, Key Largo has one place to spend the night that is truly spectacular and unique - Jules' Undersea Lodge. I think you are supposed to have taken scuba diving lessons and have a certificate or something, but just imagine, your luggage is sealed up in a water-tight case, and you scuba down to your hotel room, which is completely under water!
Speaking of being under water, from Key Largo you can pay t
o get on a boat that will take you about 3-8 miles out into the Atlantic to coral reefs where you can snorkel or scuba dive down to the Christ of the Deep Statue. Abra and her brothers did this when she was younger.
No comments:
Post a Comment