Florida Keys Days

The Florida Keys are unlike any other part of Florida, truly tropical, cooler in the Summer, warmer in the Winter, and offer everything from quiet, natural locations to frenzied party opportunities! If you've never been you're missing a great time!

Quick Tips:

The upper Keys, Key Largo in particular, are a hot bed of diving and snorkeling opportunities; the middle Keys including Islamorada, Marathon, and Long Key offer great fishing, beaches, and a quieter atmosphere; Key West is its own special, sometimes insane, place.Staying in Islamorada or Marathon will put you just about in the geographical center of the island chain.

Best Way To Get Around:

Fly into Miami or Fort Lauderdale, wherever you can get the best fares; rent a convertible, use sun-screen! We like to get off the main road onto the Card Sound Road(.00 toll) just below Homestead and arrive through the the back door at North Key Largo. The scenery is better and we get to stop at Alabama Jack's just before the toll bridge; there you can get your attitude adjusted with a cold beer and some conch fritters. Sit at the water's edge so you can check out the fish!Try not to travel to or from the airports on Sunday or Friday afternoon, the traffic can be frustrating.

Coral Bay is a small "Old Florida" resort of a type that is getting harder to find, each big hurricane seems to result in small places being redeveloped, often into big chain resort, condominiums or "McMansions". We wanted a place on the bay-side with beautiful sunsets and Coral Bay is it!The resort is small, quiet, and well equipped with a tidal salt water pool full of tame tropical fish, a great freshwater pool, fishing pier, and dockage for your boat or rental boat. All or most of the units have a view of the water, the crew keeps the place neat and clean, and are friendly and helpful. Although the rooms are slightly dated, they are clean, fresh, and range from typical motel units to larger kitchen equipped efficiencies.The resort is about 30 miles from two commercial centers where you can stock up on groceries, tropical drink supplies, etc. It's also about the same distance from John Pennecamp State Park, Bahia Honda State Park and Sombrero Beach (all great places).Another great feature is the lack of a bogus "resort fee" for the use of docks, kayaks, fishing poles, etc.If you want quiet, fresh, friendly accommodations give it a try!

The Morada Bay Beach Cafe it the kind of place that I would want to celebrate my 60th birthday, so this April we did! We've been here a number of times, never been disappointed and always enjoy the food, the service, the casual atmosphere, the music, and the sun-sets!

For my birthday we pulled out all the stops enjoying tropical coctails, a bottle of wine, conch chowder, exotic salads, great olive tapenade and seafood entrees that included yellowtail snapper and dolphin (mahi-mahi, not Flipper). Although the tab was not inconsequential at $158, it was worth every penny—and you can eat here for a lot less.

One of the great things about Morada Bay is the atmosphere, most tables are outside, some under umbrellas, there are Adirondak chairs, a wide expanse of man made beach, and they welcome kids! People bring their children who sometime eat from the kid's menu of mooch from their parents, I've even seen evidence of picnic bags for the children who would rather play on the beach than eat anyway! Children's "coctails" are served with lightstick swizzle-sticks that get ample use after the sun goes down. Its also fun to see the little ones dancing with Mom, Dad, or each other and slipping up to the band stand to deposit tips for the musician.

I've been to the Keys six times in 5 years and haven't missed Morada Bay yet, neither should you.

Alabama Jack's should be your first or last stop, or both on your visit to the Florida Keys. The funky outdoor waterside bar/restaurant will readjust your attitude on arrival, or provide a last memory on your way home. They serve beer, wine, soft drinks, and outstanding seafood such as conch fritters, crab cakes, grouper, and shrimp. There's nothing fancy here, but this long time family owned establishment has unknown numbers of loyal customers—including us.

Try to get a table at the edge of the deck so you can watch the birds and fish; you're not allowed to feed the birds, but an occasional morsel to the fish will get amazing results.

They are open for lunch and into the evening, and I understand that the live music and the music fans on Sundays really pack the place.

Lorelei's got hit hard by hurricane Wilma which arrived after Katrina; with new owner ship and a major rebuild/renovation underway things are not quite the way they used to be. The restaurant is gone and a new restaurant building is under construction, the Cabana Bar has been rebuilt, the outdoor seating is new, and they are using a very high tech portable rest-room set up.What hasn't changed? The fishing guides are still there, as are the artist selling Oriental style fish art, the boat slips, the friendly staff, the music, and the sunsets. Sunsets are very important Bay-side in the Keys; Lorelei's is famous as one of the best sites and the sunsets are often greeted with applause, cheers, toasts, and sounding conch shells.Although the bar food menu is limited, the grouper fingers, conch fritters, and conch chowder are still great, if you've never visited Lorelei's you'd never miss the former "Old Florida" funkiness. They are developing a "yacht club" and the restaurant should be open for next winter's season. In the meantime, it's still a great spot for a drink, lunch, or the sunset celebration.

We've been to most of the beaches in the upper and middle Keys and finally found a great one! Sombrero Beach is maintained by Monroe County, has new restrooms, outdoor freshwater showers, barbecues, and free parking. To the left side of the beach is a small out-cropping that turned out to be a very accessible area of reef with sponges, sea urchins, brightly colored tropical fish and all in shallow water.Watch for small signs for a left turn just after Winn Dixie and just before the Publix market, same road as Marathon High School. Even though we were there on a school day, after school got out the beach was not the least bit crowded and parking was plentiful!