Americas Destinations

The “Keys” to paradise

May 11, 2015
Bahia Honda State Park

We found our personal “Kokomo” (referring to a famous song by the Beach Boys) at the southernmost point of continental USA. The Florida Keys are a chain of hundreds of tropical islands surrounded by some of the nicest waters I’ve ever seen. The Overseas Highway is the major connection between mainland Florida and Key West, but also going through towns with beautiful names such as Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon or Summerland Key. The drive is absolutely scenic, keeping you busy with counting the different shades of blue. Although the Keys are living off tourism, it doesn’t feel crowded or overdeveloped. Quite the opposite, the islands consists mainly of mangroves – therefore they form an intact natural paradise with abundant marine life, birds and even deer. Well, there’s one exception that stands out of the peaceful rest of the Keys: Key West. With its pastel, well-manicured houses, the town has a fairy tale-ish feel but at the same time it gets quite busy when one or more cruise ships are stopping by. But as a real town, Key West has all the amenities you might look for – lots of restaurants, shops and a great bar scene. Not to my surprise, I liked the lovely cafés, which served the famous Key Lime Pie, best. This region’s specialty quickly became one of my favourite desserts 🙂

Outside Key West, it’s very laid-back. We stayed in an awesome AirBnB at Big Pine Key with some wonderful hosts, who even gave us a free tour on their boat. Our days were filled with bathing in the crystal-clear sea (swimming is a bit tough as the beaches are very shallow), relaxing by our cute trailer or enjoying some gorgeous sunsets. Our favourite place was Bahia Honda State Park, a well maintained park with two powdery white-sand beaches and great views to the old railway bridge. Kokomo – it’s been a perfect finish of our journey to Florida.

The view from the Overseas Highway Blue and turquoiseIslamorada

Anne's Beach, IslamoradaBahia Honda State Park

Mangroves Sea birds at Sandspur Beach Crystal-clear Sandspur Beach Beach selfie View from Sandspur Beach View from Sandspur BeachOld Railway Bridge Bahia Honda State Park Bahia Honda State Park Calusa Beach View from the Railway Bridge Old railway bridgeBahia Honda sunset Bahia Honda sunsetKey West

Tropic vegetation in Key West Blue Heaven Restaurant, Key West Sloppy Joe's Bar, Key West Church in Key West Oldest bar of FL, Key West At Duval Street, Key West Having a drink...Originally a theatre, now a Walgreen's Cool painting Cinema in Key WestThe so essential and limey Key Lime pie!

Yummy Key Lime Pie!Zachary Taylor State Park

Zachary Taylor State Park BeachCruise ship plaza

One of the giant cruise ships in Key West Beautiful Key West sunset...We were not the only ones admiring the sunset…

...but we're not alone!Our AirBnb trailer

Our little Airbnb trailer, Big Pine Key The host's cute lab Pelicans

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  • Reply Paleica May 12, 2015 at 8:08 am

    ur schön is es dort! langsam zweifel ich echt am erinnerungsvermögen im allgemeinen. ich erinnere mich nur an eine einzige sache aus key west: ich habe auf einer seltsamen matratze in einem zusatzbett geschlafen, die mit plastik überzogen war und mir war niemals vorher und niemals nachher so heiß wie dort (außer vielleicht im juli irgendwo mitten in spanien). ok und in las vegas ^.^ sichtlich hätte es aber einiges erinnernswerteres gegeben, das mir mit meinen 8 jahren einfahc nicht so wichtig erschienen ist 😉

    • Reply sileas May 12, 2015 at 9:53 am

      Haha deine Geschichten werden immer besser! Schade, dass das mein letzter Beitrag zu Florida war 😉

      • Reply Paleica May 12, 2015 at 9:58 am

        ja wirklich – die eine oder andere hätte cih bestimmt noch ausgegraben. aber ich könnte sicherlich noch etwas zu ney york beitragen und ein paar hätte ich mit station orlando 😉 ansonsten weiß ich leider nicht, wie die orte hießen, mit denen sich meine erinnerungen verknüpfen 🙂

  • Reply The A Blog May 21, 2015 at 10:11 pm

    I love your pictures!! 🙂

    • Reply sileas May 21, 2015 at 10:18 pm

      Thank you, likewise 🙂

  • Reply 2015 – A travel year in review | sweet/escapes January 3, 2016 at 7:02 pm

    […] Florida Keys are just picture-perfect like that […]

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