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THINGS TO DO AND SEE IN KEY WEST

     There are plenty of things to see and do in Key West, and because the island is small, nothing is very far away from where you are.  (If you're looking for a beach holiday, however, Key West is not the right place for you. The island has almost no beaches.) As soon as you get off the ship you'll see some extraordinary buildings. But there is so much else to see and explore...

Statue at the Custom House by luv2run.      

The Custom House                                                      American Gothic Statue

     The Custom House, built in 1891, served as a post office, court house and government center when wrecking made Key West the richest city, per capita, in the U.S. But by the 1930s, the island city was bankrupt. Eventually, the building was boarded up and completely abandoned. Now, after a 9-year, $9 million restoration project, the Key West Art & Historical Society has returned the big red brick building to its former glory. Open every day from 9 am to 5 pm. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children (children under 6 are free), $9 for seniors (62+).  

     The large statue in front of the building is called "God Bless America," by artist J. Seward Johnson, and is his interpretation of Grant Woods' painting, American Gothic.

               

     Right on the corner is the Wachovia Bank with its interesting architecture and popular outside ATM.  You might to make a quick stop here  before you take that long stroll down Duval.

Historic Seaport at Key West Bight

     You'll find the Historic Seaport at Key West Bight, from Greene to Grinnell streets at the north end of the island. Along a half-mile wooden harbor walk are shops, restaurants, bars and a 156-slip working marina that is home to tall ships, ferries and catamarans which provide dive, snorkel and sunset cruises.  You'll also find  Restaurants:
BO's Fish Wagon (restaurant & bar - live music Fridays), Turtle Kraals (Historic Restaurant & Bar), Conch Republic Seafood Company, The Crab Shack, Half Shell Raw Bar, Key West Ice Cream Factory,
...And Specialty Shops:
Key West Bait & Tackle (Bait Shop & Pub), Harbor walk Shops @ Lazy Way (Hammocks, Arts, Crafts, & Clothing), Local Color (Clothing, Accessories & Jewelry), Mac's Sea Garden (Shells, Tropical Gifts) and more.

Key West Historic Memorial Sculpture Garden

                      

"The Wreckers,"  located in the Key West Historic Memorial Sculpture Garden.  Admission Free..

     Located on the original shoreline (in front of the Waterfront Playhouse and adjacent to the Key West Chamber of Commerce) in Mallory Square, the sculpture garden opened in September 1997. It features 36 magnificently cast bronze busts of the men and women who have had the greatest impact on Key West. The garden retells the story of the island to over 1,000,000 visitors a year.
     The magnificent sculpture "The Wreckers," at 18 feet long and 25 feet high, captures the spirit of Key West as a bold, boisterous, and bustling sea town out on the frontier of young America. The early wreckers are depicted engaged in their work of saving lives and cargo from a vessel that has come to ultimate peril on a reef. Wrecking was the island's first economy and the reason for her early existence. In fact, Key West became the richest city per capita in the U.S. during the mid 1800's due to the salvage fees received by the wrecking captains and crews.  This prosperity ultimately grew to include businessmen, lawyers, clerks, packers, dock hands and insurance agents on the island. The monument was created at the hands of master award winning sculptor James Mastin of Miami, Florida. The sculpture was made possible in a large part by a grant from the Ocean Key House Suite Resort & Marina and donations from the people of Key West.

Mel Fisher Museum

     The Mel Fisher Museum  at 200 Greene St. (corner of Whitehead and Greene) houses millions of dollars in emeralds, gold chains and silver bars. All were recovered from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, sunk during a hurricane 35 miles off Key West in 1622. This world of shipwreck archaeology, is a two-block walk from the downtown dock (go straight, turn left on Front Street)     Purchase tickets on-line:   HERE  

Key West Aquarium

Photo of Key West Aquarium goes here.      Photo of fish goes here.    

     During the Great Depression, the economic disaster had hit the island.  The federal government believed Key West, with its great weather and location, would make a wonderful tourist destination. Thus, the Works Project Administration (WPA) was sent in and built the Key West Aquarium between 1932-1934. The Aquarium was originally an open air aquarium, one of the first and largest at the time. Today, it is nearly twice the size of the original with the addition of the Atlantic Shores exhibit and the large outdoor holding pens.

     This is a great place to take children where they can discover the undersea world. An expert guide explains the mysteries of the water surrounding the Florida Keys. Daily shark and turtle feedings and the Touch Tank offer guests hands on experience with sea life. All of the animals in the Touch Tank are harmless and guests are encouraged to pick them up and meet the animals: a conch, sea cucumber, horseshoe crap or an urchin. The Aquarium features a wide variety of fish including grouper, moray eels, barracuda, tropical fish, tarpon, sharks, parrotfish and much, much more. Tours and shark feedings occur daily at 11am, 1pm, 3pm, and 4:30pm.

Purchase eTickets:  HERE

 
Truman's Little White House

This historic building at 111 Front Street is listed on the national register of historic places and is open to the public.  Many Presidents and dignitaries visited or lived in The Little White House

                                                                                                                              Please click on the tickets to purchase Truman Tickets on line
                                                                                                                                          Adult: $15 /Youth (5-12) $5 /Seniors: $13

                          

You can also purchase your tickets on-line from Trusted Tours of America:  HERE

      This tour gets high marks from just about everyone.  If you are a history buff--this is for you.  A guide takes you around the complex in an hour.  NO photos are allowed, so don't plan on using your camera this time. Learn about a whole different side of a man who many call one of America's greatest presidents.

     Nearly all the furniture in the building is the original furniture Truman and his family used during his time here.   The house is still used occasionally by presidents, however, they use rooms which aren't open to the public during the tour.

Harry S. Truman - Our 33rd President

     Truman was nicknamed "Truman the Human" for his down-to-earth ways...  how he liked to drive himself around town... how he came from very modest upbringings to become a world leader... and how he would never object to an early morning of fishing or a late night of poker and whiskey with other high level staff members.  His poor eyesight prevented him from participating in sports but led him to two of his greatest passions, reading and music. An avid reader, he was proud of the fact that he had read every book in the Independence Public Library. Truman was also a fine musician, playing the piano. He and his wife later became the proud parents of Margaret Truman in 1924, who was a very well known author and former opera singer.

     Amazingly--one of our greatest world leaders didn't even go to college. Truman was an excellent student, but his parents were unable to afford college for him and his eyesight prevented him from attending West Point Military Academy. Following his high school graduation in 1901, Truman worked at a variety of jobs including farming, oil drilling and banking. In 1917, with World War I in full force, Truman joined the Army. He served in France and left the army as a Captain in May of 1919. Truman was a plain-spoken, intelligent, articulate man who stood behind what he believed and took the responsibility for his actions ... "the buck stops here." The Little White House offers a great glimpse into the life and legacy of this great president (now rated by historians as the fifth greatest president of all time). The tour is informative, interesting and insightful and highly recommended.

     Harry S. Truman was born May 8, 1884 and passed away at the age of 88 on December 26, 1972.  Mrs. Truman passed away quietly on October 18, 1982 at the age of 97. She was buried next to her husband in the courtyard of the Truman Library. Daughter Margaret died at the age of 83, 1/29/2008.

Timeline of the visitors in The Little White House

Originally built in 1890 on the waterfront as a two-family dwelling for the base commandant and paymaster, the building was known as Quarters A and B.  In order to accommodate the larger scale ships, the harbor was dredged in 1909 and land was filled in the front of the house. It was converted into a single-family residence in 1911. 

Key West Lighthouse Museum and Keeper's Quarters

        

The Lighthouse and Keeper's Quarters and view of Key West from the observation deck

938 Whitehead Street -  across from the Hemingway House

     What you will see: The tower and nearby Keeper's Quarters which have been faithfully restored and maintained as they were before the lighthouse was deactivated in 1969.  The clapboard bungalow has been recreated in turn-of-the-century style with historic furniture, furnishings and photos that provide a sense of life in Key West during that formative time.  On display: a multifaceted "first-order" Fresnel lens large enough to walk into, along with instruments, maps, photos and historic lighthouse artifacts.  You will be able to climb the 88-step circular iron stairway leading to the lighthouse observation deck that affords spectacular views of Key West, including the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

     But as intriguing as the structures themselves are is the story of the lighthouse's origin and  the lives of the keepers who climbed the steps each day to clean and fuel the lamps.  To learn of the history of the Key West Lighthouse is well worth the $10 fee.

     The first lighthouse keeper, Michael Mabrity, a mariner and harbor pilot from St. Augustine, Florida, was appointed temporary lighthouse keeper and his wife, Barbara, his assistant. They lived near the lighthouse. When Mabrity succumbed to yellow fever, William Adee Whitehead, the Collector of Customs, appointed Barbara Mabrity to succeed him. Not only was she well qualified, Whitehead said, but she needed the modest salary to support her six fatherless children.

     Daily, Barbara Mabrity would climb the narrow wooden spiral staircase to begin her daily routine of turning down the wicks to extinguish the 15 oil lamps. She removed the glass chimneys when the lamps had cooled and began the wiping down the silvered reflectors, covering them with cotton hoods. Then she filtered the whale oil from each lamp into a clean container and disassembled and cleaned each lamp, before putting it back together. Next she polished all the brass and reset the wicks for the night. Before leaving the tower, she swept out the remains of thousands of dead insects that had been attracted to the light during the night, and she cleaned the lantern windows of the salt spray that constantly assaulted them. All these were vital chores that needed to be done each day to keep the light in good service. It was almost noon by the time she finished.

     When Mrs. Mabrity climbed the lighthouse stairway on October 10, 1846 it was quite a different day than the previous morning.  During the night the winds increased and monstrous waves beat against the shore.  But Mrs. Mabrity was a veteran. She had weathered hurricanes in 1835, 1841 and 1842. Through each, the sturdy brick lighthouse had survived unscathed. Soon she noticed below her, a few Key West residents beginning to arrive at the lighthouse believing its brick structure would be safer than their wood frame houses. When the full hurricane hit it blasted the key all day and until after midnight. Then one huge wave struck and everything washed away: the keeper's quarters, the lighthouse, everything. Key West was in ruins. Where the sturdy lighthouse had stood, only a beach remained.  It was the most destructive hurricane of any that had visited Key West within the memory of man.  Near the lighthouse, some 14 bodies were recovered including those of all six of Barbara Mabrity's children. But by some miracle or fluke, Mrs. Mabrity had survived.

    Despite her grief, Mabrity continued to serve as lighthouse keeper at the new larger lighthouse  constructed in 1847 at its present location (Truman and Whitehead Streets) -- until politics kicked in. In 1864 Mrs. Mabrity was accused of making remarks disloyal to the Union and was urged to retire. Mabrity, now 82 years old and no weak woman, was staunchly defiant. When she refused to step down, she was fired after 38 years of service, 32 of them as head keeper.

     Three years later she died at age 85, but the Mabritys had spawned a lighthouse dynasty.  The Mabrity family and their descendants were associated with the Key West Lighthouse for more than 70 years.  But Barbara Mabrity was the longest serving, and possibly the most interesting, keeper of the Key West Lighthouse.

        In 1886 the original keeper's dwelling was torn down and replaced with the present building. After its deactivation in 1969, the Lighthouse was acquired by Monroe County. In 1972 it was leased to the Key West Art & Historical Society, which added safety features and opened it to the public in 1989. The keeper's quarters were renovated in 1990 and opened as a museum.

     In 1998 the lighthouse was nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark, which would put it in the same category as the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.                                                                                                                         Admission is $10 for adults
$5 for children (children under 6 Free) and students with ID
$9 for Seniors (62+).

The Southernmost Point in the Continental U.S.


     Three blocks down from the Hemmingway House at the corner of Whitehead and South streets is one of the most popular photo spots on the Key. One of the biggest attractions on the island is a colorful concrete replica of a buoy that claims to be the southernmost point in the contiguous 48 states and there is always a line of people wanting to get the picture.

       The point was originally just marked with a sign, which was often stolen. In response to this, the city of Key West erected the now famous monument in 1983. Brightly painted and labeled "SOUTHERNMOST POINT CONTINENTAL U.S.A."  Actually, it is not.  The land on the Truman Annex property just west of the buoy is the true southernmost point, but it has no marker since it is U.S. Navy land and cannot be trespassed by civilian tourists. The private yards directly to the east of the buoy and the beach areas of Truman Annex and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park also lie farther south than the buoy.  The claim "90 Miles to Cuba" on the monument isn't entirely accurate either, since Cuba at its closest point is 94 statute miles from Key West.  But a photo of the buoy lets your friends know you were really in Key West!

The Southernmost House.

About a block west of the Southernmost Point is the Southernmost House at 1400 Duval Steet

             Photo

      The Southernmost House was built in 1896 for a cost of $250,000 (approximately $6 million today) by Judge Vining Harris, who married into the prominent Curry family.

     In 1939 the Ramos family purchased the property, which had been converted into a Cuban nightclub called Café Cayo Hueso (Bone Island Café) for $49,000.

     In 1954 it was converted back into a residence and remained so until 1996 when a $3 million restoration began to turn it into a 13-room hotel.  Authentic elegant crown moldings, ceiling medallions, ornamental woodwork and friezes, which were originally painted white, have been redone in splashy shades reminiscent of its days as a Cuban nightclub.  A hotel, a museum and a wedding and event venue - all under one roof. The house is an architectural spectacle, with beautiful gardens, a swimming pool, a Tiffany stained-glass canopy and an antique wooden bar. This place would be a paradise to all Ernest Hemingway fans, as it boasts of a large collection of Hemingway artifacts.

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and Beach

Fort Zachary Taylor is located at the end of Southard Street on Truman Annex in Key West       

Fort Zachary Taylor - Key West, Florida Keys  Named after U.S. President Zachary Taylor, the fort is a perfect example of the wealth of history Florida has to offer. Construction of the fort began in 1845, shortly after Florida became a state. Throughout the 1850's construction was slow. Yellow fever, shortage of materials and men, remoteness and hurricanes had slowed down progress.

     The fort was an important outpost during the Civil War. Numerous blockade-running ships were detained at Key West harbor and guarded by Fort Taylor's cannons. Twenty-one years later (1866), construction was complete on the fort offering many impressive features. Items such as sanitary facilities flushed by the tide and a desalination plant which produced drinking water from the sea were available. With the coming of the 20th century, more sophisticated weapons and eventually radar took the place of guns. By 1947 the army turned Fort Taylor over to the Navy to maintain. Beginning in 1968, excavations for old armaments in the gun rooms uncovered guns and ammunition from the Civil War. This represents only a fraction of the buried arsenal, which is the largest collection of Civil War cannons in the U.S. 

      Fort Taylor was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and in 1973 was designated a National Historic Landmark. In 1976, the Florida Park Service began managing the fort which was officially opened to the public in July of 1985.

     You won't get a great deal out of the place unless you take the guided tour (noon and 2pm).  If you plan to spend a day at Fort Taylor and take in an important piece of American history, spend the rest of the afternoon at the nearby beach. The swimming beach at Fort Zachary Taylor is clean, shallow and neatly buffered by a rocky seawall. Explore the breakwater with rented snorkeling gear for around $10 and uncover an underwater village of tropical fish gently gliding through the large rock formations.  A refreshment stand at the beach offers snacks, cold beverages, beach sundries and souvenirs. You can rent a snorkel set or a two-person glass-bottom kayak from the concession area. Back on the beach, soak up the generous shade while you can; the state recently felled a row of pine trees, briefly displacing the chickens as the controversy du jour. Wear water shoes as there is much coral pieces on the beach and in the water.
     Gates open at 8:00a.m. and close at sunset daily. Guided tours at noon and 2:00 p.m.. Admission is $1.50 for walk-ins.

Key West Cemetery

701 Passover Lane (Corner of Passover Lane, Margaret Street and Angela Street.)

     This is not just a cemetery--it's a "Who's Who" of Key West's historical figures.  A stroll through this historic graveyard will tell you as much about Key West's quirky characters as any history lesson.  In the "dead" center of Old Town, one of the most unique graveyards you will ever walk through has epitaphs on the headstones that are worth a thousand words! You will recognize the names as Key West founders, builders and businessmen and learn the importance they had on the town.  The visual impact itself is interesting.  It looks like a three-dimensional skyline of a concrete city... stunning statues 6-feet in height, sculptured, chiseled marble reliefs on headstones... tombs on stilts... and humorous  inscriptions.

        

                        High and dry and safe from flooding                                             Above-ground tombstone skyline                    

     The cemetery was established at its current location in 1847 after a 1846 hurricane washed dead bodies from the earlier cemetery out of the coastal sand dunes near the lighthouse.  After being moved further inland in hopes of preventing more upset graves, the graveyard grew to hold 70,000 people, which is far more people than actually live in the City of Key West today. This city of the dead is about three times larger than the living city that surrounds it.

The names on the whitewashed above-ground tombs and statues are fascinating.

      General Abraham Lincoln Sawyer (1862-1939), Key West’s famous 40 inch tall midget who requested to be buried in a man-size tomb; the resting place of William Curry, Florida’s first millionaire; the grave of Sloppy Joe Russell, friend of Ernest Hemingway and owner of the original Sloppy Joe’s Bar who died while fishing off Cuba with Hemingway (1890-1941); Wilhelmina Harvey with her fictitious title inscribed as “ADMIRAL, CONCH REPUBLIC NAVY”; Carline Lowe who continued to fly the Confederate flag even as Union troops marched below her balcony; and the site of Dr. Thomas Osgood Otto a Prussian-born medical officer at Fort Jefferson who fought the yellow fever epidemic and who has three Yorkshire terriers and a domesticated key deer buried with him--each with their own tombstones; Ellen Mallory's name. She was the mother of Stephen Mallory, a U.S. Senator and Confederate Navy Secretary. You'll also see the decaying ornate fence surrounding the four-generation Porter clan. Joseph Yates Porter was the founder of public health in Florida.


  

You'll see "Darling Ruth," a beautifully carved winged angel, a reminder of a young child's early death.

John Wallace Mitchell, who helped construct the Overseas Railroad, built this unusual fenced-in brick family crypt featuring gabled roods and arches, following the death of a son.

                                                                          

              

    

 

 

 

 

 

Pearl Roberts' (local hypochondriac) large white crypt with a facing tablet inscribed "I Told You I was Sick."Other inscriptions on tombs: From "I'm just resting my eyes," to "Devoted Fan of Singer Julio Iglesias."

 

You can take a self-guided tour at your own pace, observing the plots, or you can take a tour of the grounds for about ten dollars.  If you go on your own, print out this interesting, articulate website featuring a map of  the cemetery's decedents and information about them. HERE.

Heritage House Museum & Robert Frost Cottage

410 Caroline St ( ( between Duval and Whitehead)

Key West Heritage House   

     The museum represents 200 years of Key West culture and provides a glimpse into the island's enchanting past.  A visit to this charming home gives you  am up-close look at the fascinating lives of the Porters, a notable Key West family who have lived on the island for seven generations. 
     The Caribbean Colonial house was built around 1834 and restored in 1934 for resident, Jessie Porter Newman.  The  5-foot-3-inch dynamo (lovingly referred to as Miss Jessie), began her crusade for Key West preservation by buying an old sea captain’s mansion. After restoring the home it became the celebration of life in the Florida Keys known as Heritage House.  Robert Frost was one of Jessie's dear friends, as were Hemingway and Tallulah Bankhead and Sally Rand and Thornton Wilder and just about anyone famous who came through Key West. Her home at 410 Caroline became their literary salon.  The gardens hosted some of the grandest parties in Key West. Frost spent so much time at the house that the guest cottage now bears his name.  For 15 winters, from 1945 to 1960, Poet Robert Frost lived in this cottage in the rear garden of the property. The home itself is filled with Miss Jessie's family heirlooms and collectibles. Visitors today,  can sit in the tropical backyard garden and listen to recordings of Frost reading his poetry. 
      When Jessie died in 1979, daughter Jeane created the Heritage House Museum to celebrate-- not just her mother's life--but Key West's place in cultural history.  Jeane Porter died April 18,2004 and entrusted the care of Heritage House Museum to her youngest daughter, Suzanne Campbell, who will carry on the matriarchal lineage of her family.

     Her great-great-great grandfather, Thomas Mann Randolph, was the first commander of the Coast Guard. Her great-great-grandfather, William Curry, made millions in ship salvage and storage. Her great-grandfather, Dr. Joseph Yates Porter (1847-1927), was Florida's first state board of health director. As a child, he lost every member of his family except his grandmother to yellow fever. As a doctor, he was credited with eradicating it. He was born and died in his home at Caroline and Duval streets. Her grandfather, William Porter, ran the Key West bank and helped the island from going belly-up during the Depression. And her grandmother, Jessie, launched the historic preservation movement in Key West as well as its literary reputation.

     Now a National Literary Landmark, Porter's home and the cottage grounds are open for tours as the Key West Heritage House Museum.   Hours: 10am to 4pm daily (closed Sunday).  $7 guided tour, $5 self-guided.
 

                

Robert Frost Cottage                                   Backyard garden and fish pond

Ft. Jefferson & The Dry Tortugas

America's most remote National Park

    

     About 70 miles due west of Key West, accessible only by catamaran, ferry or seaplane, lies beautiful Dry Tortugas National Park and Ft. Jefferson. Dry Tortugas is a group of ten islands west of Key West.  The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon first discovered this island chain in 1513 and called them Las Tortugas, meaning The Turtles, for the great number of sea turtles found there. The latter name, Dry Tortugas, was intended to warn seafarers that the islands contain no fresh water.

     On Garden Key, the largest island in the group, you’ll find historic Ft. Jefferson – once envisioned as the largest link in America’s coastal defense system. Its original purpose was to control navigation into the vast Gulf of Mexico and protect the Atlantic-bound Mississippi River trade from piracy. Begun In 1846, it used 16 million bricks - making it the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere - although it was never actually finished. You can travel to its remnants today in America’s most remote and least visited national park.

     The 2.5 hour journey to these stark, yet stunning, islands crosses incredibly clear waters where shipwrecks and sea life are usually visible. Divers, snorkelers and nature lovers flock to the area for its coral formations, loggerhead turtles, French angel fish and many rare birds.

            

     The first construction on Garden Key in 1825 was a lighthouse to warn sailors of rocky shoals. Construction of Fort Jefferson began in 1846. The United States knew it could control navigation to the Gulf of Mexico and protect Atlantic bound Mississippi River trade by fortifying the Tortugas. Construction continued for over 30 years but the fort, which covers 11 of the Key's 16 acres, was never finished.

     During the Civil War the fort was a military prison for captured deserters. It also held the 4 men convicted of complicity in President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, the most famous being Dr. Samuel Mudd. The Fort was plagued with construction problems and Yellow Fever epidemics. The invention of the rifled cannon made the Fort obsolete, as it's thick walls could now be penetrated. The Army finally abandoned Fort Jefferson in 1874. In 1908 the area became a wildlife refuge to protect nesting birds from egg collectors. In 1935 Fort Jefferson was proclaimed as a National Monument but it was not until 1992 that Dry Tortugas reached it's current status as a National Park to protect both the historical and natural features.

                        

UPDATE (as of December 20, 2008) - The Dry Tortugas seaplane is currently not operating nor accepting reservations. If you would like to visit the Dry Tortugas, you must use the Dry Tortugas Ferry.

Ferry to Ft. Jefferson Tickets:  HERE   8AM - 5:30 PM return (be sure to check your ship schedule)

...Or you might be traveling this route home!

             

The Overseas Highway, the southernmost leg of U.S. Highway 1 and sometimes called the Highway That Goes to Sea, is a modern wonder.  The road follows a trail originally blazed in 1912 when Henry Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railroad from Miami to Key West. The railway ceased operation after severe damage to the infrastructure in a 1935 hurricane.

Construction of the highway began in the late 1930s. Its foundation incorporated some of the original railway spans as well as the coral bedrock of individual keys and specially constructed columns. Completed in 1938, the highway marked the beginning of an incredible adventure for the North American motorist.

The Overseas Highway represents an incredible engineering feat: 113 miles of roadway and 42 bridges leapfrogging from key to key in a series of giant arches of concrete and steel. In 1982, 37 bridges were replaced with wider spans, including the well-known Seven Mile Bridge at Marathon.