TRAVEL 01-15-06 EZ EE P4 CMYK The Washin P4 Sunday, January 15, 2006 The Florida Keys 1 0 0 From Key Largo to Key West, a Mile Marker-by-Mile Marker Guide to the Island Chain KEY WEST THE LOWER AND MIDDLE KEYS ATTRACTIONS AND DISTRACTIONS LODGING ATTRACTIONS AND DISTRACTIONS ª Be the southernmost tourist by standing at the For 10 Key West standouts, see Page P6. Mile Marker 67.5 (oceanside): There’s not much large wide-striped buoy on Fleming and Whitehead of a beach, but Long Key State Park (305-664- streets, which marks the Southernmost Point in EATING 4815, www.floridastateparks.org/longkey; $3.50 for the continental U.S. (snap a photo, it’s the thing to one, $6 for two) compensates with camping, do). Go any more south and you’ll end up in Cuba, 90 ª Mangoes (700 Duval St., 305-292-4606) canoeing and nature trails. Pack a lunch and duck into miles away. dresses up the usual suspects (conch, yellowtail) and one of the picnic cabanas on the park’s boardwalk. ª When evening looms, the freaks, uh, the street offers diners two tableside views: a front-row porch MM 59 (bayside): Dolphins, dolphins everywhere. performers come out for the Sunset Celebration at along Duval and a tucked-away courtyard. Dinner Interacting with the mammal is the top priority at the Mallory Square (305-292-7700, www.sunsetcele entrees $14-$25. Dolphin Research Center (305-289-1121, bration.org). The pier transforms into a virtual circus, ª At Pepe’s Cafe (806 Caroline St., 305-294- www.dolphins.org), a nonprofit education facility on including a neo-Houdini (chains, straitjacket, upside- 7192), morning-after partiers crowd inside for Grassy Key. Admission $19.50; dolphin programs down) and Dominique the Catman and his troupe of rehabilitating breakfasts such as omelets stuffed with (meet Flipper, swim with Flipper, etc.) from $40. trained house cats. cream cheese and scallions ($7.50) and a tower of MM 56.2 (oceanside): Campers will love the ª Come darkness, the revelry migrates to boisterous pancakes ($5.25). water views at Curry Hammock State Park (305- Duval Street, which becomes an open-air frat party, ª Harpoon Harry’s (832 Caroline St., 305-294- 289-2690, www.floridastateparks.org/curryham complete with bottomless cocktails, loud bands and a 8744) cooks up good ol’ greasy diner food — that is, mock; $3.50 for one, $6 for two) on Little Crawl Key. Pigeon Key, sliced by th clothing-optional rooftop bar (the Garden of Eden, if your type of grease comes as a bagel with salmon RV and tent campsites are $26 a night. above the Bull and Whistle, 224 Duval St., 305- and capers ($9.95). Sit at the counter and talk about MM 50.5 (bayside): For a kid-friendly break from pound — flavors include B 296-4565) where the peepers outnumber the the weather, or in the turquoise booths and listen to U.S. 1 traffic and a good area primer, stop at the Voodoo Queen — starting a pantsless. BY ANDY NEWMAN / TDC talk about the weather. Museums and Nature Center of Crane Point ª The Key West City Cemetery, a sprawling 1847 Jugglers join the evening revelry during the ª B.O.’s Fish Wagon (801 Caroline St., 305-294- Hammock (305-743-9100, www.cranepoint.org; LODGING graveyard, has its fair share of historical names and Sunset Celebration in Mallory Square. 9272) wins the prize for its top-notch fish $7.50). Or drive toward the ocean at the same traffic monuments, but for some gallows humor, seek out sandwiches ($8 for fried, $9 for grilled) and oddball light to Sombrero Beach. There’s an appealing park MM 68.5 (bayside): The the more irreverent sites. Pick up a map at the ª Commotion (800 Caroline St., 305-292-3364) character (and characters). (swings, picnic tables, gardens) fringing the sand, hued rooms with big clunky sexton’s office at the main entry off Margaret Street has a lock on linen, with racks of dresses, jackets, ª El Meson de Pepe (410 Wall St., 305-295-2620; and the beach itself (for the Keys, at least) is a beaut. but the standard rooms at and Passover Lane. skirts and shirts for every occasion. entrees $13-$49.95 for paella for two) couldn’t be any MM 48.5 (bayside): The Turtle Hospital (305- Bay Resort (800-723-4 ª Learn about the queen conch at the Key West ª The sponges at Mallory Square’s Sponge Market, more Cuban, short of having Castro mix your mojito. 743-2552, www.turtlehospital.org) is one of the resort.com; from $79) offe Conch Baby Farm (631 Greene St., 305-296- a mini-museum with a shop, are harvested nearby The high-ceilinged, boisterous restaurant feels like a Keys’ top stops. Call for a tour ($15) of the first-rate MM 62.3 (oceanside): C 3551, www.conchrepublicseafood.com; free), an and are ideal for cleaning countertops, cars, unbathed 1950s dance hall; the island fare includes stuffed green facility, which nurses ailing reptiles back to health, long, sandy drive from the aquarium filled with tanks of conchs the nonprofit bodies — or just sitting pretty on a shelf. Also in plantains and roasted pork in cumin-mojo sauce. then buy a T-shirt and donate to the cause. Cottages (800-330-15 hopes to raise and release into the wild. Mallory Square’s marketplace, the Shell Warehouse (There’s a second locale at 3800 N. Roosevelt.) MM 47 (bayside): You can walk 2.2 miles down tages.com; from $74) on W ª At the Key West Historic Memorial Sculpture has two ocean’s worth of shells. ª The Waterfront Market (201 William St., 305- the Old Seven Mile Bridge to visit Pigeon Key kitchens. Garden in Mallory Square (www.historictours.com/ ª Peppers of Key West (602 Greene St., 800-KW- 296-0778) is no ordinary grocery: Its shelves are (305-289-0025), a town built in the early 1900s for MM 61 (oceanside): I keywest/SculptureGarden/index.htm; free), count SAUCE) stocks 400 sauces, many with names as fiery stocked with healthful snacks, organic produce, railway workers — or conserve your energy and hop elsewhere. But the myriad heads — the 36 busts depict the city’s most notable as their contents. gourmet cheeses and other lunch fixings good for a on a tram for a guided tour ($8.50, oceanside). suites, villas) at the spraw personalities, including Ernest Hemingway and Harry ª Key West has two art gallery rows: White Street picnic or to take upstairs to eat in the loft-nosh area. MM 37 (oceanside): The star attraction in these (888-443-6393, www.ha S Truman. parts, Bahia Honda State Park (305-872-2353, on Duck Key get good grad ª Get your culture/history/fish fix in the historic www.floridastateparks.org/bahiahonda; $3.50 for Clinton Square area, which includes the Mel Fisher one, $6 for two) has the top beaches, the nicest Maritime Museum and the Audubon House. Grab a map at the Chamber of Commerce (402 Wall St., 305-294-2587, www.keywestchamber.org). G ª To cover more ground, hop aboard the Conch Tour Florida Ke Train (305-294-5161, www.conchtourtrain.com; Marathon A $25), which wends its way around the town’s top Great White Heron National Wildlife attractions, including Sloppy Joe’s Bar. Purchase Refuge tickets in Mallory Square. ª Papa slept here . at the Ernest Hemingway Turtle Museums and Home & Museum (907 Whitehead St., 305-294- Hospital Nature Center of 1136, www.hemingwayhome.com; $11). He also Crane Point wrote some of his masterworks at the historic 19th- Hammock 5 Key Bahia 0 Vaca Perky’s Bat Tower Honda 4 State Park Pigeon 5 Key Marathon National Key 4 0 3 Deer Refuge Boot 0 2 2 3 Key Sombrero 0 5 5 Seven Mile Bridge Beach 0 Cudjoe 1 Bahia 1 Key Big Pine Honda 5 Summerland Key Spanish Key Key Harbor Ramrod Key MM 57.5 (oceanside): Boca Key roadside motel in these par Chica serious dough with the sim Key Sugarloaf 1 Key Key’s Seashell Beach R 0 campsites and some of the Keys’ best snorkeling. www.seashellbeachresort.c 1 Baby’s Coffee Plus, its waterside cabins ($120) are large and the kitchenettes, free kayak ª Turtle Kraals Restaurant (231 Margaret St., secluded. MM 54.5 (oceanside): T 305-294-2640) is an old turtle cannery that serves MM 30.5 (bayside): Stop at the National Key — elevated to palm-top le all kinds of seafood (mango crab cake, $9.95; Deer Refuge visitors center (305-872-2239, Beach and Tennis seafood enchiladas, $14.95), minus the obvious one. www.fws.gov/nationalkeydeer; free) in Big Pine Key www.cocoplum.com; from Key West International On Mondays and Fridays, join in the turtle games, Plaza, a quarter-mile down Key Deer Boulevard, and imported from Hawaii. Tu Southernmost Airport when six hard-shelled competitors race to the finish grab some info on the Bambi-like critters. Then drive Cocoplum Drive at Route 1 Point Key West line. around Big Pine and No Name keys and keep an eye MM 49 (bayside): The C ª Kelly “Top Gun” McGillis owns Kelly’s Caribbean out. Ask for directions to the Blue Hole, a rock quarry 289-8089, www.crystalba Bar and Grill (301 Whitehead St., 305-293-8484), that’s now home to gators. a bit frayed around the ed a casual yet elegant eatery.