365 Things To Do In The Florida Keys

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365 Things To Do In The Florida Keys

It's 127 miles of islands, water, beautiful weather plus exotic, interesting & sometimes crazy people. Never a dull moment for visitors & residents alike.

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09/06/2026

Rowell’s Waterfront Park!

Say hello to one of the Florida Keys newest city parks! I’ve passed this for the last two years while being posted as a future park to its renovation period waiting for it to open. Now many months after its opening, I’m finally able to stop by and check it out for you.

Here’s the first hand low-down: an awesome view of the neighbor’s pier-end gazebos, appears to be a swimming area, very rocky fossil-laden uneven dangerous jetty that I chose NOT to risk walking on, bring your own picnic supplies of chairs and folding table, and last but not least three port-o-potties! Though I wish I could say more and that it was packed with beachgoers… I was in fact the ONLY one there on a Saturday. I don’t know for sure, but I’d guess that they might not be 100% done with renovating this newest city asset.

You can find Rowell’s Waterfront Park on US-1 at Mile Marker 104.6 bayside. It appears to be FREE to the public seeing no fee schedule… besides, would you pay for a park that had ONLY port-o-potties! 🙂 **As the time of this photo the park wasn’t done… maybe it is now!**

09/04/2026

Bar With Cemetery Headstone!

Headstone In Bar!

Does your bar have a real cemetery headstone in it? Well this one does, so belly on up to the bar partner and listen to a smorgasbord of whale tales, pranks, lies, and off the cuff made up stories that they might be dishing out for todays customer consumption here at Capt. Tony’s Saloon on 428 Greene Street in Key West!

Here lies Reba I. Sawyer 1900-1950 or so they say. One of the most repeated stories (though the bartender I spoke to doubts that it really happened that way) says that Reba was having an affair with a man for a number of years at this particular bar, she passed away leaving love notes behind unwillingly confessing her sins. The husband upon reading them went to the grave site and removed her headstone and trucked down to the front window of the bar and tossed it in where it sits today. If you believe that I’ve got some beachfront property in Arizona I’d love to sell you and I’ll throw the Golden Gate Bridge in for FREE! 🙂 If you’ve ever picked up a headstone (and who hasn’t) 🙂 I doubt if you could even move it several inches, but that’s neither here nor there. There’s no body beneath the headstone as some say nor was this the sight of an old cemetery plot as others wish you to believe… merely a GREAT publicity stunt no matter the real story. So I encourage you to drop on by and collect your photo with Reba while doing your best Capt. Morgan pose on the side of her tombstone as 1,000’s have done before. I love it, it’s an AWESOME conversation piece… so DON’T MISS IT. It’s FREE to stop on by and worth your time to be where Hemingway himself might have once sat!

09/03/2026

Splendor Is In The Way You Look At It!

Beautiful In Itself!

Splendor is in the eye of the beholder… or is it beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

You know, not everything in Key West has to be a paid attraction, a bar, sunset cruise, Duval Street, a day at the beach or even New Years in front of Sloppy Joe’s… some times you’d be surprised what beauty can be found in what you’re looking at, pass in a car or even making up things with who you’re with.

The bicycle I passed then circled the block parking on the side of the road and jumped out to snap this AWESOME photo of a typical mode of transportation beside the palm fronds here in Key West.

The photo below was taken as we prepared to watch a sunset adjacent to a park beach. Both were spur of the moment and both capture the splendor within our minds in how we see it… and I LOVE what I see here in Key West!

09/02/2026

Poorhouse Lane!

Yeah SURE! :-) There’s NO home in Key West that would be considered on Poorhouse Lane! Real estate prices in Key West are through the roof even with todays economic conditions.

Yes, this is a real street name located directly across from Key West’s Historic Cemetery’s main entrance. Here on Poorhouse Lane you must ditch your car and hoof it by foot or by bike as we did. The Lane is cozy, narrow & very scenic with the 6 or 8 homes nestled in-between trees that encroach its beautiful nature crafted alleyway.

This is truly a beautiful tucked aside alley you don’t want to miss, it’s a shaded paradise!

08/31/2026

Author Zane Grey’s Historical Display!

Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels with idealized images of the Old West. Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) was his bestselling book. Some 110 films have been based on his novels and short stories. WOW!

Pearl Zane Gray was born Jan 31, 1872, in Zanesville, Ohio. It has been suggested that his name derives from the “Pearl Grey” color favored by Queen Victoria in her dress. He was born to Alice Zane & Lewis M. Gray, a dentist. His family came to America in 1673 and changed the spelling of their last name to “Grey” after his birth. Later Grey dropped Pearl and used Zane as his first name (I would too). :-) He grew up in Zanesville, a city founded by his maternal ancestor Ebenezer Zane, an American Revolutionary War patriot. Grey developed interests in fishing, baseball, and writing, all which contributed to his writing success.

Zane Grey fished an average of 300 days a year through his adult life. Grey stayed on Long Key where he helped establish the Long Key Fishing Club and was their President from 1917 to 1920. He indulged his interest in fishing with visits to Australia, New Zealand & Nova Scotia. Grey set a world record for the largest blue-fin tuna on August 24, 1924 when he caught one weighing 758 pounds in Nova Scotia.

Zane Grey died of heart failure on October 23, 1939 at his home in Altadena, California. He was interred at the Union Cemetery in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania.

Wow, what an interesting man who few have heard of! I’m so blessed in doing these blogs, I’ve learned so much and continue to learn about those who’ve called the Florida Keys their home. Zane Grey, I’m proud that you loved our slice of paradise so much that you left your imprint on this area that you too once called home.

You can find the Zane Grey display inside the World Wide Sportsman store upstairs in the restaurant area at Mile Marker 81.4 on US-1 bayside.

08/30/2026

Key’s Coolest Principal’s Office!

IMG_1602Here’s without a doubt the coolest Principal’s office in the entire Florida Keys! Were you intimidated by the Principal’s office at your school? I’d say that most of us associated going to the Principal’s office with something bad.

At this school they obviously play down the fear factor by spicing up the facility with multi-colored paint, decorative lettering along with a huge rainbow across its width with the saying “You are a shooting star” on it. You know what, it worked, this Principal’s office doesn’t scare me a bit! 🙂

You can find the Florida Keys ‘Coolest Principal’s Office’ at Mile Marker 30.3 at the Big Pine Academy at the corner of US-1 oceanside.

08/29/2026

Largest Fish In The Keys!

Where can you find the LARGEST FISH in the Keys? Some say it can be found in the Atlantic Ocean while others will swear up and down that it’s in the Gulf of Mexico, yet some will even pinpoint a specific location of the Keys like Islamorada. Well, I’m here to tell you they’re all wrong… and I’ll be the first person ever to guarantee such a sighting at a Mile Marker of all places!

Contrary to popular belief, some fish are found on dry land! This one pictured here is the LARGEST FISH IN THE KEYS! Located at Mile Marker 49.4 bayside on US-1. So stop on by and fire up that video camera and gather around the Giant Fish for the video that will verify your wild vacation fish story.

08/28/2026

Pier House’s Triple Fountains!

So, you want to take a series of AWESOME photos! We’ve found a single place with a little bit of creativity you can leave with your own beautiful pictures. Don’t be afraid to get at ground level or even behind the cascading water to achieve the best possible angle for an impressive photo. Until you get your own pics, sit back and enjoy the view of these five uniquely positioned photos that I took.

You can take your own set of keep-sake vacation pictures on your next trip to paradise at Key West’s Pier House on the northern end of Duval Street.

08/27/2026

NEW Blue Star Highway Sign!

Have you seen this NEW sign? OK, it’s an old sign that’s gone unnoticed by me for years. I now know of three of them in the Florida Keys, this one is set back at least 50′ or 60′ off of US-1 and is barely visible being surrounded by trees!

The Blue Star Memorial Highway system is located throughout the United States and is a ‘Living Memorial’ tribute to the men & women of the armed forces that have defended the United States of America. The idea dates to 1944 in the waning years of WWII when the New Jersey State Council of Garden Clubs beautified a 5½-mile stretch of US-22 with approximately 8,000 dogwood trees that were planted for the men and women serving from their state.

The Blue Star itself was taken from the blue star in the military service flag and was chosen to symbolize the memorial because it was used during World War II on flags and homes of families that had a son or daughter in the service. Since 1944 the Blue Star Highway has spread throughout the United States including the Florida Keys that are proud to have three of these Historical Markers at Mile Markers 99.4, 50.3 & 4.1 on US-1 heading south to Key West. This featured sign is at Mile Marker 4.1 just over the Cow Key Bridge as you enter Key West on US-1.

The State of Florida’s three Keys sites uses a display of shrubs & flowers as their ‘Living Tributes’. So on your next trip to the Keys you can now educate your car load of companions with this bit of knowledge that so many others unfortunately haven’t a clue… but now you do!

08/26/2026

Rainbow Intersection.

Wow, this is so subtle that I barely noticed it while walking down Key West’s #1 tourist road Duval Street.

OK, for those who don’t know, Key West has a large alternative lifestyle community and this is their corner on Duval Street. Seen here is a 4-way stop intersection with multi-color stripes designating the crossings rather than the customary black & white that are painted throughout the rest of the city. This is the ONLY intersection like this in Key West. If you look close, you can see a flag on the left corner lamp post that matches the street crossing stripes.

You can see this rainbow-colored intersection crossings at the corner of Petronia Street & Duval Street.

Address

Duval Street
Key West, FL
33040

Website

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