Romantic to the End of the Earth
Head south on U.S. 1, and keep driving till all you see on either side are clear, warm, impossibly blue-green waters. You’ve reached the Overseas Highway, which connects that glorious necklace of coral islands, the Florida Keys. The first mile marker is No. 127, indicating the distance in miles from Key West.
Key Largo, the northernmost isle, is home to John Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park, the nation’s first underwater preserve. Divers in its canyons witness tropical fish swimming by in an unending spectacle of color and form.
The park offers guided walks, canoe trips, a glass-bottom boat tour, picnicking, fishing, and boating. And the 510’ U.S.S. Spiegel Grove is the largest divable wreck in American waters.
The waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico that edge the Keys teem with 225 species of game fish. Visitors to Islamorada, sportfishing capital of the world, seek out tuna, dolphin, and giant blue marlin in the deep.
Backcountry waters harbor tarpon and bonefish. Cruise into the warm turquoise waters, throw out a line, and it's likely you'll come back with dinner (although you won't have to cook it yourselves.
Prefer to sleep with the fishes, rather than catch them? Scuba down to Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, which rests 30 feet below sea level.
Key West, 120 miles further south, is as laid-back a place as you might expect to find at land’s end. Six-toed cats, jugglers and musicians, flamboyant folk, and self-proclaimed parrotheads are all part of the passing parade. Join them at sunset by Mallory Square Dock to toast another day in paradise.
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