Jaunted - key west

Bike Down US Highway 1 From Key Largo To Key West During BubbaFest

kjb — 2009-09-17T13:08:54-05:00

November is a tricky travel month, because the onslaught of cooler weather usually puts quite the damper on any outdoor endeavors. That’s why we say to follow millions of others and head down to Florida. We’re not going to play bridge all afternoon and then head out for the early bird special; we’re going to ride our bicycles. Thanks to retired police sergeant Bubba Barron, we have the BubbaFest Bike Tour. It’s a 200-mile cycling event from Key Largo To Key West, and you don’t have to be Lance Armstrong to do it.

Bikers are encouraged to go at their own pace and make frequent pit stops to swim, snorkel, and snooze away part of the day. The whole course over US Highway 1 is pretty flat, so if you can ride a bike and have some patience, you should have no problem pedaling the approximate 45 miles per day. If you do get a little tired, or just lazy, support vehicles follow the whole time and can give you a free ride. Things kick off on November 7 and wrap up on November 13, with a few layover days to soak in the sun.

Belly Up For A Root Beer Barrel Shot At Key West's Green Parrot Bar

JetSetCD — 2009-07-13T16:25:32-05:00

While the summer is at its peak and you're no doubt tired of chugging bottled water under the sun at tourist sites, we're going to hit some of the world's best watering holes and down their famous summer cocktails. Bottoms up!

When one thinks of an evening spent in Key West, sipping some of the more alcoholic local flavors, drinks like Key Lime Martinis or the Key West Cooler come to mind, but at local favorite Green Parrot Bar, the regulars tipple something decidedly more down-home.

For one of the cheap, but tasty Root Beer Barrel Shots at the Green Parrot, you must first bypass all of the tourist-trap bars along Duval Street. The Green Parrot isn't far—only a couple block away on Whitehead Street—but it's divey, Florida Keys laid-back ambience is a world away. Sure you can get key lime drinks here as well, but if you've been scarfing key lime pie all day anyways, we'd recommend the Root Beer Barrel.

Key West Spring Break Part 3: The Pirate Craze Will Never Die

Victor Ozols — 2009-04-25T15:48:07-05:00

Wanting to do something active to counterbalance all the beer and pie, we bought tickets for an adventure cruise on a big catamaran called Island 'Ting. Casting off from the docks at 10:00 a.m. under the guidance of Captain Johnny, we broke our fast with scrambled eggs and juice and headed to an offshore reef for snorkeling. As was the case with the previous evening's sunset cruise, it was interesting to get to know the crew, which generally consisted of lifestyle junkies who take fun, low-paying, seasonal jobs around the world. Our snorkeling instructor Misty, for example, alternated between sailing jobs in Key West and Maui, and a fire fighting job in Oregon.

Key West Spring Break Part 2: Yes, the Cats Really Have Six Toes

Victor Ozols — 2009-04-25T14:44:52-05:00

Of the few cultured things we did in Key West, the best was our visit to the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum on Whitehead Street. Hemingway lived in the handsome colonial mansion from 1931 to 1939, penning some of his greatest works from a detached study. An animated and somewhat prickly tour guide took us through the rooms and explained how Hemingway's wife Pauline had all the ceiling fans removed for aesthetic purposes, and spent extravagantly on installing one of the island's first in-ground swimming pools, prompting Ernest to surrender to her his "last penny."

As for Hemingway's famous cats, their descendants are still there roaming around and getting underfoot, and they do indeed have six and sometimes seven toes. It makes them look like they're wearing little catcher's mitts on their hands.

Key West Spring Break Part 1: Taking the Easy Way Out

Victor Ozols — 2009-04-25T13:39:41-05:00

We just got back from a blissful spring vacation and the old trope is true again: it went by all too quickly. We were in dire need of rest and recreation, so instead of planning an ambitious and brainy trip to Angkor Wat or Ottawa or something, we decided to press the easy button and head to Key West, Florida for four nights. We took the Acela from Penn Station to Washington D.C. (nice train ride, decent microwave cheeseburgers), dropped Zachary off with his grandparents, and then flew unencumbered to Key West via Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport, which is unbelievably huge.

The heat hit us as soon as we stepped on the tarmac of the island's tiny airport and it felt great. We had left the chill of the north far behind and escaped to the subtropics. Before long we were in a shared taxi van with a gregarious local driver who provided a running commentary on all the sites we were driving past, pointing out the capsized sailboats in the water, unmoored in a recent storm.

Good Ideas: Key West Map Doubles as a Lens Cleaning Cloth

Victor Ozols — 2009-03-07T15:03:07-05:00

We're headed to Key West next month and I've been geeking out on the research, poring over all the travel guides I can find and lining up a few bars, restaurants and museums to check out while we're there. I wanted to pick up one of those Streetwise maps, but they don't have one for Key West yet, so instead I ordered a Rand McNally Fab Map for six bucks from Amazon, and I'm glad I did.

'If You Build It, They Will Come' To Key West Airport

JetSetCD — 2009-02-26T14:16:11-05:00

Attention, snowbirds: starting this week, you can kiss the airline terminal of your youth goodbye at Key West Airport. Citing the tourist traffic and second-home owners in the area, Key West has built a newer, spiffier terminal to replace the 1957 original building, although that too will eventually be remodeled and combined to double the size of the airport.

According to the press release, the 30,000-square-foot new terminal which opened yesterday now features a large restaurant with windows to watch the flights arrive and depart over the water, and all the concessions, baggage and security areas needed to support a healthy flow of passengers through Key West. It is also very possible that this large of an improvement will convince visitors and locals to go through their home airport instead of adding the commute up to Miami International.

Expect the entire fresh terminal (including the renovated 1957 but) to be completed rather soon in June, prime time for early summer vacations but safely shy of the bulk of hurricane season.

Related Stories
· New Terminal Opens at Key West Airport [Palm Beach Post]
· Airport News Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau]