Bruce Morris - Marathon & Floridas Middle Keys. Travel Adventures

Few places in North America have changed as much as South Florida has in the last 100 years. Few places in South Florida have changed as little as have the Keys and the parts of the Everglades that are now Everglades National Park. Fortunately, preservation efforts have saved the Everglades from the worst development pressures and the Keys wears well the modest amount of development that has occurred.

The Keys have long been a refuge for the independent-minded and have attracted creative types since they were first settled. Key West is famous as the home of many noted writers and artists.

Galleries

The elegant gallery at the Kona Kai resort on Key Largo is open to the public and features such artists as Ruth Bloch, Vincent Magni, Clyde Butcher and Dirk Verdoorn. Key West is almost overflowing with art and noted galleries, including A Boy & His Dog , Fine Art , Bluewater Potters and Gallery on Greene .

Local Artists of Note

Sandford Birdsey 's watercolors capture the "Old Key West" spirit. Renowned artists like Suzie De Poo, Judy Waterman, George Carey all have their works in Key West galleries.

Museums

Even though there are no grand publicly supported museums in the traditional sense, there are a couple of real stand-outs among the tourist-oriented offerings. Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and Museum , 200 Greene Street, Key West, tel. 305-294-2633, is famous for its impressive displays of gold, jewelry and artifacts retrieved from the Atocha and other wrecked Spanish treasure ships. The Little White House Museum , 111 Front Street, tel. 305-294-9911, Key West, is one of the most interesting of the historical attractions in the Keys. The amazingly twee and boring Key West Shipwreck Historeum , tel. 305-292-8990, www.shipwreckhistoreum.com, caters to the cruise ship crowd milling about Mallory Square.

Whether your idea of culture is sipping tea while listening to lectures on fine art or guzzling margaritas served from a hose while enjoying a wet T-shirt contest, the Keys have something to suit all tastes. Events like Fantasy Fest, various arts and crafts and exotic food festivals, as well as weird underwater concerts fill the calendar. See Holidays & Cultural Events for details on the region's fantastic celebrations.

Even a picky eater like me has a hard time complaining about the great seafood found in Keys' restaurants. Fresh fish, shrimp, local lobster (called "lobster," but actually the Florida crawfish or spiny lobster) and crab are everywhere. It's hard to go wrong eating local seafood, but steer clear of restaurants where the "fresh local seafood" actually comes to their back door pre-breaded and frozen. It's packed in cardboard boxes with the layers of breaded "units" separated by thick wax paper. That's why the shrimp are unnaturally flat. The breading is usually a bigger part of the serving. I am also dismayed by what even some upscale restaurants serve as "steamed vegetables." These come, you guessed it, frozen and already steamed in large plastic bags. They all look the same and the cooks just shake them out of the bag and put them in a hot table until needed. When I'm paying $20 and more for my meal, I expect fresh food.

With the help of this book, you can find real, fresh seafood for reasonable prices. The "Author Picks" listed in this book are places I have eaten at over and over again and know to be good. Still, places change. If you find any of my recommendations to be incorrect, please let me know so I can revisit and update my review for future readers. Send your feedback to comments@hunterpublishing.com.

My general advice is to stick with local specialties, which are usually very good. Ask the locals where they eat. If you order snow crab or halibut (neither one found alive anywhere near the Keys) you are getting a frozen dinner. If you order yellowtail, it is very likely you'll be enjoying a fish that was caught in the last day or so within a few miles of where you're sitting.