The Keys: 1700 islands

The overseas highway  gracefully arcs across 43 islands and over 200km with The Atlantic Ocean on one side, and The Gulf of Mexico on the other.  Its single lane in either direction is all that connects these small coral islands to the mainland, so as you drive further and further over these bridges into the middle of an ocean, you may consider if a highway this long and narrow has any business  making its way so far out into the ocean.

Tourism in the Keys has certainly had an effect on the way of life here, but the locals seem to have their own brand of laid back and easy going. The people I met were outgoing and friendly; every waitress, bar tender, even a  hotel owner who invited us into her home for her homemade Key Lime Pie.  If it wasn’t  enough that the weather is tropical, the islands are picture perfect, and the seafood is fantastic (I’d go back for the stone crab alone), the people in the keys won me over and made this trip an enriching one.

You may want to click here for the gallery.

You may want to click here for the gallery.