quote:

Originally posted by HK Ag:
We will be there the week of Oct 19th.

Flying into Ft. Lauderdale and driving to Miami for a couple nights then to KW.

Never been to any of these places.

Any good gun shops to visit along the way?

Keep the suggestions coming.
This is our 20th Anniversary so I need some good ideas for the wife. She is low maintenance not much of a drinker but I married up and want to treat her right.
HK Ag

Kico's on Stock Island. He's a small tackle shop that somewhat recently obtained his FFL and has been bringing in some good stuff.

We rent a house for the month of October in Cudjoe (mm 22) and we stay for half the month. Another group of guys comes for the last half. Fish, lobster, drink, repeat for us. I have to hit KW a few times since the wife comes and have to keep her entertained. Sunset at Mallory Square. See the street acts before the sunset takes main stage. There's a guy with a guacamole cart in Mallory Square. I'm not a big fan of avacado, but this stuff is crazy fresh and good. He'll make it however you like.

Also, hit up Square Grouper on Cudjoe for dinner. Seriously one of, if not the best, restaurants in the Keys.

Mrs. Mike really really enjoyed https://www.keywestbutterfly.com.


She stood here for a few minutes and was covered in them. Go fishing or take a boat trip to just look around. The park in the square is cool at sunset (there used to be a show-not sure about now)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,

And visit the Hemingway House and Papas polydactyl cats.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Mrs. Mike really really enjoyed https://www.keywestbutterfly.com/....

She stood here for a few minutes and was covered in them. Go fishing or take a boat trip to just look around. The park in the square is cool at sunset (there used to be a show-not sure about now)

Your link has extras in it and doesn't work.Here is a working link https://www.keywestbutterfly.com/

Don't make the mistake I did. Don't go there if you have just sworn off cigars, because they are selling them on every street corner. Being used to the Outer Banks and all the beachfront down the Eastern Seaboard including the Florida beaches, I was surprised that in Key West, there are not many water views as you drive the streets. I guess there are some beaches at the hotels but there did not seem to me to be that many large hotels. Cool place, nice bars and restaurants but not a lot with views of the water.

A big thanks for all the tips. Our daughter wants to celebrate her birthday (#31) there, so we'll be in Key West Oct 20-27 at the swanky Marriott Beachside as recommended by Daikyu. Our daughter understands this thing called "Uber," so most of the time we'll park the rental and use that or the hotel shuttle.

We're flying in and out of FLL as we've never driven Highway 1. Plus I want to see if they're repaired the damage from when Ah-Nuld called in the Harrier strike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkyYk1Jr-cg

Visiting the Hemingway house and the six toed cats (we have one too) is a MUST!

We're staying an a hotel near FLL one night going and coming. Are these in a decent area of town?

https://www.marriott.com/hotel...ort-and-cruise-port/

https://www.marriott.com/hotel...ort-and-cruise-port/

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
A big thanks for all the tips. Our daughter wants to celebrate her birthday (#31) there, so we'll be in Key West Oct 20-27 at the swanky Marriott Beachside as recommended by Daikyu. Our daughter understands this thing called "Uber," so most of the time we'll park the rental and use that or the hotel shuttle.

We're flying in and out of FLL as we've never driven Highway 1. Plus I want to see if they're repaired the damage from when Ah-Nuld called in the Harrier strike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkyYk1Jr-cg

Visiting the Hemingway house and the six toed cats (we have one too) is a MUST!

We're staying an a hotel near FLL one night going and coming. Are these in a decent area of town?

https://www.marriott.com/hotel...ort-and-cruise-port/

https://www.marriott.com/hotel...ort-and-cruise-port/

Decent area of town.....no, they're kind of out of town.....but not in bad areas, just not near anything touristy. Eat at Rustic Inn crab house which is very close to those hotels, EXCELLENT seafood and been there since the 1940's and all sorts of celebrities have eaten there, very casual atmosphere. I usually order the "one foot in, one foot out"

https://www.rusticinn.com/

Take the US-1 route from Homestead to Key West in one direction and Take the Card Sound Road route in the other direction (they both join in key largo and homestead.....key largo South is just/only the US-1 route).

On the way down:
Lazy Lobster on Key Largo is EXCELLENT, I get the broiled seafood platter. Lazy Dayz in Islamorada also excellent, Hog Fish on Stock Island also awesome. Restaurants in Key West. Blue Heaven (breakfast, and dinner surf and turf is out of this world, as well as the key lime pie), Half Shell raw bar is super casual and great for lunch, they have an amazing stuffed lobster. Loui's backyard has great food......

Mel Fisher museum is nice, aquarium is nice, sunset dock is awesome, Hemingway house is nice, the tour boat out to Fort Jefferson is worth it (or the seaplane, even better), duval street is fun. Bring lots of bead necklaces, as you'll be starting to get into Fantasy fest by the 27th.....even better if you can stay till the 31st, it's a blast......Good fishing if you want to charter a sportfish. There's a guy down there that does bi-plane tours of the island which is well worth it. Also, rent a gas golf cart...I kid you not, easiest way to get all over the island and you can park it most anywhere, we put 200 miles on one in 4 days.....LOL...... There's a restaurant on Sunset Cay right across from key west owned by the hilton, it's well worth it as the atmosphere and island are beautiful.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jimmy123x,

We visited second week of December 2019. The weather was great 3 of the days we were there, spotty the remainder of the time.

We did fly into Kew West which was kind of neat. The airport is small and when it rains, you will get wet getting on or off the plane.

We did charter a boat and caught a couple of black fin tuna. Nothing like fresh tuna at the dock!

I personally liked the Key Lime Pie at Kermit's the best. We sampled Key Lime Pie almost every day.

DJ's Clam Shack was good. Nothing fancy to say the least, but solid.

We enjoyed the Crab, Shrimp and Bisque at The Stoned Crab.

Loved Hogfish Bar and Grill. They made recommendations and prepared the tuna we caught earlier in the day. It was absolutely perfect.

There is so much to do.

My only disappointment was that our trip to Dry Tortugas. The first date we had, it was storming, with 6-8" seas, so they gave everyone the option to go or reschedule. They had a guy passing out Dramamine in the line of people waiting. A rough trip would have made my wife sick, so we re-scheduled for later in the week. The second date was cancelled altogether. In the 60's and 70's my parents would take us to Key West the last week of Jan and first week of Feb. I always wanted to visit the Dry Tortugas. However, with four children and two adults, we just did not have the money to go. I was last in Key West in 1979 and swore that one day I would make the trip to the Dry Tortugas, it was a bucket list item for me.

You do have to make reservations well in advance. They told us December weather can be iffy when it comes to making the trip.

There is so much to do on Key West and I hope to make it back for a trip to the Dry Tortugas.

Have great time.

Breakfast at Pepe's. Don't pass up their bread of the day.

If you drink - Hog's Breath Saloon for a Key Lime shooter.


Rick

Key West is essentially a coral formation arising out of the sea. Sand has to be trucked to make a beach.
If you are going snorkeling- water shoes are a must. There are very limited “sandy beachs” in the Keys.Catamaran tour to Dry Tortugas is popular.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
Thanks for the replies. We may not stay at that hotel, but it'll be one of the Marriott chain to maintain premiere status in 2018

I'm also considering flying int Miami and renting a car. I want to visit the NAS plus drive the bridge that Ah-Nuld attacked in "True Lies."

I STRONGLY recommend renting some flavor of Jeep Wrangler if you choose this course of action. From Hertz they were $69/day for the four door soft top.

We did a double date couple's vacation last summer before I popped the question. Rented a 4-door Wrangler for the drive from MIA. Popped the top off and it turned the drive from staring at concrete barriers for two hours to an open air cruise taking in the scenery of the keys and the ocean. It was a wonderful experience that I recommend 10/10. The Jeep mostly sat parked while we were there but when we wanted to go somewhere it was easy to park and held plenty of souvenirs.

We lived in Southwest Florida for several years. We would frequently take the high-speed ferry from Fort Myer's Beach or Naples to Key West on a Friday afternoon and return Sunday night. Key West is very interesting on Halloween.

Def want to visit my friend in Siesta Key and do the ferry run to KW. Haven't been to KW since May of 1990...

quote:

Originally posted by LimaCharlie:
We lived in Southwest Florida for several years. We would frequently take the high-speed ferry from Fort Myer's Beach or Naples to Key West on a Friday afternoon and return Sunday night. Key West is very interesting on Halloween.

Last week in Oct will be Fantasy Fest in Key West.

I've flown into Key West Airport. Taxi to place and walked everywhere. We did this will dive gear and did a few dives.

We live in Wis. But also have a home in Florida where we spend part of the winter. One of the most fun things we do is try new restaurants. Florida has more restaurants than any place I've ever been and we love it.

Thanks for all the info. I've got it pretty well planned out, though most of the time I'll just follow my wife and daughter.

Can anyone suggest a breakfast place in Key Largo with an ocean view? Food quality is secondary. I found these:

https://www.sharkeysgalley.com/

https://www.facebook.com/The-H...ant-117724608312075/

One last thing, be prepared for a line at the Southernmost Point. There's also a webcam there, so you can tell your friends to watch you standing in line.

If you have time, try the food, especially the Conch fritters and the Key Lime Pie at Mangrove Mama's on Sugarloaf Key.