Key West, Fla. — Against all odds, we caught the sunset in Key Largo. The bewitching hour came shortly after our late-afternoon arrival, so we frantically drove up and down streets looking for a place a park, a plaza, a parking lot to see the show.
Finally, in desperation, we stopped, got out of the car and timidly stood under some person's carport. The sky, filled with clouds, came alive with color in a dazzling light show.
The glorious sunset was the high point of our admittedly brief stay on Key Largo, the first key in the 126-mile chain of islands that lead to Key West, our primary destination.
The drive to Key West on U.S. Highway 1 is one of the most scenic in the country. We'd given ourselves the whole next day to do it so that we'd feel free to stop at any roadside attraction that appealed, whether a bird sanctuary, a tourist trap or a stunning vista.
In the morning, our first stop was to see the African Queen riverboat, used by Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in the 1952 film of the same title. The battered riverboat looks strange moored in a marina next to a Holiday Inn, and the boat's connection to the island is a little far-fetched.
We did find our lovely gem in Key Largo, though the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center. It's at the southern tip of the 30-mile-long key, and you need to keep a sharp eye out for the sign or you'll miss it.
The main attraction is a wooden boardwalk that takes visitors past some injured, caged birds and then into a mangrove forest where eagles, herons, pelicans and egrets can be seen up close in their natural environment. The elevated path has benches along the way for sitting and observation.
Not being snorklers or scuba divers, we bypassed Key Largo's primary attraction the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the nation's first underwater state park.
The highlight of our drive came on Marathon Key when we detoured to visit Pigeon Key National Historical District, a glimpse into Florida's past.
Visitors can take a shuttle or walk the two-mile span of the Old Seven Mile Bridge to what remains of a railway workers' camp.
The camp's heyday was from 1908 to 1912 when the railroad bridge linking the keys to the mainland was built.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.