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Due to the COVID-19 traveling restrictions in place, many of us miss traveling a lot. However, with the ease of travel restrictions and the mass availability of vaccines, the situation is improving. So, if you are ready to check some items off your travel bucket list and are particularly interested in heading to Southeastern US, let us take you on a marvelous journey to Key West, Florida.
This article will highlight the top 10 things to do when you are visiting Key West. We will share with you all of the great activities you can do here in the Florida Keys and go over some stunning places worth seeing in person. We will find out the most amazing things to do, eat, see, and experience. So, let’s get started.
Top 10 things to do in Key West, Florida
1. Robbie’s Marina
Robbies Marina
Firstly, let us go to Robbie’s Marina to do some Tarpon feeding. If you are in the mood to feed some Tarpons, this is the best place to visit. This spa has breakfast, lunch, & dinner, and they also have over a hundred different tarpon. Tarpons are like these massive fish that can grow bigger than an average human. Most of the Tarpon you find here are around 3 feet in length. You will also find Pelicans roaming around in the area who are on the hunt for some seafood.
When you arrive here, who knows what is going to happen. Tarpons eat smaller fishes that you can feed easily. You might have to take care of the naughty Pelicans on your own as they will try to get those smaller fish for themselves. You might have to change your location a couple of times, but that will add to the fun you will have over here. As soon as you start feeding Tarpons, they will get up to the surface of the water and begin to look for more fish actively. You might also spot some 6 feet long Tarpons over there. Tarpons will pounce over the fishes as soon as you drop them in the water. They will be like Sharks but smaller and a lot less dangerous.
Once you are done feeding the Tarpons, you can go on to have breakfast here. It will start with a meal of a drink named ‘Trailer Trash Bloody Mary’. It will have bacon, shrimp, string beans, a slim jim, pickle, cucumber vodka, and there are probably some other things in there that most of us cannot even name. It is delicious. Then you can have ‘Huevos Rancheros’, which has two fried eggs, salsa cheese, and refried beans. You also get to enjoy ‘The Hump’ with three scrambled eggs, bacon, ham chorizo, jack cheese, and it is served with a biscuit and topped with sausage. They also recommend getting the purple aisle.
When you walk through this space, you see cash stapled from customers all over the spot. If you go to the bar, it’s literally covered in cash. They also have a wall from people dropping their sunglasses in the area where tarpon are fed.
2. Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum
Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum
One of the greatest American novelists, Ernest Hemingway, loved the keys so much that he decided to build a home here. You can either visit this home and do a self-guided tour or tour with a tour guide. They do these guided tours every 20 minutes, so you can find the time that best suits your schedule. The house is magical and in a very lush environment.
This house also has a unique feature that was the first ever done in the keys. Today, pools in the keys are widespread, but there were no pools when Ernest Hemingway lived here. So, he wanted to make the first pool because it is scorching in Key West. This pool cost around 20 thousand dollars in the 1930s, which is a lot of money considering inflation. It would cost about 320 thousand dollars in today’s money. Because the pool caused so much money, he pressed his penny into the ground and said, “Here. Take the last penny I have got”. And that penny is still there today. So, you can challenge yourself to find that penny when you go there.
3. Bahama Village
Bahama Village
In the Bahama village, you will find colorful buildings of all shades, great restaurants, and excellent shopping. Moreover, there are some architectural and historical monuments. There are two spots in particular that we recommend checking out. One is the Ernest Hemingway House, and the other is Blue Heaven Restaurant. Both are fabulous, and you cannot afford to miss them when you are here.
4. Blue Heaven
Blue Heaven
If you want to try traditional Key West dining, then go to Blue Heaven. In here, you dine with canopies of trees overhead. There will be some roosters roaming around. Some cats. It offers a very lush, laid-back vibe. This spot has the Caribbean and American cuisine. They also have many vegetarian options, so this is a great spot to come if you are into that. It is located in the historic Bahama village, so there are tons of colorful shops. You can try out the ‘Red Snapper’. This fish is strikingly delicious. It has a nice char as it is seared on a flat top.
5. Kermit’s Key Lime Shoppe
Kermit’s Key Lime Shoppe
You cannot come to the Keys without trying Kermit’s Key Lime. They will show you how to make a Key Lime Pie. A Key Lime is a very small Lime full of seeds. It is tart and makes you pucker. This is what makes the pie really special. The three main ingredients are Key Lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks. Kermit has been a national geographic travel channel food network.
This is an ancient recipe. It comes from Kermit’s grandmother, who used to go to the Keys when he was a kid. All you have got to do is whisk up the egg yolks and then add two cans of sweetened condensed milk. This is the most crucial part. You have to add the juice in the last because if you put it in too soon, it reacts with the egg yolks, resulting in a lumpy pie. So, once you have got the two previous ingredients blended well, you are ready to pour in the juice. It causes a chemical reaction that cooks the egg and then thickens everything up.
Then you pour the mixture right into the crust. You then smooth it up a little bit, and then it is ready to go in the oven. You can tell when it is done because it will get a nice golden brown around the edges. After you take it out of the oven, let it chill down to room temperature, and then you can put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. After that, you can top it with whipped cream. They make around 200 pies there every day. So if you multiply that over 30 years, you can have an idea regarding their extensive experience.
They have three primary variants to the pie. You can have the traditional Key Lime Pie that we just described, or you can add coconut to it, and you have got yourself a Coconut Key Lime Pie. Similarly, you can try adding in Strawberry as well. Apart from this, they have a bunch of other flavors. Moreover, you can have everything you could ever imagine in the gift shop. It includes body washes, salad dressings, cookies, candies, and so much more.
6. The Lagoon On Grassy Key
The Lagoon On Grassy Key
The Lagoon on Grassy Key has a lot going on. They have a restaurant, a bar, places you can stay, and wakeboarding lessons. You can take a tour with owner Matt, and he will show you the grounds and what is unique about this spot. Everything there is sustainable as they grow everything themselves. They have tons of tropical fruits, including coconuts, papayas, and many more. It is nice how they have made everything eco-friendly. They also show you how to create exciting desserts with coconuts that you probably have never seen before.
There are several stages in the life of coconut. A ripe coconut is the one that has turned all brown and starts to age. It eventually sprouts if it germinates appropriately in a suitable climate. The further it gets to being ripe and brown, the more that meat starts to harden. At this stage, it is used on coconut shrimp. Eventually, that meat solidifies and turns into an extensive membrane inside. The goal is to crack the nut as clean around as possible. With this, you will get to a very spongy material that will be much lighter than you expected.
Once all of this is done, the restaurant then dresses it up and turns it into a dessert. You can try a sprouted coconut pastry topped with a muddled berry and a frozen blue java banana with a mint sprig and a drizzle of Vermont maple syrup. After having these delicious desserts, you can move on to do the wakeboarding lessons. The trainer there has been doing this for about two years. This is an enjoyable experience too.
7. Dolphin Watch & Snorkel with Honest Eco
Dolphin Watch & Snorkel With Honest Eco
You cannot come to Key West without doing some dolphin watching and snorkeling. After all, the ocean is beautiful here and so are the beaches. You can go to Honest Eco. They do sustainable nature tours. They allow you to visit the Key West Wildlife Refuge. There, you are going to be jumping off the boat and doing some snorkeling with the sponges. They also have coral reefs that you can check out. There are tons of dolphins here as well. This entire experience is incredible and beautiful so if you like nature, if you want to see some dolphins, be sure to check them out.
This boat is particularly unique compared to other dolphin cruises because it is built to be sustainable. Honest Eco was designed and built to be one of the first lithium-ion hybrid electric charter boats in the United States. It just feels good to experience nature while also being very aware of not impacting it negatively.
8. Turtle Hospital
Turtle Hospital
You can also visit the Turtle Hospital in Key West. Here, you can learn a bunch about turtles. They have a massive conservation effort and have an entire tank filled with previously rehabilitated turtles and turtles that are being rehabilitated at the moment. You can also see some of the hospitals. More often than not, they have some surgeries going on to help turtles in the wild.
They treat four different types of turtles here. You can also feed the turtles that have been rehabilitated. If you would like to adopt a turtle, you can do that here as well. You can notice the ones that have had boat accidents because they have clay or cement over certain parts of their shell. That is done to protect their shell so that they can recover from the accident. So that you know, they have a fantastic gift shop here as well.
9. Florida Keys Brewing Co.
Florida Keys Brewing Co.
Be sure to visit the local hotspot, Florida Keys Brewing Co. We want to tell you that you have got to try the local beer when you go to a local brewery. This brewery has brewed no less than 150 different beers, and they always have 20 beers on tap. This spot started in 2015, and the owner recommends ‘The Run Aground Brown’. It is a very nutty brown ale, and you get to taste these vanilla notes. There are just so many beers to try here. They brew everything here, so you know that it is fresh and it is locally brewed. There’s nothing better, right?
10. Chef Michael’s
Chef Michael’s
Chef Michael’s is a fine dining restaurant in Islamorada. They are known for hogfish. There are a few different ways you can get the fish cooked here. The waiters usually recommend an extraordinary way. This one has mixed nuts (pistachio, cashew, and macadamia) crusted topping served with mango sauce. It looks delicious. If you have ever had fish and chips, it is very much like that.
You can also opt for the Mahi Mahi. This can be prepared differently. They have a Juliet pan-seared with shrimp scallops, chardonnay butter, and toasted almonds. This restaurant is on the higher end, so this is an excellent spot for special occasions. Maybe it’s your first night here, and maybe it’s your last night here, perhaps it’s a proposal, who knows?
Conclusion
Before we move on to conclude this list, we have a couple of bonus additions. The first one is the Kimpton Winslow’s Bungalows in Key West. It is so lush a beautiful. This area is filled with gorgeous historic homes, and you can stay in some of them, which is cool. This area used to be fruit groves. The bungalows are named for landscape painter Winslow Homer who spent his winters in Key West around the turn of the 19th century.
The second bonus addition is The Islander Resort. It is so picturesque and beautiful. It has 24 acres of beach and paid property. The views are unreal. They have two saltwater pools, water sports right from the dock, tons of other fun activities to do, and the lodging is townhome style, so they have a kitchen and everything you need for more extended stays. They also have two restaurants on the property that has very delicious food. You will be impressed overall with the quality of this resort and just how gorgeous it is.
Key West is known for its warm weather, gorgeous beaches, appealing wedding venues, spas, fancy restaurants, astonishing views, and historical attractions. All of this makes Key West, Florida, a prime vacation spot for people who are looking to enjoy the time of their lives after months and months of lockdown. We note that some of the attractions mentioned in this article may be temporarily closed because of the pandemic or may need reservations due to the massive influx of tourists. Availability hours may have changed as well.
However, one thing that is destined not to change is the incomparable beauty of Key West. There are more than enough ways to enjoy the coastal seat of Key West fully. This magical place combines a tropical vibe with laid-back vacation offerings. This southernmost city in the continental US offers a unique mix of influences, which has fueled it to become one of the top holiday locations in the entire region.