Florida Keys History and Attractions

My favorite part of Florida are the unusual Florida Keys which consist of approximately 1,700 islands located in the southeast United States, beginning at the southeaste tip of Florida, 15 miles south of Miami. The Keys arc south-southwest and then turn westward to Key West which is the last inhabited island, but the uninhabited Dry Tortugas are also a part of the island chain. The Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson is one of the most remote, smallest, and least visited national park and definitely worth visiting. Besides the historic 1846 Fort Jefferson, there are seven small islands, nesting areas for a variety of wild birds, coral reefs and snorkeling and scuba attractions. The island chain’s early inhabitants were the Calusa and Tequesta Native Americans; Ponce de Leon ‘discovered’ and later charted the islands. The current name Key is derived from the original Spanish word Cayo meaning small island. The Florida Keys Overseas Highway has 42 bridges with a total of 18.8 miles. The bridges connect more than 100 islands with a total land area of just137.3 square miles. Three bridges have been named National Historic Sites, the old Seven Mile, Bahia Honda and Long Key The Keys have the Atlantic Ocean on their east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. So the 127.5 miles of Keys Overseas Highway includes many areas of magnificent tropical water scenery on both sides even when you’re not on one of the bridges. The southern tip of Key West is just 94 miles from Cuba and the climate of the Keys is defined as tropical even though they are located in the subtropics. The climate and environment are closer to that of the Caribbean than the rest of Florida and the Keys are the only frost-free place in Florida. The Keys were built by plants and animals, not like the Caribbean's volcanic growth islands. The Upper Keys islands are the remains of large coral reefs, which became fossilized and exposed as sea level lowered. The Lower Keys are made from sandy accumulations of limestone grains caused by plants and marine organisms. In the Florida Keys there is a small green & white sign system called mile marker used to define locations. South Florida City begins MM 127 and Key West’s courthouse is MM 0. The locals use MM for address references sometimes even including B or O if they are located on the Bay or Oceanside. My favorite resort, Venture Out is Oceanside at mile marker 23 on Cudjoe Key. Venture Out has views of the Atlantic Gulf Stream and Hawk Channel. Sunrise is breathtaking reflecting in Kemp Channel and sunset is a performance to be viewed from Cudjoe Bay. Venture Out is a gated resort having 69 acres laid out to incorporate the beauty of its many canals and 70% waterfront lots. It has its own marina, convenience store, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, five bath houses, Post Office, recreation center and its own sewage system! Cudjoe Key is protectively located in the lee of the Sierra Madre Mountains of Cuba. This mountain range tends to divert storms to either side and takes the punch out of the storms that pass over. Venture Out first opened in 1969 as a RV resort and still has some open lots for RV’ers. One of the few places in the Keys that is zoned for RV. Through the years an eclectic assortment of trailers, mobile homes and recently stilt houses have moved in making the resort as diverse as its full time and snow bird residents.