January 24, 2025.
I managed to land a free place to crash in Key Largo, at the start of the Florida Keys, on Thursday night. But getting a last minute camping reservation on the Keys is nearly impossible. I was also not willing to pay the $200 a night some private campsites were asking just for the privilege to be out there. We went back and forth about whether or not it was worth trying to do the drive all the way out to Key West and back in a day.
After speaking with our hosts for a bit, we decided we’d get up early and go for it. The round trip drive is just under 200 miles, which can easily be done in a day. But, I didn’t know what kind of traffic to expect or how long we’d want to stay at each stop. Whatever might happen, we were ready for an adventure.
At 7 am, we hit the road. We made our first stop at Founders Park in Islamorada, where we found bathrooms, garbage and a fitness trail! We’d done a few of these on our travels and they are usually quite fun to do, so that helped us warm up. It was puffy jacket weather even down in the Florida Keys!
From there, it was a quick drive over to see Betsy the Lobster, a huge statue of a spiny lobster just outside a restaurant. At 8 am these places were easy and quick stops. I cannot even imagine trying to make these tourists stops in the afternoons or on a weekend. Though I had many other pins on my map that I wanted to visit, we cruised past on a mission to get to Key West. But many of the parks, museums and other attractions didn’t open until later in the day anyways. If we had time on the return trip, there would be plenty to do.
The drive was beautiful, especially the sections where you really got a good view of the ocean. I enjoyed the scenic Seven mile bridge and the scenic old spans beside it. I had wanted to stop and take the bikes out on one of those sections, but we had places to go.
Key West
We arrived at Key West by 10 am. The first thing we wanted to do was dip our toes in the ocean, so we paid for admission to Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park and parked the van in a nearly empty lot. Shortly, we were on the beach. It had soft, white sand and turquoise water, just like the postcards! I could hardly believe it. We looked up to see a magnificent frigatebird flying overhead, just one of many spectacular birds we’d see on our visit to Florida. Meanwhile the gulls were squawking up a storm and flapping their wings on the rocks just offshore.
Since it was so nice to be on our feet, we kept walking around the park for a bit. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow you to park your vehicle there and walk to town so we moved the van to another park that had no fees or restrictions. Who knows how long that will last, so do your research before planning a visit!
Coming into this trip, I didn’t imagine myself finding enough things I was interested in to spend a whole day at Key West. But I was wrong! I loved all the loose chickens and the ease with which you could explore. It was easy to walk just about anywhere and it was much faster and less stressful than driving the tight, busy streets.
We went to an amazing Cuban restaurant for lunch. El Siboney, tucked away in a residential neighborhood, was a hidden gem. Get the sangria and try something new. Then back at the beach, Aaron went snorkeling and I walked to a botanical garden. Once we were each satisfied with our solo excursions we teamed up for a walk to procure key lime pie bites. I’d read that Duval Street was the happening spot so we walked the length of the street to see what that was about. I got the idea pretty early on and was pretty annoyed with how packed with obnoxious tourists it was (unlike most of the other streets!) but we powered through.
At the far end, we made it to Key West Key Lime Pie Company, where we ordered two chocolate-dipped frozen key lime pie slices. Though I’d learned that key limes are native to southeast Asia and they are no longer grown commercially in the Florida Keys, I was still very ready to have this hyper-local treat. It was delicious! We chose an alternate, and much less congested, walking route back to the van.
Other stops
I had two things on my to-do list for the Keys, so we made sure to make a couple stops on the drive back. I wanted to see Key deer and I wanted to drink mead.
Around 4:30 pm we made it into the National Key Deer Refuge and pulled into the Blue Hole parking lot. There, we observed the resident alligators chilling at the water’s edge. There, we learned about poisonwood, a native tree with poisonous bark! A reminder to learn about how to identify native plants and animals before visiting a new place.
We walked to the other trailhead via the bike path and immediately saw two key deer browsing the brush near the road. Bingo! Check that species off my life list!
The remainder of the hike wasn’t much to write home about, since we’d seen plenty of this habitat before. But I was mesmerized by the whitetop sedge, something new to me. Sedges don’t generally catch my attention but the leaves on this unusual plant fold back into a flower-like shape at the top. And the green color swiftly shifts to an opaque white that’s hard to miss.
At this point we still had a long drive to get to camp, but I still wanted to hit Keys’ Meads before they closed. After dark, we pulled into their lot and Aaron made himself dinner in the van while I went inside to try some meads. They had an option to sample 6 (!) meads so I went for it. They had about 20 varieties to choose from, which is way more than I’ve seen anywhere. The bartender was friendly and informative. I had a wonderful experience and I got to drink a lot of very good and very unique mead. Aaron practically had to carry me out of there.
By the time we got to camp at Long Pine Key Campground, we pulled into our reserved spot and went to sleep. The next morning would require another early start. If you asked me anything about this campground, I wouldn’t have an answer. We got in late and left early and were just happy to have a convenient place to sleep before heading to the Everglades.
Tips for planning your trip to the Florida Keys
- If you have to do it in a day, get an early start and plan for a full day. Pack snacks!
- If you have the luxury and time to plan ahead, book a campsite or hotel room somewhere on the keys for at least one night so you have more time to explore.
- Have a long list of things you’d like to do so you have options. You probably won’t be able to do them all but at least you’ll have ideas for wherever you have time to stop.
- Budget some time to walk, bike, scooter around Key West! There’s a lot to see and do at walking pace and it’s stressful to drive the congested streets.
- Get yourself some chocolate-dipped key lime pie. You’ll have lots of opportunities, even if you don’t make it to Key West.