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The Florida Keys are not really known for its beaches with
exception of Bahia Honda Park which is even further west in
lower keys. The snorkeling in this area, especially Looe Key, is among
top sites in North America. The city of Key West at
far end of
Florida Keys is
largest community in
islands and a stay here for a night or two is well worth it. The downtown area full of restaurants, bars, boutiques and shops is a funky, fun place to be. There are hotels along
water as well as numerous B&Bs inland. We stayed at
Quality Inn near
entrance of
city and had no problem getting downtown since there is a very convenient bus system that runs throughout Key West. We chose to leave our car at
hotel and use
buses because parking can be limited in
downtown area. A very neat way to tour
city is to rent scooters which are very common in
streets here. With
scooters, we criss-crossed
city and saw
wonderful colonial houses in
residential streets including Ernest Hemmingway's house.
The seafood is predictably very fresh in restaurants everywhere in
Florida Keys. Some local specialties not to be missed are conch, local spiny lobster and a few varieties of
local fish including snapper and grouper. Of course, one must try
real, authentic key lime pie that originated in
area. Each restaurant has a slightly different recipe but in general,
authentic key lime pie here is not as sweet as
commercial brands sometimes found in
rest of North America.
Hotel accommodations suit every budget in
Florida Keys from simple motels to top notch resorts. The last town back in
US mainland is Florida City and it has some very affordable hotel accommodations with well known chains such as Comfort Inn, Hampton Inn and Best Western. This is another option for some travelers, especially those who are scuba diving in Key Largo as Florida City is only about 20 minutes away if hotels in Key Largo are fully booked or at high season rates.
The Florida Keys has a way of enticing visitors back during return visits to south Florida. Its slower pace helps balance things out against
crowded and crazier styles of Fort Lauderdale and Miami. I have been to
Keys three times and will definitely return there again.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Gallery has numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit and Native Indian art as well as free eCards.