Tourism

5 Great Florida Keys Hotels You Don’t Want to Miss

By Gail Nettles

Florida Keys hotels rank among the worlds finest when it comes to style, design, value for money. The quality customer service welcomes you and attends to your every need during your stay. There is something for everyone here, whether you are after glitz and glamor or just quality at affordable prices.

So, where to stay in this tropical paradise? Here is a hand-picked selection of what is available for you to enjoy.

Ocean Pointe Suites at Key Largo
This resort sits in the middle of 60 acres of mangrove forest and it has some lovely nature trails in the grounds, which appeal to both children and adults. It has its own small private beach, perfect if you want to keep a close on the little ones. The suites are of a high standard and generous size.

The Mariner’s Resort Villas & Marina, Key Largo
The Mariner’s has an oceanfront position and offers gated security. It is close to some of the award winning restaurants on the island, but you can also cook up your own tasty barbecue on one of the many grills that are located around the resort for you to use. The lagoon style swimming pool here is the largest in the Florida Keys.

Banana Bay Resort & Marina, Marathon
The Banana Bay hotel is located on the sunset gulf side of Marathon. It is situated amid beautifully maintained tropical gardens, which are home to a great variety of birds. You can see and hear these colourful birds singing during the day. They offer a delicious complimentary breakfast, every morning by the pool.

The Southernmost in Key West
The Southernmost is a lovely small quite hotel, but is located slap bang in the middle of Key West old town on Duval Street. You could not be more immersed in Key West life. The hotel is a great base to explore the old town. Even though it is centre town, the hotel does have two small pools. If you really want to get down with locals then staying here will give you a genuine Key experience.

Casa Marina Resort & Beach Club, Key West
The Casa Marina is one of the original Florida Keys hotels and one of the greats. It is listed on the Register for Historic Places and offers something special and different. There isn’t anything that this hotel does not have. A fine grand dining room, bars overlooking the ocean and the rooms are simply stunning.

You Know Where to Stay — Here’s What to Do! Now that you know some places you can stay in the Florida Keys, what about finding things to do? There are beaches, parks, attractions and diving, to name just a few. Did you know that scuba diving Key Largo is totally awesome? And what about those Key West beaches! And shopping! And more!

There lots and lots to do in the Florida Keys, and here’s some free information (not to mention neat photos) to get you started on your Florida Keys vacation. Come on down! We’d love to have you visit.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gail_Nettles

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Key West’s Sunset Celebration America’s Best Unheralded Free Attraction

Key West’s nightly Sunset Celebration has been named America’s best unheralded free attraction, and Bahia Honda State Park near Big Pine Key has been ranked number two in a list of best United States beaches by TripAdvisor.

Both accolades were determined by the TripAdvisor Popularity Index and TripAdvisor editors.

TripAdvisor-branded Web sites provide online travel reviews and feature more than 25 million monthly visitors and 10 million registered members.

For more than 30 years, Key West’s Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square has drawn large nightly crowds to applaud talents of colorful street performers, view local artisans’ handmade wares and watch the sun sink beneath the horizon beyond Key West Harbor. A tightrope walker, jugglers, mimes, quirky animal acts, fortune tellers, musicians and foodstuffs including “Pretty Good Popcorn” are among attractions as well as unobstructed views of the setting sun.

In its announcement of the designation, TripAdvisor lauded the nightly event as “a celebration of dazzling Key West sunsets” and quoted a TripAdvisor traveler who said, “You can’t imagine the beauty of this, it is just awesome.”

via NewmanPR » KEYS’ SUNSET CELEBRATION, BEACH LAUDED BY TRIPADVISOR.

Bud n’ Mary’s Marina in Islamorada – Video

http://www.budnmarys.com/

29th Annual Hemingway Days in Key West

Whether composing novels in his Whitehead Street writing studio or fishing for big game in local waters, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway left a powerful legacy in Key West. His zest for life, literary accomplishments and enduring affection for the island he called home throughout the 1930s are to be commemorated Tuesday through Sunday, July 21-26, during the annual Hemingway Days celebration.

Scheduled events include a look-alike contest for stocky white-bearded men resembling Hemingway, readings and book signings by nationally acclaimed authors, an awards ceremony for the renowned literary competition directed by author and Hemingway granddaughter Lorian Hemingway, a commemoration of the 110th anniversary of Ernest’s July 21 birth, a one-man play exploring the literary legend’s life and motivations, a museum exhibit of rare Hemingway memorabilia, a zany “Running of the Bulls” and a three-day marlin tournament recalling Hemingway’s devotion to the deep-sea sport.

During his Key West residence, Ernest Hemingway wrote some of his most enduring works and spent his leisure hours fishing and socializing with local and literary cohorts. Each year, fans of his writing and exuberant lifestyle come together for Hemingway Days.
Read more…

National Parks Waive Fees for 3 Weekends This Summer

National parks, including Everglades National Park and Dry Tortugas National Park in South Florida, will drop fees for three summer weekends. The parks will lift admission fees June 20-21, July 18-19 and August 15-16. About half the parks charge entrance fees. Everglades charges $10 per car for a pass that is good for one week. Dry Tortugas charges $5 to visitors, who must get to the site 70 miles west of Key West by boat or ferry.

The waiver does not include other fees for camping, reservations, tours and use of concessions. But some tour operators, hotels, restaurants, gift shops and other vendors also will offer additional discounts and special promotions, the park service said. At Shark Valley, for instance, the tram tour will offer a discount: Buy one ticket, get a second ticker of equal or lesser value at half price. For more information on fees and discounts, go to www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.html.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the fee waivers on Tuesday, calling it a dual effort to provide affordable vacations and to boost the economy in communities bordering the nation’s 319 national parks.

Date (Sort Of) Set to Sink Key West Ship

Project organizers say they have set the date [actually a range of dates] to scuttle a retired missile-tracking ship that will be converted into an artificial reef off Key West. Key West City Manager Jim Scholl says the sinking of the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg will be between May 26 and June 1.

The Vandenberg arrived in Key West on April 22. The ship is to be scuttled about seven miles south of Key West in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

On the surface, it sounds like a simple plan.

Each of 42 charges totaling 179 pounds of explosive material will create 3 million pounds of pressure per square inch, tearing 42 holes in the hull of the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg below the water line.

That’s the science, but bringing the old ship down will require as much art as engineering savvy. Getting the ship and the 6 million pounds of iron and concrete ballast inside it to settle properly on the sandy floor — seven miles southeast of Key West and half a mile from the nearest reef — required years of model-making, planning and input from explosive experts, engineers and scientists, said project founder Joe Weatherby.

Permits from 18 different agencies define the location, surveyed during more than 130 dives, according to Sheri Lohr of Artificial Reefs of the Keys.

Anyone who wants to get close to the 522-foot Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg when it sinks will be disappointed.

The Navy, Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Key West Police Department will be out in force to ensure that no boaters breach a one-mile-radius perimeter around the vessel as it goes down.

Authorities, led by the FWC, will encircle the ship with their boats during the sinking, spokesman Bobby Dube said.

The boundary will be enforced when the Vandenberg arrives at its final resting place, between Sand Key and Western Sambo, south of the Hawks Channel Marker 32. Encroaching boaters will be given a warning, Dube said. Those who repeatedly cross the line could be detained and arrested, he added.

Nun, in Habit, to Run 100 Mile Race in Florida Keys

UltraSports, LLC, a mission-driven running event production company, announced today the identity of a very special competitor in this year’s KEYS100 Ultramarathon. Running from Key Largo to Key West, dressed in her requisite nun’s habit and a pair of running shoes, Sister Mary Beth Lloyd of the Catholic Order, Religious Teachers Filippini, will be participating in her first 100-mile individual ultra-marathon race.

“From May 16th at 6:00 AM when the race begins, through Sunday morning, May 17th, when she reaches the finish line, Keys residents may want to keep an eye on Overseas Highway for a glimpse of this truly extraordinary person,” says KEYS100 Race Director, Bob Becker. “Sister Mary Beth running down the road beats a solar eclipse any day!”

May 16-17, 2009 are the dates for the second annual KEYS100—Prostate Cancer Benefit Races. The event includes individual races of 100 miles and 50 miles, and a 100 mile, 6 person team relay. “The KEYS100 will include 300 competitors from all over the country and abroad, but none will be as special as this very inspiring person,” said Becker. “I last saw Sister Mary Beth over Labor Day. She was 59 at the time, and completed a very difficult 50 mile trail race in the Grand Teton Mountains in Wyoming. A month before, she was pacing her friend, elite ultra-runner Lisa Smith Batchen, during Lisa’s ground-breaking 302-mile run from Las Vegas to Badwater, CA, then through Death Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney. Sister paced Lisa for nearly 100 of those miles in temperatures in excess of 125 degrees—in her black nun’s habit! Truly amazing.”

Called by some the “New Age Sister Theresa”, Sister Mary Beth in June 2008 received the “Servitor Pacis Award” from the Vatican’s Mission to the United Nations for her work with AIDS orphans. The “Path to Peace Award” is given annually to the one person in the world who most exemplifies the work of those who have dedicated their lives to helping the neediest among us.
Read more…

Can You Run & Run & Run & Run…In the Florida Keys

Racers are to run across as many as 40 bridges and through the Florida Keys island chain beside the Atlantic Ocean, Florida Bay and Gulf of Mexico during the second annual Keys Ultra-Marathons set for Saturday, May 17.

Racers can choose from three competitions on a route stretching down the Keys’ renowned Overseas Highway: a 100-mile individual race from Key Largo to Key West, a 50-mile individual race from Marathon to Key West and a 100-mile team relay race from Key Largo to Key West. All races are to end at the same finish line at the south end of Key West’s Smathers Beach.

Organizers expect more than 200 runners to compete along the scenic course — more than twice as many as the inaugural event in 2008. “The ‘buzz’ about the race has been very positive, and will translate to a lot of fun for the racers with the additional competition,” said race director Bob Becker. “We have many states represented already, and a runner from England too.” Read more…

February 18, 1910

February 18, 1910, the Key West Citizen reported: ” Things are humming at the Long Key Fishing Camp. Mackerel and king fish are plentiful; so are the tourists.”