Key West for 20th Anniversary

[Daisy712]

Hi folks,

We are considering Key West for a 20th anniversary trip. We have never been there before.

Where should we stay?
What should we see?
What should we expect?
How long should our trip be?
When is the best time of the year to go? (Our anniversary is really Dec. 23 and so missing Christmas is out of the question with a 15 yr old DS and 12 yr. old DD.)
What shouldn't we miss?
Should we fly into Fort Lauderdale, Miami or Key West?

Thank you for your help.

[hel5165]

Key West is one of our favorite places. We've stayed at Casa Marina and Hilton (name has since changed) and we've stayed at B&Bs. I suggest you stay where there is a pool.
We've parasailed, taken sunset cruises and enjoyed the evenings at Mallory Sq. watching the sunsets.
We've done the Hemmingway House, Lighthouse, Truman Whitehouse and walked the cemetery.
I don't think teenagers would have enough to do. It's a party town.

[caryrae]

We love Key West, we were there in April of 2008 for our Anniversary. We stayed at the Duval House and it was great, nice and quiet. It's on Duval Street which is the main drag for shopping and reasturants. It has 2 pools and a nice daily free breakfast. The gardens you walk through to get to the rooms is beautiful. We made friends with the resident cat named "Turtle". 4 nights was enough for us. Trust me check it out, they have a website. It's duval house key west. Only bad thing is if you are bringing your kids there are no kids under 16 are allowed, which was nice.

We did the flight to Key West which was nice but the drive through the Keys is really neat to if you have never done it before. I must say it is nice to fly to Key West and get there in a short time (about an hour from Miami). If you drive from Miami it is about 135 miles.

There is tons of bars and shopping. You can walk to alot of places but you can rent bikes, scooters or drive and pay to park in lots.

You can't miss the Sunset Celebration they do every evening in Mallory Square. They have little shows and booths to buy stuff.

If you go to the trusted tours site and click on Key West you can buy tickets to all kinds of attractions. One good one is to get the "attrations package" at the bottom. It is a little booklet with tickets to some of the main attractions, looks like a passport.

[Daisy712]

Thanks for your help. We are leaving the kids at home.:thumbsup: We are not into going to bars, but it sounds like there will be plenty to do. Has anyone ever done the trolley tour?

Thanks.

[caryrae]

We never did the Trolley tour but we did do the Conch train which was fun. The Trolley has a lot more stops then the Conch Train. I think the the Conch Train had like 1 or 2 stops can't remember. We didn't do bars either but found enough to keep us busy.

We wanted to try the Dry Tortugas tour but we never did, it sounded like a lot of fun.

[caryrae]

Here is a little about the Dry Tortugas tour on the Yankee Freedom II,


Located 70 miles west of Key West, The Dry Tortugas National Park Boasts some of the best snorkeling in North America. Whether you're a beginner or expert, you can enjoy a myriad of tropical fish and living coral. Snorkeling is in 4-7 feet of water straight off a white sandy beach. Just bring your bathing suit and towel. Breakfast is served as you pass the different islands on the high-speed boat. Watch for turtles and dolphins from the outside decks. Once on the island enjoy a tour of the historic fort followed by a buffet lunch on the beach. Spend your day doing as you please. Snorkel the reefs, tour the fort, spot some of the 90+ species or birds, or just relax on the white sandy beach. Everything you need is provided. This is an all-inclusive day on a tropical island paradise.
8am-5pm Yankee Freedom| Adults $159 | Under 4-16 $119 | Students, Military, Seniors $149


The Yankee Freedom departs Key West promptly at 8am. Upon departure from Key West, you will enjoy a continental breakfast of fresh fruit, freshly baked bagels, doughnuts, cereal, orange juice, and coffee.

En route to Dry Tortugas National Park our onboard naturalist will give you an orientation about the area and the national park's surroundings.

During your voyage to one of America's most remote National Parks, you will enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Marquesa Islands, Boca Grande, and frequent turtle and dolphin sightings.

The Yankee Freedom will take you to Dry Tortugas National Park and back again at a speed of up to 30 m.p.h. with safety and comfort like no other ferry operating out of Key West today.

The Yankee Freedom also features a large, fully air conditioned main cabin, comfortable cushioned seats, three restrooms, fresh water rinse shower, full galley serving snacks, soft drinks, beer, wine, mixed drinks, film, and souveniers.

The upper deck is open to the sea air and sights and sounds of marine life. There is spacious shaded and un-shaded sundeck seating with areas to stretch out and enjoy the sunshine and the view. Also topside there's a convenient cocktail bar.

[princessesmom]

My husband and I went to Key West in April 2007 to celebrate our 20'th anniversary. We loved it there and will try to get back someday. We stayed at the Marquesa Hotel, which is a beautiful little hotel right in the Old Town, which is where you want to be (they have a website). No children under 16 were allowed, which we were happy about since we were on vacation from our 4 children! I found out about this hotel from an article I had read about romantic places to stay in Florida. There are two pools in the couryard and they serve breakfast outside your room or near the pool. I would highly recommend it.

We flew into Miami and rented a car to drive down. We did this for two reasons, first it was quite a bit cheaper than flying into Key West and secondly a few people had told us the drive down was very nice. We would NOT do this again. The drive from Miami took much longer than we anticipated - I think it was over 5 hours. The last two hours of the drive were in the dark, so we couldn't see anything anyway. Then returning we had to leave very early in the morning to make our flight, so the same two hours of the drive were in the dark again. I would highly recommend flying into Key West and taking a cab to your hotel. We didn't use our car at all once we arrived at the hotel.

The weather was wonderful in early April - sunny and 80's everyday. We went to the Hemingway Museum, Truman's Little White House, and the Ship Wreck Museum. We also went to a lighthouse one day. There are many small museums around. There are many, many excellent restaurants. The best we went to was called Pisces Seafood Restaurant. It was excellent. If you like seafood I highly recommend it. My husband also loved the oysters on the half shell at the Hogs Breath Saloon. They were delicious and very reasonably priced (at least by NY standards).

We stayed 4 nights, which was about the max amount of time we could leave our 4 kids. One more night might have been nice, but we were thrilled with the four we were able to manage.

Have fun! It is a great place to get away to!

[dnickels]

I lived in Key West for a month, so my 2 cents...

Fly into Miami and drive down. That drive down the overseas highway is one of those 'must travel' type of roads like the Pacific Coast Highway.

Consider a day over at the dry Tortugas. The main attraction there is the old fort, so if you're not into the history side of things it might not be your cup of tea, but I think it's pretty neat.

Mel Fisher museum (gold/silver recovered from the Atocha)

Walk through the cemetery

Sunset celebration at Mallory square