Discovering Key West and its beautiful nature

Bahia Honda State Park can boast that it was the first-ever Florida site to make #1 on Dr. Beach's famous "Best Beaches" list. That was in 1992, nearly 500 years after the first Spanish explorers sailed past and gave it its name – “Deep Bay.” The soothingly secluded white-sand beach on a pristine spur between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico is still there, and as beautiful as ever. Bahia Honda state park is home to over 150 species of flora, including rare yellow satinwood, key thatch palm, and the endangered small-flowered lily thorn, along with the largest known stand of Florida silver palms. Hikers (and easygoing meanderers, too) have their choice of three separate trails that wind through tropical hardwood hammocks lined with gumbo limbo and poisonwood, as well as the more common sea grapes and Jamaica dogwood.

Big Pine Key is located about 100 miles south of Miami and 30 miles north of Key West and offers relaxing, water-borne activities such as boating, fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling. Fishing, of course, means seafood, andin Big Pine Key and on nearby keys the nation’s best seafood restaurants can be found. Bahia Honda State Park offers the beautiful white sand beaches. At the National Key Deer Refuge, the tiny – and very cute – wild deer known as Key deer, about the size of a large dog will be waiting for you.

Key West, the southernmost point in the United States, is famous for watersports, lively nightlife, beaches, historic sites and its pastel, conch-style architechture. Duval Street, one of the most energetic strips of shops, bars and cafes anywhere, offers Sloppy Joe’s bar, a favorite Key West hangout of novelist Ernest Hemingway. And, for the more sober-minded, there's Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. (Look for the celebrated six-toed cats). Walking tours of Key West are the best way to see the island's intriguing homes, courtyards and gardens. Start in the center of town at the Key West City Cemetery, which offers a glimpse of Key West's past and its offbeat sense of humor.