a black and white photo of an airplane wing

KEYS HISTORY: FAT DEER KEY, COCO PLUM BEACH & VACA CUT

In the Middle Keys, between Curry Hammock State Park and Key Vaca, is Fat Deer Key. Historically, it is a small group of islands.  In...
a group of people sitting at a table on a pier

KEY WEST BACK IN THE DAY: TALES FROM THE AFTERDECK

Apparently I wasn’t the worst-ever cocktail waitress at the Afterdeck, the ocean’s-edge bar at the legendary Louie’s Backyard, but I was pretty bad. Yet...
a dog laying on a rug looking at the camera

KEY WEST BACK IN THE DAY: THE PUPPY WITH NO SHAME

Somewhere in Key West’s Old Town, there’s an elderly man cursing the soul of Calico Jack.  I don’t mean Calico Jack Rackham, the infamous Caribbean...
a building with a clock on the front of it

WHAT’S COOKING, KEY WEST? BAR 1 SALUTES KEY WEST’S NAVY HERITAGE

The U.S. Navy’s impact on Key West dates back more than 200 years — to March 25, 1822, when Navy Lt. Matthew Perry arrived...
a man with a beard is holding a young boy

KEY WEST BACK IN THE DAY: PHIL CLARK WAS ‘THE PIRATE WHO LOOKED AT...

“Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you callWanted to sail upon your waters Since I was three feet tallYou’ve seen it all …. You’ve seen...
a black and white photo of a cemetery

KEYS HISTORY: UPPER MATECUMBE KEY WAS ONCE KNOWN AS A RAILROAD TOWN

When Islamorada developed, it was a railroad town. People like to say otherwise.  They tell stories about Spanish conquistadors sailing past and declaring Islamorada the...
a painting of a person standing in the water

KEYS HISTORY: REMEMBERING THE KEYS OF OLD

To help make ends meet, I work at a shack next to the marina at Robbie’s of Islamorada a couple of days a week....
a newspaper advertisement for a fishing tournament

KEYS HISTORY: SUGARLOAF RESTAURANT A JUNCTION BETWEEN FORMER RAILROAD & HIGHWAY 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word sugarloaf as “refined sugar molded into a cone.” It can also mean something cone-shaped.  Why the name was given...
a man on a surfboard in the water

KEY WEST BACK IN THE DAY: REMEMBER WHEN THE MAYOR WATER SKIED TO CUBA?

A lighthearted water-skiing jaunt doesn’t usually involve Cuban gunboats and 6-foot seas. But the late Key West mayor Charles “Sonny” McCoy encountered both in...
a man pointing at a map on a wall

MEET RAY MALONEY: SALVAGING KEY WEST HISTORY 

Given his easygoing manner, it’s not immediately apparent that Ray Maloney is a Key West hero. But that designation is well deserved, as he...

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