365 Things To Do In The Florida Keys

Home
United States
Key West, FL
365 Things To Do In The Florida Keys

It's 127 miles of islands, water, beautiful weather plus exotic, interesting & sometimes crazy people. Never a dull moment for visitors & residents alike.

Join us and discover all our favorite places...day by day!

09/30/2026

Key West’s Post Office 3-Wheel Cycle!

What a strange sight this was to say the least! I actually passed her, drove around the block and pulled in front of her one block ahead as I pulled out my camera and asked her if I could take a picture. She said “Sure” as she posed for me and said that many tourists ask her to do the same on a daily basis. It’s too cool and hopefully on your next visit to Key West that you may have an opportunity to see the U.S. Post Office’s 3-wheeled cycle.

As far as where to find it… good luck! May you be as lucky as I was on this given day! 🙂

09/28/2026

Lorelei… Giant Mermaid or Siren?

Hey, is that Daryl Hannah from the movie ‘Splash”? :-) Sorry guys NO it’s not, but if you want to see the largest mermaid / siren in the Key’s well here it is! Her name is Lorelei which means ‘Murmuring Rock’ in a combined German & Celtic translation. (similar to the noise a mountain stream makes over pebbles in the riverbed but 1,000 times louder)

According to myth and lore, Lorelei was a beautiful enticing siren that lured sailors from the sea towards her with an enchanting sound that would lead them to their demise. This legend can trace Lorelei to a real place in history, on the Rhine River in Germany there is a rock named Lorelei (pictured below taken from Wikipedia) that is the birthplace of the legend. Here’s the lore: Lorelei is falsely accused of maliciously bewitching men and driving them to ruin; later pardoned and on the way to a nunnery she passes and climbs the Lorelei rock, watching out for the lover who abandoned her, and falls to her death; the rock still retained an echo of her name afterwards. Amazing the things you can learn from a FREE daily BLOG! :-)

Now here’s where to find this enchanting 20′ tall mermaid / siren of the Keys. Go to Mile Marker 82.0 US-1 bayside and there she will be at the Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar. She is kind of hot and sexy though isn’t she guys, I asked her out once and all I got was a murmuring sound! It was probably for the best, I would’ve felt kind of awkward taking her to a fish fry! :-)

09/27/2026

A Scuba Shark From Sharknado?

One of the ODDEST and most unnatural looking sights in the entire Florida Keys! To prove it, just check out the shark with its own scuba mask, respirator, air tanks and weight belt. Too Funny!

On second thought, it reminds me of the ongoing SyFy original movie saga ‘Sharknado’ where tornadoes filled with sharks follow a family wherever they go… and that’s been thru 5 movies in 5 years so far! By the way, have you ever noticed how the character’s first names reference shark body parts: Fin Shepard & Gil Shepard. 🙂

You can find the Key’s ONLY Scuba Shark on US-1 in Islamorada at Mile Marker 83.8 oceanside directly in front of Wahoo’s Bar & Grill complex.

09/26/2026

Key West’s Shell Car!

I thought I’d seen everything before… that’s until we ran across this! While riding our bikes around town we stumbled upon this capturing our attention and obviously made us laugh. This shell car is covered with all shapes of shells on all sides of the car, roof, doors, hood, trunk, side panels and now making its way to the bumpers. I’ve seen cars in the past with spoons, forks and others adornments covering their rides but this shell car is the first I’ve seen in Key West. I wonder what brand of gasoline they use… hmmm, maybe Shell? 🙂

You too can get your jollies off by tracking down this seashell sedan and getting your souvenir photo by heading over to somewhere near the corners of either Petronia Street & Florida Street or Petronia Street & Georgia Street here in Key West.

09/25/2026

Key West’s AIDS Memorial!

Key West’s AIDS Memorial

The White Street AIDS Memorial was dedicated on World AIDS Day, December 1, 1997. It was built with private funds and then donated to the City of Key West and maintained as a park. At the time of dedication, 730 names were included in random order. In succeeding years, additional names have been added. Key West, with a population of about 25,000 residents, has been especially hard-hit by the AIDS plague. There are now more than 1,000 names engraved on the Memorial.

The Key West AIDS Memorial is a tribute to the people who have died of AIDS, their names are inscribed on flat granite monuments which are embedded in the walkway approaching White Street Pier at the Atlantic Ocean. The real tragedy is the individual saga behind every single name on this list, the suffering to each person, their friends, and their families each had to endure. The White Street memorial has a capacity to commemorate over 1,500 souls. Additional names will be engraved yearly, and dedicated on World AIDS Day, December 1st. I encouraged you to visit the memorial, it’s designed as a quiet peaceful resting area overlooking the splendor of the Atlantic Ocean. Along with the list of names engraved in granite, three poems are also set in stone.

09/23/2026

Tamarind Trail!

The Tamarind is a long-lived bushy tree which attains a maximum height of 60 feet. The tree grows well in full sun and wind-borne salt found in coastal areas. (BINGO!) :-) The brown shelled fruit called pods grow up to 6 inches in length and is a fleshy, juicy pulp best described as sweet and sour in taste. It’s high in tartaric acid, sugar, B-vitamins and oddly for a fruit contains calcium. Wow, that’s even more than I wanted to know! :-)

The Tamarind Trial is a fantastic beautiful relaxing walk through the wooded portion of this park filled with educational signs along the path of native trees and plants. The trail itself is FREE, the park does charge an entrance fee per car’s occupants… if I recall, maybe the $5 range. The park is so well worth the price, bring a picnic and make a day of it, there’s that much here to do!

You can find dozens of activities for a daylong adventure along with a FREE aquarium all over the John Pennekamp State Park on US-1 at Mile Marker 102.3 oceanside across the street from the Scooby-Doo Castle.

09/22/2026

Turtle Kraals? Say What!

Turtle Kraals Slaughter-House Museum!

I hope and pray that all of our local Keys readers and anyone else in Irma’s path to the north made it through her direct hit on Cudjoe Key. We’ve been off-line a few days now with NO electrical power, NO wifi or internet, NO cell phone service & NO A/C. We’re back, here’s one from historic Key West with HOPES that it too made it through the storm!

This Turtle Kraals Museum is the former home of Granday Turtle Cannery. This historic slaughter-house can be found on the northwest side of Key West in the area known as Harbor Walk. Oh yeah, the word “Kraals” is Dutch for ‘pens or corral’. It was here that captured green turtles were kept prior to being exported as a delicacy around the world. The first turtle soup cannery opened in Key West in 1849 and Granday soon came to dominate the industry. With his cannery conveniently situated right on the dock, turtles were brought in from the sea, kept in the kraals along the shore and fed until they went to the cannery. The turtle industry flourished in Key West until its end in the early 1970’s due to diminishing numbers of green turtles in the Caribbean.

Today, the green turtle is an endangered species and fights for survival. Green turtles are rare and beautiful creatures to see, and if you’re lucky enough, you might spot one in the waters off Key West. Thanks to conservation measures, wildlife rescue and hatchling program, the green turtle population has substantially increased. You can view photos from the bygone era throughout the museum. The artifacts outside the museum are FREE to view and read about (meat grinder) as seen below. The building is awesome in its own right as you can see from the above photo and is worth a walk around when on Harbor Walk. Having grown up in Key West as a child (prior to 1970), I was fed a steady stream of turtle steaks, turtle soup, turtle kabob, turtle sandwich, turtle filet, fried turtle, grilled turtle, and the Forest Gump list could go on for an hour as he did with his list of shrimp products eaten… and yes… it tastes like chicken! 🙂

09/20/2026

Most Expensive RV Overnight Campsite!

This very well may be one of the MOST EXPENSIVE one night stay RV campsites in the entire Florida Keys! It’s worth it having bragging rights saying “I Stayed Here!” is a vacation memory that will last a lifetime. As if the view wasn’t worth the price alone, the amenities of a massive oceanside swimming pool complex, waterfront park benches to watch the sunset, private sunbathing jetty, air-conditioned recreation room & other perks pushes it right over the edge to the rating of… AWESOME!

Now mind you, I found this site only weeks ago in the dead of summer in sweltering heat and still it demanded a hefty $159 rate per night and the place was PACKED. Oh yeah, management said that the winter rental rate with its cooler weather is even more expensive! Yikes! 😦 Campsite #11 pictured to the left to me has the BEST view, I photographed it just moments after its prior nights occupants were pulling out. If I owned an RV… THIS IS WHERE I’D STAY! **Your PRICE may be different***

You can find this amazing RV overnight site at Mile Marker 104.3 bayside within the Keys Palms Luxury Motorhome Resort.

09/19/2026

Cottages By The Sea!

Wow, wow & WOW! What a FANTASTIC find this was! Talk about a picture perfect postcard, this indeed is it. This my friends is on my personal short list… I’m bringing my wife here for a weekend! If you can’t tell be the photos, this is one beautiful place featuring beachfront pastel painted cottages, wooden pier, tiki huts, beach, and watercraft rentals. OK, there’s a hotel too set off the beach but the focal point is by far the cottages which I’m sure get booked first.

I’m seldom amazed having been up and down the Keys for years stopping in almost every non-gated resort or community… ‘This my friends is WORTH a visit’!

You can find this AMAZING hotel complex with beachfront cottages on US-1 at Mile Marker 80.2 oceanside. Enjoy… It’s BEAUTIFUL!

09/17/2026

Send More Tourists!

Photo headboards are a Florida Keys staple throughout the entire 128 miles stretch from Florida City to Key West. Tourist by the droves stop to get their picture taken with these scrapbook page favorites. It seems like everyone has to have at least one silly souvenir pic per trip… this one is different enough to entice even me! ‘SEND MORE TOURISTS, THE LAST ONES WERE DELICIOUS’ ** BONUS: Look close, you’ll see the shark is holding a fork, knife and wearing a bib! ** 🙂

You can find this hungry shark photo-op on US-1 at Mile Marker 102.6 bayside in front of the Marine Thrift store.

Address

Duval Street
Key West, FL
33040

Website

https://shoestringweekends.wordpress.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when 365 Things To Do In The Florida Keys posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your establishment to be the top-listed arts & entertainment in Key West?