The Key West Mystique
Key West Island News
Key West Island News connects Key West residents and friends of the island, fosters our One Human Family culture and advances understanding of shared goals for our island community
Dry Tortugas camping | 10 lessons for sissies
In the beginning... Ranger Ed and I started camping at Fort Jefferson in April 2017, to celebrate our 40th anniversary. From gale force winds and rain to those wonderful sunsets, we decided we'd keep the old gear. https://animoto.com/play/akaEqg8vQ1h5WrCaOgHTfw Fast forward to May 2023 In the scheme of things few folks actually camp at Fort...
Linda Grist Cunningham is editor and proprietor of Key West Island News. She lives on the island with Ranger Ed and the Cat 5s.
Everything you need to know for the best Key West visit
Everything you need to know for the best Key West visitSo many friends ask us what to do and where to go when they visit that we put together our personal favorites. Before you book your tickets to our island paradise, take a few minutes to explore our planning guides, our tips, suggestions — and cautionary tales. You’ll be glad you did!
Dry Tortugas camping | 10 lessons for sissies
In the beginning... Ranger Ed and I started camping at Fort Jefferson in April 2017, to celebrate our 40th anniversary. From gale force winds and rain to those wonderful sunsets, we decided we'd keep the old gear. https://animoto.com/play/akaEqg8vQ1h5WrCaOgHTfw Fast...
Seven Mile Bridge | Yay! Finally, we found a parking place
Is it worth the hassles to visit the new Old Seven Mile Bridge? Sure. As long as you can deal with four caveats, one of which is that the views are better from a speeding car on the old new Seven Mile Bridg
Camping at Fort Jefferson: Is that primitive island getaway worth the hassles?
During Covid, camping at Fort Jefferson had become akin to Disney World crowds but without the amenities. Not only was the ferry booked out forever, but anyone who could beg, borrow, charter and (perhaps) steal a boat was headed to Fort Jefferson with a sleeping bag and some charcoal. Is it still worth the hassles?
Key West vacations with kids? Easy answer: It depends
Key West vacations with kids are not for the faint of heart. I know that's not what you wanted to hear. I know that's not what the marketing folks tell you, but the words Key West, vacations and kids don't play well together. Oh, you can do it but, as with sky diving,...
Key West vacation: What I learned on my 10-day island escape
If you’re working with a 2019 “here’s what to do in Key West” list, you ought to toss it, because you’re going to find Key West vacation planning has changed since our Covid-19 lock down ended June 1, 2020. Without an updated list, you might find yourself mightily disappointed.
The new Old Seven Mile Bridge: Oops. Did we forget the parking?
You know that thing you do when your car battery's about shot and you have to drive around to get it charged enough to get to work? Yeah. Like that. A bunch of years ago, having nothing much else to do, I road-tripped up to the Old Seven Mile Bridge. Figured an...
Living in Key West | Three places to get your happy back
For someone born smiling, I sure have been grumpy the past couple weeks. Grumpy can mean swearing aloud, smashing a coffee cup with extra oomph on the table, closing a cabinet door with particular firmness or stomping around while posting vague social media memes in...
Living in Key West | 5 things old photos teach us about island life
I'm a sucker for old photos and stranger's scrapbooks. Wandering through a stack of historic photos can suck away my entire day and I'm always game for flipping through your family albums after supper. The Key West library, with more than 22,000 photos, is a trove of...
Five things to do with your Key West house guests without running into mask-less jerks
If I hear one more sanctimonious coronavirus fan-folk tell me to stay at home, I'm going to snatch them bald. I don't want to stay at home. I want you to wear your mask, stay six feet away and wash your dang hands. Why should I have to hunker down in my living room...
Raining in Key West? Disappointed that it’s (what?) cold? Who cares? There’s plenty to do
Chance are pretty good if you’re in Key West during the winter you won’t encounter much rain (or snow, come to think of it.) But there are those gloomy days when it’s chilly and windy and just not what you’d planned for your winter escape. So what does one do in Key West when it rains or it’s windy and chilly? Depends on whether you’re local or visiting. Let’s start with local.
Living on an island | Meet the creepy-crawlies of Key West
When one lives on a tropical island, one should expect two things that don't happen much on the mainland: People will visit when you casually invite them, so beware; and BUGS AND LIZARDS share your bed (along with the cats.) The visitor thing is for another day (read...
The chickens of Key West: Disney couldn’t do better
If Disney did chickens, they’d be Key West chickens. Arrogant, independent, decidedly territorial, and, OK, cocky, Key West’s 2,000 or so chickens — though who’s counting I can’t imagine — rank up there with the six-toed Hemingway cats as tourist magnets and the scourge of locals wanting to sleep in.
10 tips for Key West house guests to ensure you get asked back
There's a refrigerator magnet in my kitchen that says: How to live on an island. Expect company. For sure. When we moved to Key West full time in 2012, we extended casual invitations to friends and acquaintances. Come see us if you're ever headed to Key West. I mean,...
The Key West must-do list | 10 things for a perfect island visit
The 10 Key West Must-Dos The Conch Train Number One by a landslide. Take the Conch Train tour. Do it first thing. Sure, it’s a “touristy” thing, but we locals do it all the time (we get to ride free on the first Sunday of the month). The Conch Train tour gives you a...
7 things locals know about Key West that you might not
Everything you didn’t know you needed to know about Key West We are often asked by friends to suggest things to do and places to go when they visit Key West for the first time. We put this together to help you plan your perfect island vacation. No beaches, no...
Camping at Fort Jefferson | 10 insider tips no one tells you
Fort Jefferson is one of the most sought-after, most soul-soothing camping experiences on the planet. Fewer than a dozen small sites cluster among the scrub trees just outside the entrance to the fort and a few steps from the Atlantic Ocean. What you need, you bring. What you bring, you take out. Food. Water. Gear. There’s no corner store, no takeout delivery — and most assuredly, no cell service or wifi.
Where the heck IS Key West?
Where is Key West? Thought a little geography lesson might be helpful. See that blue dot down at the bottom? That's Key West. Our island is 163.8 miles southwest of Miami. Tampa on the west coast is closer to Melbourne on the east coast (145 miles) than Key West is to...
Key West weather: Time for a flamingo in costume
I'm pretty sure Key West weather makes transplanted residents crazy. After a year in the southernmost city, I have no idea what month it is. I stopped obsessively watching The Weather Channel because nothing changes. Eighty degrees, sunshine, humid and the occasional...
Y’all come now, ya hear: Everyone says “yes” to Key West
Y'all come now, ya hear. You know how polite people invite house guests to come stay a while? And, how polite people smile and say "sure" and never show up? That's not Key West. Nope, invite house guests to Key West and they actually come. As I told my husband,...