Forget the black-and-white world you leave behind. When you arrive in the Florida Keys, life suddenly turns into Technicolor, and it doesn’t take a twister to lead you to the lush Emerald City of Oz. Settle yourself in. Take Toto along, too.
Nowhere else on earth is there an Eden such as ours, where all are admitted freely and via so many varied means. Ours is the land of dreamers, doers, and do-si-doers, of train makers, treasure trovers, and time-honored tranquility. There are no Munchkins along the yellow brick road that unites each of our magical isles and then appends us to the mainland. In the Florida Keys everyone and everything is larger than life.
Look closely, and the enigmatic view from afar becomes as lucid as the crystalline waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico that envelop us. From coconut palms to cormorants, you’ll see that we are more than the Duval Street party scene in Key West. We are angelfish and anemones, gorgonians and groupers, lobsters and lizardfish, sponges and stone crabs. We’re a thriving city of marine creatures commuting daily from North America’s only barrier reef, approximately 6 miles offshore, to sweeping underwater meadows of turtle grass near shore where we forage and feed.
By day we are the golden sun that rises over the ocean, glows brightly, and then, in ardent shades of red, dips ever-so-gently beneath the gulf horizon. As darkness enfolds the Florida Keys, we are the cornucopia of stars that seem to gleam more brilliantly here in our endless skies than anywhere else.
We are a necklace of tiny pearl islands tenuously strung together by 42 majestic bridges and the dream of one man, Henry Morrison Flagler. We’re divers and diesel mechanics, anglers and archaeologists, sailors and salvagers, cruisers and commercial fishermen, boaters and bartenders, gunkholers and guides, restaurateurs and real estate agents, hoteliers and hostesses. And our heart is in the sea.
We are hardwood hammocks, tropical pinelands, and mangrove islets. Unique in the universe, we are diminutive key deer, sour key limes, and endangered Key Largo wood rats. We are nesting great white herons, communal white pelicans, and showy roseate spoonbills. Creatures great and small, we are bonefish and billfish, sharks and stingrays, sea turtles, manatees, and dolphins. And because we vigilantly guard our copious treasures, we are the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center, Reef Relief, the Turtle Hospital, the Nature Conservancy, and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation. At last we have a brain.
Whether you mistakenly believe that you lack a heart . . . a brain . . . the nerve . . . you’re sure to unearth it all, along with a deeply enriched spirit, on your journey through the mysteries, rich history, and legends of the Florida Keys. Experience all the marvels of this awe-inspiring Oz. You’ll never want to click your ruby slippers, sandals, or bare feet—or board a plane, boat, or automobile—heading for home. One visit is, after all, what led so very many of us to become Insiders. Welcome to this side of the rainbow. We are the Florida Keys.