Fodor's In Focus Florida Keys 2008

Natasha Yefimova — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:00:04 +0000

The publisher says: Being a conch is a state of mind, condition of the heart, and foreclosure on the soul. Many throughout the Florida Keys wear that epitaph proudly, yet there is anything but a shared lifestyle here. To the south, Key West has a Mardi Gras mood with Fantasy Festivals, Hemingway look-alike contests and the occasional threat to secede from the Union. It's an island whose melting-pot character allows crusty natives to mingle (more or less peacefully) with eccentrics and escape artists who lovingly call this 4-mile sandbar "Paradise." Although life elsewhere in the island chain isn't quite as offbeat, it's nearly as diverse. Flowering jungles, shimmering seas, and mangrove-lined islands are also, conversely, overburdened. Booming tourism and a growing population have created sewage contamination at beaches and a 110-mile traffic jam lined with garish billboards, burger barns, strip malls, motels, and trailer courts. Unfortunately, in the Keys you can't have one without the other.

Details:
Title: In Focus Florida Keys (1st edition)
Publisher: Fodor's Travel Publications
Pub. date: Sept. 30, 2008
Paperback
List price: $10.95
ISBN-10: 1400007577
ISBN-13: 978-1400007578