ABOVE: Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote in Key West for more than 10 years. His residence-turned-museum is probably Key West’s most visited attraction.

ABOVE: The Southernmost House represents the timeless grandeur and beauty of Key West. Built in 1896, the home serves as an event center, an inn and a museum.



ABOVE: Key West offers great fishing on the flats and offshore, and one of the most amazing sunsets in the country.

ABOVE: During his presidency, Harry Truman frequently stayed at the Little White House. The house-turned-museum has since played host to many political luminaries.

ABOVE: Key West’s Museum of Art & History is housed within the Custom House. After a nine-year, $9 million restoration, the red brick building has returned to its former glory.

I’ve been to Key West many times before, but this time was different. Seeing it with the eyes of a native, I rediscovered this charming “Caribbean” island at the tip of the Florida Keys. Small town yet cosmopolitan in feel, Key West has been home to many well-known artists, writers and statesmen over the years, including Jimmy Buffet, Ernest Hemingway and Harry Truman, to name a few. Perhaps it’s the island’s tropical, temperate climate or the way it embraces you with its inviting turquoise shores that makes everyone want to stay.
The southernmost city in the continental United States, Key West — or the Conch Republic as it’s affectionately called — mixes a delicious concoction of beautiful water, exotic foliage, innovative cuisine and cultural activities. Only a few square miles in size, this small island is big on offerings.
Protected from the sea by the only barrier reef in North America, Key West is positioned between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico — just 90 miles from Cuba. A water-lover’s mecca, Key West offers some of the best scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing and more within minutes of any direction.
Walking down Duval Street, the island’s most known address, hundreds of boutiques, galleries, restaurants, cafes and legendary bars open their doors with an array of local art, fashion, food and fanfare. At night, everyone gathers at the very southern end of Duval at Mallory Square dock for the famous sunset celebration. Here, mimes, jugglers, musicians and street artists entertain while onlookers take in one of the most amazing sunsets.
Aside from the most obvious reasons to visit Key West, there are many more that lie beneath the surface. With one of the largest historic districts in the United States, Key West boasts a history as rich as its natural treasures.
From Ponce de Leon to pirates, and American Indians to Bahamians and Cubans, a truly eclectic mix of settlers has helped form the island’s cultural interest today. Originally belonging to Spain in 1513, Key West came under British rule in 1763, and became a city and a part of Florida in 1826.
Today, many of the original settlers’ homes remain intact thanks to the community’s commitment to restoration, renovation and preservation. Thus, visitors can literally follow in the footsteps of these famous predecessors.
Probably the most renowned residence-turned-museum is the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. This Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning author lived in the Spanish Colonial home in the 1930s, where he wrote “To Have or Have Not” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Today, visitors can walk through the estate and see the roped-off area where Hemingway wiled away the hours writing. The home, however, is perhaps best known for its newer inhabitants — the more than 60 cats that roam the property. Some of them are direct descendants of Hemingway’s own cats.
The Southernmost House is appropriately located at the Southernmost Point in the continental United States. Built in 1896, this turn-of-the-century residence has been converted into a museum, guesthouse and event center. Visitors of this oceanfront mansion are treated to a literary and political retrospective of Key West with original U.S. presidential documents, Hemingway’s letters, period furnishings and more.
President Harry Truman made a name for himself in Key West with this infamous quote: “I’ve a notion to move the capitol to Key West and just stay.” In 1946, Truman visited the island to get away from it all, and returned more than 150 times throughout his term. He stayed at the Little White House, which has since become a museum on the property now called the Truman Annex. Since then, the Little White House has played host to other heads of state, including Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the United States, Great Britain, Germany and France.
Once a post office, court house and government center, the Custom House is now home to the Key West Museum of Art & History, where whimsical folk art and portraits of famous locals add a dose of fun to the historical showcase.
In addition to those mentioned above, The Audubon House & Tropical Gardens, The Oldest House Museum, the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Treasure Museum and the Key West Lighthouse Museum are some more sights to see.
These and other homes helped establish the island’s varied and unique architectural styles — Classic Revival, eyebrow, Bahamian, Queen Anne and Conch. Today, these motifs are reflected in the colorfully painted wooden homes, Victorian mansions and tin-roofed conch houses that line the streets of Key West.
Once the richest per-capita city in the United States, Key West has experienced a renaissance with endless natural, architectural and historical treasures to be discovered time and again.