- Pick up a copy of the Key West Walking and Biking Guide at the Key West Light Gallery, located at 1203 Duval Street. This free guide has fourteen separate tours and includes a brief description of many historical points of interest. Touristy, yes, but not Duval Street touristy. A good -- no, great -- guide to what makes Key West so special to Real Key Westers.
- Similar, but not as well-organized and only available on-line, is the Key West Historic Markers Project. It has a nice section on Key West Trivia, and show information about 23 historic landmarks, designated with markers.
- Read the local papers. The Key West Citizen and the Keynoter are traditional newpapers focused on the Florida Keys. The Citizen appears daily; the Keynoter comes out twice a week, Wednesday and Saturday. The Citizen is in sidewalk boxes all over town for 50¢, $1 on Sundays. Keynoter has fewer boxes, but is free in Key West. Free weekly papers include Conch Color and Key West the Newspaper, available in many locations, but no sidewalk boxes.
- Go deep. Attend a public meeting (or two). Some regular ones are: Key West City Commission, twice a month; Planning Board; Tree Commission; Code Compliance; Bahama Village Redevelopment Advisory Committee; Citizen Review Board; Truman Waterfront Advisory Board; Historic Architecture Review Commission; Sustainability Advisory Board. These are the things some Real Key Westers do when tourists aren't watching. Find a convenient calendar here.
There, Emily. Hope you'll enjoy the road less-traveled by.
4 comments:
Hi Rob,
I myself was very psyched to see a new post in my RSS feed. That is a nice list. My husband and I have been making a yearly trek to KW since 2004. One time I saw you at the Coffee Plantation, at the old address, but you seemed very involved in a conversation and I didn't want to interrupt. If I see you around the week of 2/15 I'm going to make a point of saying Hi, since I've enjoyed your blog for so long. - Sue
Hi Bob - your lists are excellent ones, but I'm sorry to say that Sharon hasn't done the waking & biking guide this year, she hasn't had time to drum up the necessary advertising support. It's a great loss.
Thanks, Bob. I've been going through the list of links and having fun learning more about the REAL Key West. Those were great.
Greg
I came across Howard Livingston's online video series on Key West while looking at the Studios of Key West link you posted.
I was just looking at episode #7. They covered the Studios of Key West, did a bike tour, hit the Eco Discovery center... It's a nice little series.
http://www.keywesttime.com/shows
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