From turquoise waters to fiery sunsets: Check out Key West in The Florida Keys

Located closer to Cuba than to Miami, Key West is the final destination on our Florida Keys adventure this week.

To give us an inside look at this southernmost subtropical paradise, the director of attractions for Historic Tours of America joined Tim Bolen on Morning Live. Clinton Curry is also a seventh-generation Key West resident, also known as a “Conch”, whose ancestors arrived about 180 years ago from the Bahamas’ Green Turtle Cay.

“It goes back to when the first Bahamians began to move to the island of Key West in the 1820s,” Curry said. “The conch shell is a very resilient creature and we figured we’re resilient people as well dealing with hurricanes, bad weather or anything that nature throws at us.”

The list of things to do in Key West is endless from petting a shark to exploring a curiously comforting cemetery and touring Hemingway’s former home.

By day, residents and visitors to the island can sightsee, get involved in outdoor and maritime activities and shop.

Each evening, they can join the sunset celebration at Mallory Square, where tightrope walkers, jugglers and animal acts aim to top a more captivating performer: the fiery sun settling into the Gulf of Mexico.

Island beaches offer perfect sunning and watersports opportunities, while beneath the surrounding turquoise waters, there are historic shipwrecks, a living coral reef and marine plants and animals.

Key West’s balmy climate, historic structures and anything-goes ambiance have long provided a refuge for writers, artists and free spirits looking for a place to soothe and satisfy the mind, body and soul.
 
Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost and Jimmy Buffett are just a few of the famous who found inspiration in the island city. Bahamian wreckers, commercial fishermen, spongers and Cuban cigar makers did as well.

CHCH viewers have the chance to win a vacation to The Florida Keys. For more information about the contest and how to enter, visit https://www.www.chch.com/keystoadventure.