Islamorada - Plantation and Windley Keys

70 days til our Keys trip begins!

Plantation and Windley Keys are the first two islands you'll come to after you finally leave Key Largo behind you.  Leaving Key Largo, you will cross the third of your 42 bridges, over Tavernier Creek, at MM 91 and end up on Plantation Key.  Plantation Key also marks the transition from Key Largo to the town of Islamorada.  Islamorada essentially consists of all the islands between and including Plantation Key and Lower Matecumbe Key (MM 91 to MM 70-ish).

If Key Largo's primary attraction is diving, then Islamorada's is surely fishing.  Islamorada bills itself as the "Fishing Capital of the World", and judging by the number of charter boats, outfitters, it's a well-deserved title.  If you're in the Keys for an extended period of time and world-class fishing is what you're after, Islamorada is the place to go.

The Islamorada area is also the setting for some of the most interesting (and certainly the bloodiest) events in the history of the Keys.  Most of this occurred in the Matecumbes, and the outlying islands of Islamorada, which we'll talk more about later.

Plantation Key (MM 90.8 - 85.6)

Plantation Key covers the area from MM 90.8 to MM 85.6.  Today, Plantation Key is a highly residential area with just a few places to stay and eat.  There is not terribly much to do here, or see for that matter if you are passing through on your trip down to Key West.  Plantation Key is named for the pineapple plantations that existed here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  When the railroad came through in 1909, there was a railroad station here, although historical records suggest there was little more than 30 or so homes on the island.

If you happen to be staying in the area, one of the only sandy beaches to be found for miles around is at the Islamorada Founders Park at MM 87 on the Bayside.  This park has a small sandy stretch of beach (man made, of course), picnic areas, and an enormous swimming pool if you prefer fresh water.

Just below Founders Park is another residential area, after which you'll cross Snake Creek (your fourth bridge) to Windley Key.

Windley Key (MM 85.5 - 83.7)

Windley Key has a slightly more rich history than Plantation Key.  Windley Key was the location, at two different times in history, of quarries built to mine coral rock for construction projects.  During the Great Depression, a quarry was established on the north side of the railroad to mine coral for the construction of the Overseas Highway.  Keystone was also mined from this area as well - Keystone being a thin, highly polished cut of coral used in monuments and facades.  The best example of Keystone is in the Hurricane Monument a few miles south of here.

What was left behind when the mining was completed were large, open pits.  In the 1980's there was a plan to flood them and build condos around them, but environmentalists acted to preserve the quarries, and today the site is known as the  Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park (MM 85.2 Bayside).  Here you can walk down into the quarries and marvel at the preserved fossils in the walls and floor of the quarries.  It is probably the only place in the world where one can walk inside an ancient coral reef and is an interesting diversion if you have the time and are at all interested in the geology of the area or the ancient reef.

Just under a mile down the road, on the Ocean Side, another mining project took place closer to the start of the 20th century.  This time, the coral was used in the construction of the railroad.  Today, the quarries are full of water and teeming with sea life at an attraction known as Theatre of the Sea (MM 84.5, Ocean Side).  There are plenty of shows here including dolphin and sea lion shows.  You can also arrange for a dolphin encounter here as well.  Theatre of the Sea is also home to one of my favorite gift shops in all of the Keys.  Naturally, they have the normal assortment of T-shirts, many of which are dolphin- or other sea life-themed, seashells, and various other assorted knick-knacks.  They also have a nice assortment of books dealing with local history that are sometimes difficult to find in other places.  Both the gift shop and the lush gardens outside the gift shop are home to numerous cats that have the run of the facility.  Most of them are well-socialized and will let you play with them and pet them.  If you're missing your cat at home, stop in for your kitty fix here.

As you approach the Whale Harbor bridge take a look out the left hand side (headed south, the Ocean Side).  Two of the Upper Keys biggest party spots are right here.  If you're a landlubber, the Holiday Isle Resort is here, just north of the bridge.  The Holiday Isle has a raucous bunch of bars that have huge crowds on weekend nights.  Just past Holiday Isle, and out to sea a short ways, is the Sandbar.  On weekend afternoons, you'll find dozens of boats parked on the sandbar and a huge party happening on the water.  The only way to get out there is to rent a boat, which you can easily do just down the road in the Matecumbes.  If you've ever been to Destin, ths Sandbar is much like Crab Island in the Destin inlet.

Leaving Windley Key, cross the Whale Harbor bridge (MM 83.7, your fifth bridge) to arrive on Upper Matecumbe Key.