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Shopping, Dining, and Tourist Attractions Being Revived in the Florida Keys
by Pat Lindsey
Snowbirds can now confidently start flocking to the Keys without fear of facing devastation from Hurricane Irma. The weather is perfect and the Keys are beautiful, but finding a place to stay in some places such as the middle keys could be a challenge without advance reservations. But don’t let that discourage you from going, because the Keys depend on tourism and the merchants there will treat you like royalty.
My husband and I rang in the New Year in Islamorada, where there are fewer available hotel rooms than anywhere else in the Keys. The Atlantic side of Islamorada and Marathon were impacted the most by storm surges, and several businesses on that side were totally washed away. For the most part, however, recovery has been nothing short of amazing.
We were guests of my cousin and her husband in their gorgeous townhouse on the gulf side of Islamorada in Futura Yacht Club at mile marker 88.5. They call it their “little slice of paradise.” The landscape there is pristine again thanks to volunteers who value tourism and the surrounding property.
Palm trees are still swaying in the gulf breezes and all eyes are on the Gulf at sunset. No matter what Key you visit, sunset is a big deal and worth applauding almost every night.
During the few days that we were there, we visited some of the favorite businesses such as Rain Barrel Village and Artamorada Gallery, Robbie’s, Mangrove Mike’s Cafe, Shell World, and Whale Harbor.
You can’t miss Rain Barrel Village, because it has a gigantic crab at its front door. Inside, you’ll find everything from fun yard signs, flip flops, and fine jewelry to fabulous art created by local artists. Artamorada Gallery is a small shop inside Rain Barrel Village where the artists take turns manning the shop.
Shopping is also a big deal in Islamorada, because artists prevail and there are many art galleries and individualized shops to visit. My cousin has commissioned a couple of artists to help decorate her townhouse, so it was great fun to meet those talented artisans in person.
It was our good fortune to meet artist Monica Bankowski, who was busy painting a lighthouse porthole that she found while taking a walk in Islamorada. Hurricane Irma had blown a small lighthouse into the Gulf, but one of its portholes had washed ashore. Bankowski decided to paint a scene of the original lighthouse surrounded by water, palm trees, and a tiki hut on its glass.
At nearby Robbie’s, we stopped to feed the tarpon and browse their shops. All that shopping made us hungry, so we headed to Whale Harbor to combine lunch with dinner.
Whale Harbor is known for its enormous all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. By going there in early afternoon, we avoided the dinner crowd. Not only can you get any kind of fresh seafood imaginable there, but you can also choose carved roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, pizza, pasta, and an array of desserts. Everything was fresh and delicious. With brief rests in between courses, we finished our meal in two hours.
Jody Roberts, manager of Whale Harbor, stopped by our table and we asked him to give us his perspective on the recovery of Islamorada. “I’m down about 200 customers a day,” Roberts said, “and that’s largely due to Islamorada having only about 500 of its original 1,500 rooms available for tourists.”
In addition to the decline of tourists, he said it has also been difficult to keep his employees, because they are having difficulty finding a place to live near work. He was very appreciative of how the community had come together for the cleanup. “A couple of weeks after the hurricane, we hosted two free meals–one for the community and the other for first responders and others who were working on the recovery,” he said.
Mangrove Mike’s Cafe is a great place every day of the week for breakfast, lunch, or dinner for those who can’t resist comfort food. Its proprietor, Mike Forster, is an Islamorada councilman, who is also feeling the pinch of the decrease in available hotel rooms. He said, “You might not be able to stay here, but you can play here.” In December, Forster was interviewed for a segment on the recovery of the Keys on CBS This Morning.
Shell World is a huge store that features souvenirs, island home decor, jewelry, clothing, and, of course, sea shells. Midwesterners should allow at least an hour to browse room after room of unusual items. If I had had room in my suitcase, I might have come home with a set of tropical dinnerware.
There were plenty of other businesses and attractions to visit in Islamorada, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to just sit by the pool and the ocean and enjoy the warm sea breezes. Knowing that it was only 10 degrees in St. Louis made our tropical time that much more precious and we soaked up every possible ray of sunshine until it was time for us to drive back to Ft. Lauderdale and catch our Allegiant flight to Belleville. When we departed after the New Year’s Day sunset, it was comforting to know that the Keys are well on their way to recovery and a big flock of snowbirds will help them get back to where they were before Hurricane Irma.
