The Florida Keys are great; a beach community in every sense of the word. It was much different than I expected, which was sort of Santa Monica pier type set-ups along the coast for miles. This is much more rustic, lived-in, secluded. The only area really resembling that was Key West, which was more like a giant Venice Beach.

We inadvertently arrived during the Hemingway festival (whom I'd not realized was famous for living on KW). This was also of course where we officially reached our 1/2 way pnt, coming to the Southernmost Point in the Continental US. The festival was great, and we did some shopping and eating. This night we didn't feel like spending another $60 on KOA camping, so even though exhausted, we drove the length of the Keys back up to the peninsula and found a hotel for less than that.