The Florida Keys: A History & Guide

by Joy Williams

The Florida A History & Guide is an engaging handbook to the unique coral and limestone islands that curve southwest off the tip of Florida. Acclaimed novelist and Florida resident Joy Williams traces U.S. Highway 1 from Key Largo to Key West, combining the best of local legend—colorful stories you won’t find in other guidebooks—with insightful commentary and the most up-to-date advice on where to stay, eat, and wander. Along the way, you

• explore the exquisite underwater world of North America’s only living reef

• discover the beautiful bridges that span the Keys, the forts, and the distinctive “conch” architecture of Key West

• experience the eerie serenity of Florida Bay’s “backcountry” and the unique ecology of the Keys

• visit the Key West cemetery and learn about the lives of some of the Keys’ eccentrics—writers, madmen, and entrepreneurs with various delusions

• find the best (and avoid the worst) cafés, inns, and other establishments that the Keys have to offer

Here is the most thorough and candid guide to the Keys, one of the most surprising locales in America. With insight and style, Joy Williams shares with us all of the region’s idiosyncrasies and delights.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Nature

306 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 1987

About the author

Williams is the author of four novels. Her first, State of Grace (1973), was nominated for a National Book Award for Fiction. Her most recent novel, The Quick and the Dead (2000), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Her first collection of short stories was Taking Care, published in 1982. A second collection, Escapes, followed in 1990. A 2001 essay collection, Ill Nature: Rants and Reflections on Humanity and Other Animals, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Honored Guest, a collection of short stories, was published in 2004. A 30th anniversary reprint of The Changeling was issued in 2008 with an introduction by the American novelist Rick Moody.

Her stories and essays are frequently anthologized, and she has received many awards and honors, including the Harold and Mildred Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Rea Award for the Short Story.

Reviews

[Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so shockingly good that I couldn't keep it to myself. Literally, I read the whole thing aloud to whomever would let me until they begged for more.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joy Williams does what very little can: write well.

One of the best guidebooks I have ever encountered.

[andré crombie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Old City Hall has four large clock faces in its tower. Few people glance at them, though, thoughts of time being eschewed here.

this book suffers a little for the key west (the least interesting part of the keys) section, which runs long, but five stars for the sheer quality of prose, the barrage of sublime detail, and the combination of wry, dry humor with genuine, unbridled enthusiasm. a sampling of delicacies to follow.

on the florida keys as a whole, physically and spiritually:

The Keys once lent themselves to this sort of innocent treatment, and in a way they still do. There is the road, and there are the fitfully present descending markers accompanying you, suggesting that a trip is little more than coloring your own experience between provided lines. At MM #—— there is an egret; at MM #—— there’s a pretty view between two violet jacaranda trees; at MM #——, if you can wait that long, is a bar where the bartender wears live snakes wrapped around her neck and wrists—her “pretties,” she calls them.… And so on.
Time passes, of course. The snake lady is run over one night as she is crossing the road. Someone builds his dream house in front of the pretty view, cutting down the jacaranda trees in the process. But the Keys, though no longer the empty, silent stretches they once were, still markedly lack (you might as well be told) historical and cultural monuments. And the osprey still builds his nest larger each year at MM #——. And the tarpon still roll and flash each spring under the bridge at MM #——. And certainly at MM #—— the disreputable bar remains. The best way to enjoy the Keys is still to seek out their simplicity and their eccentricity.

on florida robber baron henry flagler’s wives:

(Flagler had three wives. The middle one, Ida Alice, went mad after finding too much solace in her Ouija board. The planchette kept telling her she was destined to marry the czar of Russia. The strict divorce laws of Florida were changed for Flagler. Sailing through the legislature and signed by the governor in a swift two and a half weeks, a new provision made incurable insanity grounds for divorce. Flagler disposed of Ida Alice and quickly wed a bubbly lady named Mary Lily, who liked bourbon and laudanum but avoided the Ouija board.)

on the lore of motels:

Oceanside Motel (MM #82.5). Most famous for the abduction of Bert, a peacock who blew in after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Two carpenters from Miami snatched the bird but were arrested by alert sheriff’s deputies who saw Bert’s tail feathers sticking out the van’s sliding doors. “No matter what their intentions, I think it was a real bad thing to do. The bird was happy here and all of a sudden he was kidnapped,” the manager said. You can see Bert (one hopes) and even enjoy a great suite on the ocean with a wraparound balcony. Telephone: 664-3681.

on pelicans:

The pelican is a bird of myth as well as droll actuality. His image is common on ecclesiastical heraldry and was often engraved on chalices. Many medieval bestiaries include a story in which the mother pelican caresses her offspring with such devotion that she kills them. When the father returns to the nest, he so despairs over the death of his young that he tears at his breast with his bill, and the blood from his wounds revives the dead birds. Dante, in the Paradiso (canto XXV, line 113), calls Jesus Christ nostro Pellicano—mankind’s pelican.

on bahia honda, perhaps my favorite place on the planet:

The Spanish name means “Deep Bay,” and this marks the geologic transition from the Upper Keys, which are coral, to the Lower, which are limestone. As it is transitional, it is unique in many ways, its coral skeleton supporting sand beaches, dunes, and a coastal strand hammock in which a number of rare plants grow, including the yellow satinwood, the only tree of its kind in the Keys, and the Jamaica morning glory. The seeds have all been brought here from the Caribbean and the West Indies by birds, wind, and water. There is a nature trail that winds around a lagoon at the northeastern end of the park where you can wander through this subdued exotica—you will see quite a number of the slender silver palm, pale as the silvery raccoons that forage here under the hot sky.

on why iguanas aren’t to be seen downtown:

You can’t pet an iguana anymore because the Iguana Man died and the iguanas don’t come down to see Sunset by themselves.

on key west, physically and spiritually:

In July of 1995 the Copa, along with the chic restaurant Antonia’s, burned to the ground in the traditional suspicious, middle-of-the-night fire. Built in 1917 as a movie theater, it had been wearily showing Deep Throat for a decade before it was transformed in the ’80s into a glossy gay cruise bar. There were flickering lights and heavy-duty dancing, with bars below and male erotic videos above. There were Wet Jockey Shorts nights and Doris Day nights. The Copa was crazy and wild and kept up nicely with the times before it was torched, introducing such European notions as descending bubbles of slippery foam that enveloped the dancers after midnight in an unspeakable mélange. The fire was so hot it blistered the paint on the fire trucks, and the Miami Herald utterly lost its composure with the headline: TEN YEARS OF DEBAUCHERY GOES UP IN FLAMES. The Copa recrudesced for a time as a quarrelsome straight nightclub named Epoch, but the site is now suffering the final indignity—there’ll be more retail here.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gem for those of us who love to travel and who love to read. I think it is best described as a sort of love letter to the Keys. Unfortunately, I have the most recent (2003) version, and it's far too outdated to use as a guide. Nevertheless, the history and Joy Williams's incredible prose make it worth the read.

[christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this through as if it was a novelized version of a Parts Unknown episode. For me, Anthony Bourdain would have been a perfect voice for this guide. I thoroughly enjoyed it and now I need to get back to the Keys to experience some of the other things I didn't get to on my first go-around. I wouldn't use this as an up-to-date planner for hotels and restaurants, but rather a glimpse into the back stories of places that may or may not currently exist in the Keys. A very easy and interesting read with splashes of opinions and facts.

[Read1000books]

A delightful and informative book! It is divided into four sections: The Upper Keys, The Middle Keys, The Lower Keys, and Key West. I read the first section on a recent vacation to (where else) Florida, but not the Keys yet. Ms. Williams has a funny sense of humor while at the same time informing you of interesting places and historical facts. Even though this is the year 2000 edition, I still found it very entertaining. Perhaps some day I will actually make it to the Keys, but since it just doesn't seem right to read it anywhere except on a condo balcony overlooking a white sand beach, this book will have to go back into the suitcase until my next trip to the Sunshine State.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written in 1987 so it isn't much good for finding hotels and restaurants today. If it's history you are looking for - this is the book. Fink out how Key Largo got it's name, who is buried under the Hurricane Monument, why was Indian Key the County Seat of Dade County, and so much more. I live in the Keys and this book told me things I never knew.

[Scott Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellently detailed and nuanced guide to the Florida Keys and especially Key West circa 2003. Williams lays out the history of the area and curates the most interesting flavors and facts about the Conch Republic, the tourists, the railroaders, the salvagers, the writers, and the nuts down at the tip of America's dong.

[Cornelius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good guide book.

[Alyson Hagy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This "guide" to the Keys is not like any travel book you've ever read. Williams, one of our finest fiction writers, knows the Keys in her bones--and her keen observations and mordant wit make this a very memorable read about one of the continent's most unique landscapes. Yes, the specific information about hotels and historical sites may be a bit out of date, but phone numbers and business hours can be acquired via smart phone. What can't be conveyed so well on a digital device are the wonders of the natural world and eccentricity of place, which the Keys exhibit in spades.

[Kaia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts were interesting, but did not understand the need to put down the tourists and cruise passengers so much. Tourism is the only way to support the economy. I did enjoy the history and descriptions of the quirky people.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joyless and hectoring, yet thorough.

[Valerie Kite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book because I have been to Keys. It is a learnimg experience sttill. Almost a criticism of overpopilation.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Very opinionated author.

[Nick Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much more than a guidebook.