Camp_KeyWest

Destination:

KEY WEST, FL

Bluewater Key RV Resort

2950 U.S. Hwy 1
Key West, FL 33040
Res: (800) 237-2266
Tel: (305) 745-2494
Fax: (305) 745-2433
bluekeyrv@aol.com
www.bluewaterkey.com

Having never been to Key West, FL before, we were incredibly surprised to find that we had discovered a new favorite place. WE LOVED KEY WEST! From the top notch restaurants in town, to the most fabulous RV resort we've found so far, we could have stayed for months.

Key West is located at the end of the Overseas Highway, a 150 mile road which straddles the border between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Parts of the Keys are fairly wide, and at other points you are literally on a thin strip of land, or sometimes just a bridge with turquoise water surrounding you on all sides. The views are breathtaking, the ocean breezes are delicious, and Key West boasts the best sunsets on the East Coast.

Here's a little history from keywest.com: "The Conch Republic was born on 23 April 1982, after the U.S. Border Patrol blockaded the Keys with a "border". Mayor Dennis Wardlow seceded from the Union, declared War, then surrendered demanding Foreign Aid; thusly creating "The People Who Seceded Where Others Failed".

I hate to use the word "funky" to describe anything, (except certain types of music), but the historic town of Key West is pretty funky. The atmosphere is casual and laid back, and you can find any price range of dining or accommodation that you're looking for. There are lots of great walking streets with stores, bars and restaurants. Beautiful old houses are everywhere and tours are available of some of the more historic ones. OK, the "Southern Most" this and the "Southern Most" that gets a little old after awhile, but, hey, everyone's got to have an angle in a tourist town, right?

About:

We booked to stay at Boyd's Key West Campground, when I decided to look up some reviews at rvparkreviews.com. Unfortunately, the reviews of Boyd's were not great, but, fortunately, there were rave reviews for another park. Blue Water Key RV Resort is the RV resort that we've been searching for. It's ten miles north of Key West and is an ownership park, which means that individuals own each pad and rent them out off season. Every space has it's own tiki hut, and the water-front spots have private docks, as well. Even though it was hot and humid, there was a constant breeze off the water which made sitting outside and having a drink a heavenly experience.

If we didn't have a schedule to keep, we would have stayed there for months. We really loved Key West...

We were there for ten days at the end of June/beginning of July 2003. It's off season for the area, which was great for us. The park was relatively empty and very quiet. There's a large, heated, freshwater pool, showers and laundry.

Nearby amenities:

Key West has most everything you'll need, from supermarkets to Home Depot. There are some very touristy areas of town, but lots of streets to explore and some interesting sites including Hemingway's house, President Truman's vacation home and the Southern Most Point in the USA.

Key West also has a very large Gay community so Gay-friendly establishments abound.

Local haunts:

As I said above, Key West is about 10 miles from Blue Water Key and there are all kinds of restaurants, supermarkets, banks and gyms. Places run from tacky tourist joints to local hangouts and fine dining. We took several recommendations from Jane & Michael Stern's Roadfood and every choice was great.

We had a fabulous, if pricey, meal at Louis' Backyard Cafe (700 Waddell Avenue, Key West (305) 294-1061), but, as it says in the book, it's worth it to sit on the deck, drink a margarita and watch the sunset. The food was excellent and the place itself is beautiful.

Another great place is Blue Heaven, which, despite being made famous in a Jimmy Buffet song, was really quite good. We had a great breakfast and delicious dinner there. Enjoy a Mojito while you sit under the trees and the chickens and roosters run under foot.

Several books recommended Manny & Isa's (MM 81.6 · Islamorada (305) 664-5019) as the place to have the best Key LIme pie, so we drove up to Islamorada one day to try it out. It was fantastic. Real homemade pie, and we hear the Cuban cuisine is good too.

A little place close to Blue Water Key is Mangrove Mama's (M.M. 20
Sugarloaf Key (305) 745-3030) which is a local bar and restaurant. We had a delicious fresh fish lunch there one day, which was also reasonably priced.

Where for art thou WIFI?:

There are a couple of hotels that have WIFI in Key West. The park has a modem in the clubhouse, but Key West is where I finally got the QuickLink Mobile cable that let's me surf the web using my Sprint phone, so I wasn't as desperate for a wireless connection as I had been in the past. For more on our wireless odyssey click here.

Gyms:

There are no big chain gyms that I could find on Key West. I stopped by a couple of small gyms in Key West and settled on Club Body Tech (1075 Duval St. Key West), which sells daily and weekly memberships for visitors. It was a good, if small, gym, and served it's purpose.

Destination: KEY WEST, FL Bluewater Key RV Resort 2950 U.S. Hwy 1 Key West, FL 33040 Res: (800) 237-2266 Tel: (305) 745-2494 Fax: (305) 745-2433 bluekeyrv@aol.com www.bluewaterkey.com	Having never been to Key West, FL before, we were incredibly surprised to find that we had discovered a new favorite place. WE LOVED KEY WEST! From the top notch restaurants in town, to the most fabulous RV resort we've found so far, we could have stayed for months. Key West is located at the end of the Overseas Highway, a 150 mile road which straddles the border between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Parts of the Keys are fairly wide, and at other points you are literally on a thin strip of land, or sometimes just a bridge with turquoise water surrounding you on all sides. The views are breathtaking, the ocean breezes are delicious, and Key West boasts the best sunsets on the East Coast. Here's a little history from keywest.com: "The Conch Republic was born on 23 April 1982, after the U.S. Border Patrol blockaded the Keys with a "border". Mayor Dennis Wardlow seceded from the Union, declared War, then surrendered demanding Foreign Aid; thusly creating "The People Who Seceded Where Others Failed". I hate to use the word "funky" to describe anything, (except certain types of music), but the historic town of Key West is pretty funky. The atmosphere is casual and laid back, and you can find any price range of dining or accommodation that you're looking for. There are lots of great walking streets with stores, bars and restaurants. Beautiful old houses are everywhere and tours are available of some of the more historic ones. OK, the "Southern Most" this and the "Southern Most" that gets a little old after awhile, but, hey, everyone's got to have an angle in a tourist town, right?
About:	We booked to stay at Boyd's Key West Campground, when I decided to look up some reviews at rvparkreviews.com. Unfortunately, the reviews of Boyd's were not great, but, fortunately, there were rave reviews for another park. Blue Water Key RV Resort is the RV resort that we've been searching for. It's ten miles north of Key West and is an ownership park, which means that individuals own each pad and rent them out off season. Every space has it's own tiki hut, and the water-front spots have private docks, as well. Even though it was hot and humid, there was a constant breeze off the water which made sitting outside and having a drink a heavenly experience. If we didn't have a schedule to keep, we would have stayed there for months. We really loved Key West... We were there for ten days at the end of June/beginning of July 2003. It's off season for the area, which was great for us. The park was relatively empty and very quiet. There's a large, heated, freshwater pool, showers and laundry.
Nearby amenities:	Key West has most everything you'll need, from supermarkets to Home Depot. There are some very touristy areas of town, but lots of streets to explore and some interesting sites including Hemingway's house, President Truman's vacation home and the Southern Most Point in the USA. Key West also has a very large Gay community so Gay-friendly establishments abound.
Local haunts:	As I said above, Key West is about 10 miles from Blue Water Key and there are all kinds of restaurants, supermarkets, banks and gyms. Places run from tacky tourist joints to local hangouts and fine dining. We took several recommendations from Jane & Michael Stern's Roadfood and every choice was great. We had a fabulous, if pricey, meal at Louis' Backyard Cafe (700 Waddell Avenue, Key West (305) 294-1061), but, as it says in the book, it's worth it to sit on the deck, drink a margarita and watch the sunset. The food was excellent and the place itself is beautiful. Another great place is Blue Heaven, which, despite being made famous in a Jimmy Buffet song, was really quite good. We had a great breakfast and delicious dinner there. Enjoy a Mojito while you sit under the trees and the chickens and roosters run under foot. Several books recommended Manny & Isa's (MM 81.6 · Islamorada (305) 664-5019) as the place to have the best Key LIme pie, so we drove up to Islamorada one day to try it out. It was fantastic. Real homemade pie, and we hear the Cuban cuisine is good too. A little place close to Blue Water Key is Mangrove Mama's (M.M. 20 Sugarloaf Key (305) 745-3030) which is a local bar and restaurant. We had a delicious fresh fish lunch there one day, which was also reasonably priced.
Where for art thou WIFI?:	There are a couple of hotels that have WIFI in Key West. The park has a modem in the clubhouse, but Key West is where I finally got the QuickLink Mobile cable that let's me surf the web using my Sprint phone, so I wasn't as desperate for a wireless connection as I had been in the past. For more on our wireless odyssey click here.
Gyms: © 2004mobilelifestyle.com	There are no big chain gyms that I could find on Key West. I stopped by a couple of small gyms in Key West and settled on Club Body Tech (1075 Duval St. Key West), which sells daily and weekly memberships for visitors. It was a good, if small, gym, and served it's purpose.