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Key Largo Florida, where National, State, and Marine Parks abound!
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Key Largo Florida has often been off my radar as a destination point. The lure of going “deep” into the Keys has, more often than not, been my destination of choice. Then one year, two decades ago, I decided to take my foot off the accelerator and stop in Key Largo and see what’s going on with this place. Aside from John Pennekamp, I decided to see what was going on here. It has become one of my more rewarding decisions. Besides the remembrances of movie scenes from PT 109 and Key Largo, Key Largo Florida offers extraordinary scenic, marine and aviary backdrops. John Pennekamp, which I talk about in another section in this web site, is undoubtedly the main tourist draw. But Key Largo Florida, and Taverier to some degree, offers extraordinary experiences.
Key Largo Florida is often referred to as Miami’s “back yard”. Only an hours’ drive, it is easily accessible for people looking for a mini weekend vacation. The northern part has some very upscale private communities. If you cross over into Key Largo Florida at the Card Sound Bridge you’ll get that immediate feeling of having left the mainland and entered the world of the Keys. If you go the way that most do, continue along on US 1 Overseas Highway, it is much more of a “transitional” feeling that you slowly get absorbed into the Keys
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After several stutter step attempts to develop commercially and residentially, Key Largo Florida has developed passively into two state parks, one national park, and one marine sanctuary. Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park is up in the mid northern part of Key Largo Florida. It abuts up to Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Just the mention of crocodile gives you an indication of the neighboring Everglades National Park. I’ve found some of the most extraordinary scenery and wildlife kayaking thru rivulets, canals, bights, and bays. There are some primitive campsites on the southernmost part of the everglades. They are not, however for the faint of heart. You never know what could wander into your campsite. Kayaking is superlative and adventurous. Having manatees nudge into your kayak, seeing starfish of every color, fish breaking water, birds of all varieties, and seeing the “sandmarkings” of crocodiles are all impressions which won’t leave you soon. Even the most seasoned traveler amongst us will have to admit it’s memorable.
Some of the best primitive flats fishing will be found here in Key Largo Florida and vicinity. Literally thousands of coves, bights, rivulets, tributaries, and canopied mangrove patches will inundate your senses. Impressions abound.
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Water experiences are second nature here in Key Largo Florida. From Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, to Barnes Sound, to Manatee Bay, to Cormorant Rookeries, to Little Blackwater Sound, to Florida Bay. This is a back country paradise. There are a couple of real cool primitive campsites in Manatee Bay. One on Short Key and one over at Jim Smith Creek. I found it extraordinary to really get away from it all.
As much as Islamorada is know for fishing, so too is Key Largo Florida for it’s diving. An old U.S. Naval ship, the Spiegel Grove, was scuttled some years ago. 500 plus feet long, it is now the home of many corals and marine life.
The further south one goes on Key Largo Florida and into Tavenier there are more typical establishments, hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops and the like.
By in large, Key Largo Florida is not just the first Key to pass through. There are numerous points of scenic interest and beauty. Don’t overlook it!
Hope to see you there, on Key Largo Florida, SOON! 
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gonenative@floridakeysimpressions.com
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