I have rode to the Keys twice, had a blast both times. Times two on Hogfish bar and grill. Raw Bar has a great happy hour, it's on the harbor. I thought the fresh seafood was good. Go to No Name Key and check out No Name Pub, great pizza, and burgers when your tired of the seafood. Schooner Bar has a morning and evening happy hours, it's also on the harbor. If you have time take the boat ride out to the Dry Tortuga (google it). Have fun and good luck.

 

St. Augustine to say Daytona on A1A is like a 12 hour adventure of stop lights and T shirt shops. Plan a lot of time if going that way.

Still cool to ride, just takes a long time.

 

Can't help you in the Keys, but headed out of Daytona on A1A (on the left in Flagler Beach I think) there's a place called Alfie's that me and some buddies ate breakfast every morning ... pretty good and not expensive. A little further up (also on the left) was a place called Martin's ... great food there, but a little more pricey. Keep in mind, that was 20 yrs ago ... so not sure if they're still there or not.

 

And that in a Nutshell, is why they make chocolate and vanilla!

 

Rode there from Kansas a couple years ago. The ride between here and FL was decent enough, but FL itself didn't impress me. Nothing bad, but nothing terribly exciting, either. Caveat: I avoided riding along the coast cuz I've heard that it is essentially city driving. Had I taken the coastal roads I might have enjoyed more of the water. Who knows...

Anyway, talk about flat! Florida is much more flat than Kansas. In order of flatness, the flattest states are Florida, Illinois, North Dakota, Louisiana, Minnesota and Delaware. Kansas is 7th on the list. (Still pretty flat, though.)

Humid!?!? Damn humid. I thought Kansas was humid, but Florida outranks KS on that statistic, as well. It was so humid at the Keys that I set a mousetrap outside the motel room door and caught a trout!

Riding HW 1 through Key Largo and to Key West was a typical crowded highway. The cities I went through were OK, I guess, but some of 'em were pretty crumby looking. Key West was fine as far as that goes. I hit the west end of Key West and there was plenty to do. Drink and eat, that is.

When I got home, my wife asked about the trip. I said, "If you took the state of Kansas and put water along three of its borders, stuck a stop light on the highways every half mile and planted a bunch of Dr. Seuss trees every little bit...you'd have Florida."

Overall a very enjoyable trip, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. Would I do it again? Probably not.

JMHO, YMMV, BWTFDIK.

P.S. I lied about catching a trout.




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If you plan on getting a photo with the bikes (or without) at the end of Hwy 1, get there early in the morning. It's a popular tourist photo-op and I was amazed on my visit to the keys last year....depending on the time of day you have long lines of people all waiting for the same photo. Getting someone to take the photo of you by the marker isn't an issue if you go later but you'd be hard pressed to get your bike up there with the crowds. Consider a day excursion to Dry Tortuga National Park while you're there....it's 80 miles give or take west of the Keys by ferry....

 

My simple rule for finding good food at reasonable prices while on a road trip:
Ask a local where to find a good "beer & a burger joint".
I just returned from a snorkeling trip to Key Largo (from Naples, FL). We wanted lunch before the boat trip and I employed the "beer & burger" question.
The local said there was a burger joint near the boat launch but it was kind of a dive. Bingo! Great food, reasonable prices and coldest draft beer we ever had. We even stopped there after the snorkeling adventure...happy hour..$1.62 for a pint of beer.

 

Guys, I do appreciate all the kind suggestions and advices. I am sure there will be more chiming in. We will follow them accordingly.

 

Holy ****, I'm glad this thread was posted. I was is KW in the 1980's and had a great time, and I had the (grand) illusion the ride to the tip of the Keys would be fun. Looks like a (grand) PITA...I'm a western boy and use to the wide open spaces...guess I forgot this is the east coast...All this talk of the Keys and South Florada brings up memories of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, the beaches in So. Cal...or The Strip in Las Vegas...Fugg that too!

BUCKET LIST:
Key West (removed)

 

3rd week of Sept is Peterson Poker Run / Key West Bike Week..always a great time riding to Key West with card stops along the way...usually 10k bikes..funny thing once you get their everyone is in shorts and flip flops..they give a bike away as 1st place..great bike show..just lots of fun for 4days...45th year is coming up