Florida Keys Traveler

In the peaceful backcountry to hooking up to that prized catch in offshore waters, sportfishing in the Florida Keys connects you to the sea in ways both invigorating and meditative. According to the International Game Fish Association, more saltwater world records have been established in the Keys than any other location on the globe.   Thank you to our guests:   -Captain Steve Friedman, who helped develop the Blue Star certification program in the Florida Keys and is the owner of A Backcountry Fishing Guide in Islamorada: afishingguide.com -Captain Will Benson, Blue Star-certified owner of World Angling on Sugarloaf Key: worldangling.com -Dianne Harbaugh, Fishing Tournament Director and Angler: www.fla- keys.com/calendar/fishing   For more on the Florida Keys, go to fla-keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1-800-F-L-A-K-E-Y-S or contact your travel advisor.   This episode was produced by Armchair Productions (armchair-productions.com), the audio experts for the travel industry. Elizabeth Harryman Lasley presented the show; Jason Paton and Charles Tyrie did the audio and sound mixing; and Aaron Millar and Jenny Allison produced it.

Beneath the sun-dappled teal waters of the Florida Keys is a vibrant bustling universe of coral reefs, jewel-colored fish, and gently waving sea grasses. Not only can you immerse yourself in this underwater world with a certified Blue Star dive and snorkel operator, you can help preserve it by volunteering with Keys coral restoration groups. Thank you to our guests:   -Dan Dawson, Owner of Horizon Divers in Key Largo: horizondivers.com;   -Michael Goldberg, Owner of Key Dives in Islamorada and Cofounder with Dr. Kylie Smith of I.CARE: keydives.com and icareaboutcoral.org;   -And Samantha Zeher, Owner and Operator of KeyZ Charters in Islamorada: keyzcharters.com   For more on the Florida Keys, go to fla-keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1-800-F-L-A-K-E-Y-S or contact your travel advisor.   This episode was produced by Armchair Productions (armchair-productions.com), the audio experts for the travel industry. Elizabeth Harryman Lasley presented the show; Jason Paton and Charles Tyrie did the audio and sound mixing; and Aaron Millar and Jenny Allison produced it.

With a culinary heritage spanning Europe to Cuba and throughout the Caribbean, with fresh-from-the-water seafood and talented, creative chefs, the Florida Keys offer tastes for every palate. In this episode, we’ll learn all about Keys cuisine and what makes it so delicious.   Thank you to our guests:   -Chef Martin Liz of Key West Personal Chef: keywestpersonalchef.com;   -Martha Hubbard, Culinary Director at Williams Hall and Executive Chef of Unity Table in Key West: williamshall.org/unity-table;   -And Craig Zabransky, Owner and Operator of the Florida Keys Food Tours, with multiple tours, in Islamorada: flkeysfoodtour.com   For more on the Florida Keys, go to fla-keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1-800-F-L-A-K-E-Y-S or contact your travel advisor.   This episode was produced by Armchair Productions (armchair-productions.com), the audio experts for the travel industry. Elizabeth Harryman Lasley presented the show; Jason Paton and Charles Tyrie did the audio and sound mixing; and Aaron Millar and Jenny Allison produced it.

Writers seeking an open-minded place to craft their stories, history lovers seeking a deeper perspective, and artists drawn to the kaleidoscope of the Florida Keys all find inspiration from this 125-mile-long subtropical island chain. In this episode, we meet a book lover, an historian, and an artist, each of whom reveals a different aspect of the Keys’ rich cultural tapestry.   Thank you to our guests: -Nancy Klingener, community affairs manager for the Monroe County Public Library and President of the Board for the Key West Literary Seminar: keyslibraries.org and kwls.org/seminar; -Corey Malcom, lead historian at the Florida Keys History Center: https://keyslibraries.org/fkhc/; and -Artist Roberto “Pasta” Pantaleo: artbypasta.com.   For more on the Florida Keys, go to fla-keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1-800-F-L-A-K-E-Y-S or contact your travel advisor.   This episode was produced by Armchair Productions (armchair-productions.com), the audio experts for the travel industry. Elizabeth Harryman Lasley presented the show; Jason Paton and Charles Tyrie did the audio and sound mixing; and Aaron Millar and Jenny Allison produced it.

From a historic haunted doll to an underwater music fest to the continental United States’ only breadfruit grove — and even fruit with the texture of a lizard! — there are many hidden off-the-beaten path wonders and adventures to be discovered throughout the Florida Keys.   Thank you to our guests: -Patrick Garvey, owner and operator of Grimal Grove, a secluded lush “edible park” on Big Pine Key: grimalgrove.com  -David L. Sloan, author of more than 25 books about the Florida Keys, including The New Florida Keys Bucket List and Haunted Key West: ghostkeywest.com and fantasyfest.com, this year, Oct.18 through Oct. 27. -Historian and author Brad Bertelli: bradbertelli.com   For more on the Florida Keys, go to fla-keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1-800-F-L-A-K-E-Y-S or contact your travel advisor.   This episode was produced by Armchair Productions (armchair-productions.com), the audio experts for the travel industry. Elizabeth Harryman Lasley presented the show; Jason Paton and Charles Tyrie did the audio and sound mixing; and Aaron Millar and Jenny Allison produced it.

Among serene, mangrove-lined coastlines and aquamarine waters of the Atlantic Ocean teeming with indigenous fish and wildlife, the Florida Keys offer an abundance of natural beauty. In this episode, we hear from three people working to conserve these cherished natural resources, from the coral reefs of the ocean floor to the nodding green canopies of the tropical mangrove forests.   Thank you to our guests: -Sabrina Diaz, Deputy Superintendent for Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks in South Florida: nps.gov/ever and nps.gov/drto/index.htm  -Sarah Fangman of the National Marine Sanctuaries: sanctuaries.noaa.gov  and floridakeys.noaa.gov -Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital: turtlehospital.org   For more on the Florida Keys, go to  fla-keys.com . To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1-800-F-L-A-K-E-Y-S or contact your travel advisor.   This episode was produced by Armchair Productions (armchair-productions.com), the audio experts for the travel industry. Elizabeth Harryman Lasley presented the show; Jason Paton and Charles Tyrie did the audio and sound mixing; and Aaron Millar and Jenny Allison produced it.

July 3, 2023 marks the bicentennial "birthday" of the Florida Keys — and in this episode, we meet a Key West-born “Conch” who’s lived in the Keys for half of those 200 years. Join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley, who chats with 104-year-old Onelio Gonzalez, recently celebrating his milestone birthday in the continental United States’ southernmost island city. He remembers the days when Ernest Hemingway resided in Key West, and when Harry S. Truman presided from the southernmost White House in the island city. And what was it like to ride Henry Flagler's Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad, completed in 1912 and stretching from Florida’s southern mainland throughout the Keys? How were pineapples involved? Listen to some of our favorite insights and takeaways from this series, celebrating what makes the 125-mile-long Florida Keys island chain so unique. You might hear a highlight from a favorite episode. For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

What’s the significance of Mallory Square in Key West? What does Jimmy Buffett represent to the Florida Keys? And just what is The Conch Republic?  We celebrate the Keys' fun, quirkiness and a fierce independence in this episode. Join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley in Mallory Square to catch the sunset. Learn more about the famous songwriter who embodies the Keys. Discover how the Keys became known as The Conch Republic after a U.S. Border Patrol blockade in 1982. To learn about Mallory Square, go to  mallorysquare.com/sunset-celebration/. For more about The Conch Republic, visit conchrepublic.com. For travel details inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

Why did President Harry Truman establish his Little White House in Key West? Where was he frequently spotted around town? And what is it like to ride in one of his presidential limousines?  Find out as host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley and producer Jason Paton take you to Florida’s only presidential museum, the Harry S. Truman Little White House Museum. Clinton Curry, the museum's operations director, takes us behind the scenes to reveal the man the public didn't always see. And we take you for a ride in a 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan, one of his official limos. The Harry S. Truman Little White House Museum is open 365 days a year. For more, go to trumanlittlewhitehouse.org. For further details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

What is sponging and how has it impacted the Keys? How did lighthouses save one industry, and end another? Why is Fort Jefferson – known as the "Gibraltar of the Gulf" – located 70 miles off Key West in the middle of the ocean?  The story of the Florida Keys is inextricably intertwined with the seas that surround them. Join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley to learn about wreckers, sponging and a Civil War-era fort in the United States' most remote national park. We're joined by the Florida Keys History Center's Corey Malcom, the Key West Art & Historical Society's Cori Convertito, and Historic Tours of America's Chris Belland. For more on the Key West Art & Historical Society, go to kwahs.org. The Florida Keys History Center is located in the Key West library: keyslibraries.org. Fort Jefferson details can be found at drytortugas.com/.  For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

In 1985 off the Florida Keys, legendary treasure diver Mel Fisher and his team finally found the object of a deep-sea search spanning nearly 17 years. The Atocha shipwreck was named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most valuable shipwreck treasure ever recovered, then worth an estimated $400 million. Mel's son Kim Fisher, a treasure hunter himself, was one of the Atocha’s finders. Join him and host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley to learn what it was like to find sunken treasure that he and his family had been seeking for nearly two decades. The Florida Keys History Center's Corey Malcom also shares history about how the Keys became a magnet for avid treasure hunters. For more information about Mel Fisher's Treasures, go to melfisher.com. The Florida Keys History Center, itself a treasure trove of Keys history, is located in the Key West Library: keyslibraries.org. For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

What marine animal is considered the gardener of the coral reef? What role can rope and cement play in Florida Keys coral restoration? Join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley on this episode and find out. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Sarah Fangman joins us again as we dive into the world of coral restoration to learn about the unprecedented Mission: Iconic Reefs. You'll meet Ken Nedimyer, a coral restoration pioneer and founder of Reef Renewal USA, to learn about unique methods he's developing to restore coral on North America's only barrier reef. It all happens within the sanctuary. For more on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, go to floridakeys.noaa.gov. To learn how to get involved with Reef Renewal USA, check out reefrenewalUSA.org For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

Did you know the Florida Keys are the home of North America’s only coral barrier reef and some of the country’s oldest national wildlife refuges, sheltering creatures living only in the Keys? Join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley as we meet two women working to ensure large areas of the Keys remain a federally-protected safe haven for creatures on land and in the water. You'll hear from Sarah Fangman, superintendent of the 3,800-square-mile Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and Jennifer Feltner, biologist of the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuge Complex, overseeing four protected refuges. We’ll learn about significance of the national marine sanctuary and protected creatures such as the Key deer and Lower Keys marsh rabbit. You can learn about the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary at floridakeys.noaa.gov or download its Explorer app at marinesanctuary.org/explorer. More about each refuge is at FWS.gov. Simply search for the Key West, Great White Heron, National Key Deer or Crocodile Lake national wildlife refuge. For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

What's an aquatic tumbleweed? Can tiny, indigenous Key deer swim? And how does a barracuda trick its prey? Find out as you kayak among the mangroves with host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley and producer Jason Paton. We join Bill Keogh, a naturalist, author, and photographer who guides us across the water and into hidden tree-lined canopies in the Lower Florida Keys. Listen to the wind, hear a yellow-crowned night heron, and feel nature's calm envelop you. To book your own kayak tour with Bill Keogh, or to buy his book, the “Florida Keys Paddling Guide,” go to keyskayaktours.com. For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

In the Florida Keys, fishermen have the chance, every day, to catch a prize trophy fish. Islamorada, in fact, is known as the ‘Sportfishing Capital of the World.’ But that fish you catch can still swim on to live and fight another day. How? Through the work of Keys conservationists, forward-thinking fishermen and even artists. Join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley to learn about catch-and-release sportfishing from two renowned charter captains, Matt Bellinger of Bamboo Charters in the Upper Keys, and Will Benson of World Angling in the Lower Keys. Learn why Florida Keys sportfishing -- part of the Keys’ lifestyle and heritage -- is legendary. For details about Bamboo Charters, check out bamboocharters.com and for World Angling, go to worldangling.com. For more travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

The Florida Keys culinary adventure continues in this episode, as host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley and producer Jason Paton joins Key West Chef Paul Menta, our guide to Florida Keys seafood. We also visit Keys Fisheries in Marathon. Vice President Scott Dekle explains how stone crabs are sustainable. What, exactly, is a stone crab? And how is it possible that we can eat them guilt-free? For more on Keys Fisheries, go to keysfisheries.com. For more information about Paul Menta, check out his website: paulmenta.com.  For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

What's the origin of the Keys' iconic, tangy yet sweet signature dessert?  What is ‘pucker perfect’? Find out on this episode as host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley and producer Jason Paton learn secrets about the tiny Key lime and its namesake pie. Meet Key West chef Paul Menta, our guide to Florida Keys cuisine, and Kermit Carpenter, founder of Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe.  For more information about Paul Menta, check out his website paulmenta.com. For more on Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe, go to keylimeshop.com. For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

How did the Florida Keys become a critical gathering point in Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain? What role does Key West's Cuban community play in preserving Cuban heritage? Find out in this episode, as host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley and producer Jason Paton visit the San Carlos Institute in Key West. You'll meet the institute's president, Rafael Peñalver, who shares the fascinating history of the Keys' Cuban connection and insights into what he describes as "the perseverance of the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom." For more information about the San Carlos Institute, go to InstitutoSanCarlos.org. For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

What truly makes a neighborhood a community? Perhaps there's no better example than the 16-block Bahama Village in Key West. In this episode, join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley and producer Jason Paton as we learn about the historically black Bahama Village from its 19th-century origins to the present day. Our guide is Clayton Lopez, a fourth-generation island resident, local personality and a Key West City Commissioner. He takes us on a walking tour of Bahama Village, sharing some of his neighborhood's triumphs and struggles. We meet residents Glen Hayes and Peggy Ward Grant, both instrumental in preserving the neighborhood’s rich heritage. For more information, visit kwahs.org/exhibitions/key-wests-black-history. For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

History is frequently made memorable through human tragedy, but it’s always worth telling, always worth preserving. What surprising role did Key West, the country’s southernmost city, play during the Civil War? How are nearly 300 lives lost during the era of the tragic Transatlantic Slave trade honored here? Join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley and producer Jason Paton with Florida Keys History Center lead historian Corey Malcom in Key West at Higgs Beach, home to the African Cemetery. For information on the African Cemetery at Higgs Beach, visit africanburialgroundathiggsbeach.org and the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum at melfisher.org. To learn more about Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, go to floridastateparks.org. For travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.