It’s early evening in Key West, the southernmost outpost of the continental United States. Walking through the narrow streets, passing turn-of-the-century Victorian homes adorned with the wooden lace called gingerbread, you can feel the anticipation sure as a pulsebeat in the air.

Every evening visitors gather at Mallory Square for a Key West tradition known as the Sunset Celebration, where they witness local entertainers and artists displaying their talents and crafts. Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

It gets more insistent as you near the Gulf of Mexico, and so do the crowds. Curious visitors and casual islanders, street vendors and craftspeople, T-shirt painters and guitar-toting musicians are all heading for Mallory Square — and the street market celebration that accompanies every evening’s sunset.

The hub of the wrecking industry when this tropical seaport was young, Mallory Square is actually a rectangle — a wide expanse of land with a magnificent view of the gulf and the gently-bobbing sailboats anchored off Christmas Tree Island just across the harbor.

As the sun begins its descent into the gulf, Mallory comes alive with energy and festivity. Jugglers entertain with comedic patter and entice audience members into assisting with their offbeat feats. A gypsy tightrope walker performs breathtaking acrobatics high above the heads of the crowd. A mime painted totally silver captivates children and adults alike with his antics.

Attendees at the Sunset Celebration watch tightrope walker Will Soto entertain as the sun sinks into the Gulf of Mexico. Photo by Bob Krist/Florida Keys News Bureau

Elsewhere, business is brisk as vendors of hand-painted T-shirts, handcrafted jewelry, and hand-woven palm-frond hats peddle their wares to tourists. A blonde island woman offers her modestly-named “Pretty Good Popcorn” from a brightly-painted wagon.

Yet no matter how colorful the denizens of Mallory may be, the real star of this nightly show is the sun. Painting the sky with a palette of creamsicle orange and dusty pink, it seems to gather momentum before its final plunge into the gulf. As it disappears, the action stops. Spontaneously, the clapping begins and swells — until everyone on the square is applauding Mother Nature for another perfect Key West sunset.

According to longtime Keys locals, once in a great while you'll see the legendary "green flash" as the sun disappears below the horizon. Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

Want to know more about the artisans and performers who make Key West’s Sunset Celebration so unforgettable? Check out www.sunsetcelebration.com, the online presence of the nonprofit Cultural Preservation Society that has successfully managed the Mallory Square event for some 25 years. You’ll find photos and info introducing the performers and artisans, as well as links to their individual sites.

And if you just can’t make it to Key West (sob!) to experience the island city’s Sunset Celebration in person, try viewing it via a Mallory Square webcam at www.fla-keys.com/webcams/. Be warned, however: the webcam is “virtually” certain to whet your appetite for the real thing!

Topics: Events, Festivals, Florida Keys, Highlights, Key West, Keys Quirks, Local Color

After trying conch fritters and conch salad, browsing through some individualistic boutiques and galleries, quaffing piña coladas at sunset and enjoying a reef snorkeling or fishing excursion, you might figure you’ve sampled the best the Florida Keys can offer.

Paddle a kayak through the backcountry waters of the Florida Keys, and you'll see one of the world's most diverse marine life ecosystems. (Photo by Bob Krist/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Guess what? You’d be wrong.

There’s another side of the Keys — a quiet world away from civilization, ruled by the natural ebb and flow of the ocean — that many visitors never see. It’s called the backcountry, and it’s home to one of the most diverse assortments of marine life in the world.

This shallow backwater region of flats and mangrove islands lies mostly along the north side of the Overseas Highway. Not easily accessible to boat traffic, the backcountry is largely untraveled, unspoiled, and teeming with plant and animal life.

The best way to explore this remarkable world is by sea kayak. The quiet, shallow-draft kayaks — beautifully stable and requiring no special skills, strength, or experience to paddle — mean virtually anyone can venture into the backcountry waters.

Unless you’re a kayaking veteran, the most enjoyable way to explore Keys waters is a guided excursion -– and you can book them throughout Keys. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Both guided tours and kayak rentals are available throughout the Keys, but a guided tour is usually the way to go. Most guides are eager to share their knowledge about the region’s environment, so a tour can become a fascinating mixture of field trip, natural history lesson and just plain fun.

The Keys’ shallow-water backcountry environment ranges from mangrove communities to turtle grass flats to sponge flats. Mangrove islands are composed of tangled stands of mangroves, their aerial roots forming tunnels and fantastic twisted shapes.

Wildlife and rare birds abound; you might spot roseate spoonbills, osprey, great white herons, and maybe even bald eagles. Gazing over the side of your craft, you’ll discover the rich biodiversity within the mangrove root systems (the roots are actually a nursery for young grouper, lobster, barracuda and other species).

One of the delights of a kayak excursion is the chance to encounter a fascinating variety of exotic birds and marine life.

Turtle grass areas too are a unique part of the backcountry. Turtle grass looks a lot like lawn grass — but anyone who pulls up a flat green blade will see snails, tiny aquatic animals, scurrying juvenile fish, and other inhabitants of this busy ecosystem.

Also a part of the backcountry are the sponge flats — the rocky sea-bottom home to bright-colored sponges and soft corals. These include the mustard-toned golf ball coral whose domed shape and golf-ball-like dimples inspired its surprising name.

The grass flats and sponge flats can also support small lobster, young reef fish, turtles, stingrays, and big predators like shark and barracuda. If you’re lucky, you might even spot a graceful rolling tarpon.

Kayak trips are designed for novices as well as experienced paddlers; children are often welcome (it’s a good idea to check with the operator beforehand) and many people with physical challenges can enjoy the adventure with ease.

The Keys' waters are protected within the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary, offering an unspoiled region for tranquil exploration. (Photo provided by Florida Keys News Bureau)

Guided backcountry tours last from about two hours to a full day or even longer. You’ll want to bring sunblock, a hat or cap, bathing suit and towels, sunglasses and a waterproof camera to capture your experiences. Many excursions include snorkeling, and snorkel gear may or may not be provided, so it’s wise to ask when making reservations.

If you love the outdoors and want to venture beyond the normal tourist realm, there’s no better way to discover the Florida Keys — the real, unspoiled Florida Keys — than on a backcountry kayak adventure. To find one that meets your needs, check out the listings at www.fla-keys.com/ecotourism/index.cfm.

Topics: Big Pine Key & Lower Keys, Districts, Florida Keys, Highlights, Islamorada, Key Largo, Keys Environment, Marathon, On the Water, Topics

Maybe because of Key West’s quirky, renegade nature, it seems particularly suited to be the setting for contemporary mystery books. Today, there’s an entertaining crop of them, written by people who know the island well enough to portray it ruefully, humorously, lovingly and so accurately that readers can almost feel the humidity and smell the salt air.

John Leslie's Key West mystery series stars the enigmatic Gideon Lowry.

For example, check out the books of longtime Keys resident John Leslie, featuring Key West private investigator and piano player Gideon Lowry.

Shipwreck salvagers, Hemingway aficionados, greedy developers and celebrity tourists are just a few of the characters that enliven Gideon’s days. Melancholy rhythms and romantic misfortunes permeate his life — as does too much violence. His exploits are chronicled in books including “Night and Day” and “Killing Me Softly.”

Sadly, Gideon’s adventures are no longer widely available in major bookstores … but they can be found easily at www.amazon.com.

Tom Corcoran’s Key West mystery series debuted in 1998 with “The Mango Opera.” It continues in several other volumes, including the recent “Hawk Channel Chase,” detailing the adventures of freelance photographer Alex Rutledge.

Authors Michael Haskins (left) and Tom Corcoran are captured on camera at Key West Island Books, a popular literary hotspot on the island.

A Key West resident in the late 1970s, Corcoran was a photographer, disc jockey and close friend of the island’s renowned “pirate laureate,” singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett — and his books draw on his memories of that era as well as the southernmost city’s contemporary feel.

Read excerpts from Corcoran’s tales, and purchase his books, at www.tomcorcoran.net.

The latest talented entrant into the Key West mystery realm is Michael Haskins, whose background includes television work in Los Angeles and stints as a freelance press photographer and journalist.

Haskins’ first crime thriller “Chasin’ the Wind,” starring journalist Liam Michael “Mad Mick” Murphy, was published in March 2008. It’s a spicy conch chowder flavored with dashes of small-town politics, Cuban intrigue, neurotic federales and island attitude.

An avid reader as well as an author, Michael Haskins writes in a home study surrounded by good books and family photographs. (Photo by Paul Clarin)

Haskins, who settled in Key West in the early 1990s, had his first island-city crime story published in the prestigious “Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.” When he conceived Mick Murphy, he made Key West a vital character in Mick’s story — using authentic street names, pub names and local reference points.

When he crafted the book, Haskins made Mick a likeable and reality-based character that readers might enjoy meeting for a casual drink or two.

In a nod to friend and mentor Tom Corcoran, Haskins even depicted Murphy reading one of Corcoran’s Alex Rutledge books, creating a situation that could only happen in a novel — the protagonist of a mystery based in Key West reading a mystery based in Key West.

Shown here at a book signing, Michael Haskins drew on his years in Key West to flavor the crime thriller "Chasin' the Wind," set in the quirky and charismatic island city. (Photo by Paul Clarin)

Clearly, the island has earned an enduring place in the world of mystery writers (and readers!). Its accepting lifestyle and undemanding pace seemingly leave plenty of room for the creative consciousness to roam.

“If you come here to write or paint or be a photographer and you let yourself do what you want, then you’re going to do well down here,” said Haskins. “Key West — the island, the city, the atmosphere — is a muse.”

Haskins has completed a second Mick Murphy novel and is at work on his third. To read their initial chapters, and get purchase info for “Chasin’ the Wind,” visit www.michaelhaskins.net.

Topics: Arts, Florida Keys, Key West, Local Color, Profiles

Would somebody please go melt some butter?

Foodies agree that virtually nothing beats the sweet meat of a Florida Keys lobster.

Actually, somebody should go melt A LOT of butter. And don’t even think about skimming the white salty froth off the top when the butter reaches the perfect bubbly heat — that’s the best part.

It might sound crazy to people who don’t live in the Keys, but melting butter has become a seasonal hobby in these parts. Early in August each year, island foodies start stocking up on familiar yellow cartons of Land O’Lakes.

Why? Because early August marks the start of the Florida Keys’ annual commercial lobster season, and purists know those sensational crustaceans taste best when each bite is bathed in butter.

Florida Keys lobsters are quite different than their northern cousins. For one thing, they don’t have claws (also called by the unappetizing name of “grapnels”). Instead, they’re known as spiny lobsters — and their meat has a slightly chewy sweetness that Maine lobsters can’t hope to emulate.

In Keys households and restaurants from Key Largo to Key West, the most popular way to serve lobster is steamed, boiled or grilled with the aforementioned melted butter. Traditional trimmings include corn on the cob and boiled potatoes or potato salad.

Lobster purists love their crustaceans grilled and served with melted butter.

Some Keys chefs prefer to prepare lobster split and grilled or stuffed and broiled, while others blend lobster meat with exotic sauces incorporating tropical fruits such as mango. It’s possible to start the day with a luscious Lobster Benedict at a handful of creative local eateries — and few people can resist the sensational Lobster Reuben at Keys Fisheries in Marathon.

If you’re lucky enough to have obtained your own stash of Florida Keys lobsters and want to experiment a little, try the following easy-to-prepare treats.

LOBSTER DEVILED EGGS: Hard-boil six eggs, let them cool and cut them in half lengthwise. Finely dice the steamed meat from one Keys lobster. Mix it with the egg yolks, mayonnaise to taste, and a pinch each of powdered mustard and paprika. Stuff the mixture into the egg whites and serve as hors d’oeuvres (you should have some lobster-and-yolk mixture left over to spread on crackers — yum!).  

LOBSTER CHEESE TOAST: Cut a 6-inch wedge of fresh Cuban or Italian bread and cut the wedge in half lengthwise. Toast both halves. Meanwhile, cut the steamed meat from one Keys lobster into chunks. Spread the toasted bread with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. Top it with lobster chunks and shredded Vermont cheddar cheese, and broil briefly until the cheese is slightly bubbly. This serves one or two for lunch, depending on appetite.

Savvy chefs wear clothes and aprons when preparing lobster.

LOBSTER CAPRESE SALAD: Slice two large tomatoes into four or five slices each and arrange them on two plates. Top the slices with crumbled feta cheese, the chopped meat from a large steamed Keys lobster, and chopped fresh basil leaves. Drizzle each salad with olive oil and squeeze lemon juice over it to taste. This serves two for lunch (or, if you use two lobsters instead of one, it can serve two for a warm-weather dinner).

While Florida lobsters aren’t typically accompanied by buns, buns were surprisingly visible during an event staged a few years back to celebrate the beginning of the Keys’ lobster season.

The Naked Chefs Lobsterfest featured live music, an open-air setting overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and lobster with all the trimmings, prepped and served by male and female chefs who were indeed naked. Most attendees enjoyed the offbeat feast — but nearly everyone agreed that it illustrated an excellent reason to be glad Keys lobsters have no claws!

Topics: Big Pine Key & Lower Keys, Florida Keys, Food, Highlights, Islamorada, Key Largo, Key West, Local Color, Marathon