The romantic Florida Keys appeal to both landlubber lovers and those who can’t wait to get into the water to explore the undersea environment. The Keys’ clear, warm waters even attract scuba aficionados ready to tie the knot at the continental United States’ only living coral barrier reef — often with exotic sea creatures in attendance.

Couples in love can have a dolphin for their "best man" at Islamorada's Theater of the Sea. (Photo courtesy of Theater of the Sea)

In fact, in North America’s most popular dive destination, brides and grooms and their attendants can don gowns, tuxedos and scuba tanks to “take the plunge” into matrimonial adventure.

Scores of saltwater ceremonies are performed by Captain Spencer Slate of Atlantis Dive Center, a self-proclaimed “Justice of the Pisces” who has officiated at underwater weddings in the waters off Key Largo for more than 30 years. One of them even landed in the Guinness Book of World Records — and featured 110 divers, all wearing Halloween costumes!

Probably the Upper Keys’ most popular underwater nuptial niche is the nine-foot-high shrine of “Christ of the Abyss.” The 4,000-pound bronze statue stands in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, within the boundaries of Key Largo’s John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. (FYI, Pennekamp was the first underwater preserve in the United States and recently celebrated its 50th birthday.)

The compelling statue is one of the most photographed underwater sites in the world. Its timeless features and welcoming arms, seemingly lifted in eternal benediction, make it a perfect place to exchange “I do’s.”

Tuxes, wedding gowns and discreet scuba gear are the proper attire for those diving into matrimony in the Florida Keys.

At Amy Slate’s Amoray Dive Resort, love is in the name. Yes, the resort’s moniker is a tongue-in-cheek blend of  “amore,” the Italian word for love, and “a moray” eel — one of the dive instructors’ friendly reef pets often seen on dives and during wedding ceremonies. If you’re ready to dive into matrimony, chances are you’ll fall in love with Amoray’s private charters, onboard parties and imaginative approach.

But you don’t have to be UNDER the water to have a unique water-themed wedding in the Upper Keys. At Islamorada’s Theater of the Sea, marine mammal fans can plan a ceremony with dolphins as part of the wedding party! Couples in love can reserve the park for an evening, and Theater of Sea’s trained staff will help choreograph dolphin behavior shows to their choice of wedding music.

For a real cetacean celebration, the bride can even arrive at the ceremony in a floating chariot accompanied by dolphins.

Of course, a unique marine-themed wedding deserves an equally unique honeymoon — and what better place than the world’s only underwater hotel?

Following an underwater wedding, consider honeymooning at the world's only underwater hotel -- located in Key Largo.

Located in Key Largo and called Jules’ Undersea Lodge, the fascinating honeymoon habitat has even been featured on television’s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” Honeymooning dive enthusiasts can spend the night there, with amenities including a gourmet meal prepared by a “mer-chef,” among the marine life of the Keys.

Imagine waking up on the first morning of your married life five fathoms beneath the sea, with vivid-colored tropical fish peering in the wide windows to share your happiness.

Want more info on wedding opportunities — underwater, offbeat or even traditional — in the romantic Florida Keys? Just say “I do” and click here.

Topics: Animal Ambassadors, Environment, Highlights, Islamorada, Key Largo, Local Color, On the Water, Quirks, Voices Main Archive

In most places, beds are reserved for sleeping or amorous activities. But not in the Conch Republic — where, on a Saturday afternoon in late April each year, they’re propelled along Key West’s famed Duval Street on wheels in the annual Conch Republic Red Ribbon Bed Race.

Even NBC "Today" weatherman Al Roker (left) and anchor Matt Lauer are fans of the irreverent Conch Republic. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)

The wacky charity event is always a highlight of the annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration, created to mark the day the Florida Keys seceded from the United States after a 1982 U.S. Border Patrol blockade of the island chain. (FYI, the motto of the republic, which calls itself the world’s first fifth-world nation, is “We Seceded Where Others Failed.”)

Billed as “the most fun you can have in bed with your clothes on,” the bed race pits multi-person teams against each other as they pilot their beds along Duval (which, by the way, is often called the longest street in the world because it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean at one end to the Gulf of Mexico at the other).

According to bed race rules (yes, there ARE rules), each colorfully decorated bed must be mounted on wheels and either pushed or pulled by costumed team members. At least one team member must ride on the bed.

These strange bedfellows go for speed during a past year's race down Duval Street. (Photo by Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau)

“They’re in for the ride of their lives, because they’re not steering — there are no functional steering devices allowed,” said a Bed Race veteran who insisted on remaining nameless. “This isn’t the type of event where you read the newspaper in bed, that’s for sure.”

Past years’ races have featured a bed decorated like a smoke-blowing dragon, one accompanied by a gaggle of caged drag queens, one whose team members were dressed only in g-strings and chained to the bedposts, and many others that defy description.

The 2011 Bed Race is set to begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, with a parade of beds followed by the competition itself. If you join the spectators on Duval Street for the freewheeling sporting challenge, prepare to encounter some pretty strange bedfellows (and possibly a few who are three sheets to the wind!).

Supporters of the quirky republic show their conch spirit. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)

While the bed race is the oldest event on the Conch Republic Independence Celebration’s schedule, it’s not necessarily the most eccentric. The festival runs April 22 through May 1 with highlights including a “drag” race for dressed-up drag queens in staggeringly high heels and the colorful so-called “world’s longest parade.”

There’s also a pirates’ ball and pig roast, a lighthearted sea battle featuring tall ships, a pet stroll for “party animals,” the Conch Crawl showcasing favorite watering holes, a sailing race that recalls the Keys’ historic shipwreck salvage tradition, and a whole lot more.

So don’t pull the covers over your head and hit the alarm clock’s snooze button. Instead, exchange your jammies for traveling garb — and head down to the Conch Republic to be part of its exuberant annual celebration.

Topics: Events, Festivals, Highlights, History, Key West, Local Color, Quirks, Voices Main Archive

It snowed in Chicago this week while, here in Key West, we were cooling off at the beach and in our pools. Winter does not want to let go up north, so it’s up to you to pack a small bag and head down here to get away from the chill.

Attendees at the waterfront Taste of Key West savored great food against the backdrop of a gorgeous sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.

Years ago, the island slowed down as winter months gave way to summer, but that has changed. We have many enticing activities and events coming up that will keep you hopping during your Key West escape.

This week brought us the 16th annual Taste of Key West benefitting AIDS Help, our community-based service organization. The Island House team joined more than 50 local restaurants serving a taste of their special dishes, and cooked over 900 crab cakes … yummy. (Watch a few minutes of video on the event here.)

The 29th annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration kicks off this week with a wild and varied schedule. If you’ve never been to a “Military Muster,” you can join the crowd April 22 at a reception on the USS Ingham Memorial Museum Ship, then head to the festival kick-off party at the Schooner Wharf Bar.

Sand sculptor Marianne Vandenbroek finishes a depiction of the Keys' historic Oversea Railway at the Casa Marina Resort. January 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the railroad's completion. (Photo by Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau)

You’ll also enjoy the Conch Republic Drag Race, the pet stroll with a pet look-alike competition, the World’s Longest Parade down Key West’s famed Duval Street, and the Red Ribbon Bed Race set for Saturday, April 30. Check the event schedule and come down for our celebration!

Almost 100 years ago, you could travel in luxury on the Oversea Railway from the Florida mainland through the Keys to Key West. In fact, next January marks the centennial anniversary of the first train’s arrival in the island city. The Key West Art & Historical Society recently debuted a fascinating exhibit on the railroad, titled “Flagler’s Speedway to Sunshine,” in the Custom House on Front Street. Stop in and experience the 100-mile trip over the sea.

What do you get when you take eleven actors, eight writers, seven directors, five burlesque performers, four comedians and two producers and put them in a theater together? You get Short Attention Span Theatre 2011, that’s what — a high-octane evening of short plays and wondrous acts featuring talented local performers presented at our Red Barn Theatre.

And don’t forget the 16th annual Key West Songwriters’ Festival. Enjoy live music performed over five days and nights with dozens of free shows staged at an array of the island’s most popular watering holes and hotspots.

In addition to plays and festivities, spring in Key West means fabulous flowers bursting into bloom.

Meanwhile, the Waterfront Playhouse and Conch Color bring us “Red, White & Tuna,” a satirical ride into the hearts and minds of the polyester-clad citizens of Texas’ third smallest town.  Directed by local Cameron Murray, the show promises to be great fun.

Speaking of Conch Color, many of you may know this colorful weekly newsmagazine. Tom Oosterhoudt, the former “Colorful Key West City Commissioner,” labors every week to chronicle all the great things happening on our island and throughout the Keys. The publication is full of photos of locals and visitors enjoying Keys events — so, if you were here recently, check it out and see if your picture made it into an issue.

I will be traveling again to two gay travel expos in the northeast, so look for me up north in New York and Philadelphia.

Better yet, I’ll see you in Key West — at the 801 Bourbon Bar’s Gay Bingo, or Sundays at La Te Da’s Tea Dance!

Topics: Arts, Events, Festivals, Key West, LGBT, Local Color

It’s not called the silver king for nothing.

There is simply no other acrobatic fish on the inshore fishing scene more coveted by anglers than the tarpon.

A tarpon seemingly stands on its tail after being hooked in the Florida Keys. (Photo by Pat Ford)

Known for their high-leaping ability, tarpon are powerful and tenacious. It’s sometimes easy to get them to bite a bait, but often they have lockjaw and can frustrate anglers and captains alike.

I had caught and released a number of tarpon, but those achievements always came under the tutelage of a professional Florida Keys fishing guide.

I wanted to do it myself.

So late last Friday afternoon, I armed myself with the necessary fishing gear, including two conventional reels spooled with 25-pound-test line, two new Key Largo graphite rods, 80-pound test leader and a few 7/0 Owner hooks. I purchased a few live crabs and took off from Islamorada with my wife in our 14-foot Panga with a 40hp Yamaha outboard motor.

(It should be noted that I did tap the expertise of several guides at Bud ‘N’ Mary’s Fishing Marina. Hey, local knowledge is always important.)

We motored to a location close to Lignumvitae Key on the bay side of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway in Islamorada. Just as we arrived on location, a huge tarpon, weighing at least 140 pounds, leaped in front of the boat.

“Did you see that, Maria?” I screamed to my wife.

She had missed it, but it was a good omen. We set the anchor and floated our lines back behind the boat, and it didn’t take long to get that first bite.

In April 2008, former President George H. Bush, left, caught and released a 135-pound tarpon while fishing with guide George Wood, right, in Islamorada. (Photo by Andy Mill)

First, it was just a slight twitch of the rod tip. Then a more pronounced movement. I looked at it, thinking something wasn’t just right and perhaps some seaweed had entangled in the line. But seconds later, the rod doubled over and the reel began screaming as line stripped from the reel.

This was no seaweed for sure.

I remembered previous instructions and held the rod up and started reeling. You never, ever want to jerk the rod back to try to set the hook in a tarpon. Just keep a bend in the rod and, if the tarpon jumps, simply bow to the fish while it’s in the air to loosen up the pressure.

I tried to hand the rod off to my wife because she had never caught a tarpon before.

“No, you need to catch this fish,” she said.

With Maria driving the boat (it was the first time she had piloted a boat to follow a fish), we took off to get some line back, because the tarpon was headed to the open ocean.

Blog author Andy Newman gets ready to go out tarpon fishing. (Photo by Maria Newman)

The fish jumped a half-dozen times, shaking with those big silver scales glistening in the setting sun like hundreds of tiny mirrors. Every time it came out of the water, we reacted with a scream or an “Oh, my God.”

We chased that fish trying to get the leader to the boat because, in order to score an official release, the angler or the captain needs to touch the leader. We came close at least a half-dozen times, but my wife just couldn’t reach out far enough to tap the leader.

The fish took us into shallow water, then into deep water around navigation aids and around stone crab trap buoys. I thought for sure were going to lose it, but about 40 minutes later Maria was able to touch the leader and hold it long enough for me to grab it and break it close to the hook.

We estimated the fish’s weight at about 80 to 100 pounds. It swam away, none the worse for wear (most hooks left in fish eventually corrode away), and we were ecstatic.

Although the sun had set, we figured we should give it one more try. We went back to our location and put out the crabs again. Unbelievably, five minutes later we were on again to another tarpon.

Richard Stanczyk, mentor to Andy and scores of Keys anglers, shows off a nice Spanish mackerel caught on fly off Islamorada. (Photo by Andy Newman)

This time I insisted that Maria take the rod. This was a different fish and, incredibly, I was able to touch the leader after a 10-minute fight. We had officially released two tarpon for the evening, she got her first and we were elated.

I reported the news the next morning to my professional guiding friends.

“So can I book you for a tarpon trip tonight?” my friend Richard asked with a grin.

I politely declined, laughing at the thought, even though I knew Richard was kidding. After all, I’m an amateur when compared to the pros in the Keys who have years of experience under their belts.

Besides, I would have never been able to have caught those fish without the previous experience of fishing with a pro and without “local knowledge.” Not to mention the fact that, for the past few weeks, the tarpon fishing action in the Keys has been simply phenomenal. The fish are seemingly everywhere around the bridges and channels between the ocean and bay.

It reminded me of the very first tarpon I caught and released back 21 years ago.

I had reported the accomplishment to the late Jim Hardie, the longtime outdoors writer at the “Miami Herald.” In his column a few days later he wrote, “If Andy Newman is catching tarpon, they must be biting like fleas.”

I’m here to tell you that’s exactly the case.

Topics: Islamorada, Local Color, Voices Main Archive

In 1822, when Key West was a brand-new seafaring settlement, the U.S. government sent Commodore David Porter to banish pirates from area waters. With his “anti-piracy squadron” of small schooners and barges, Porter pursued his prey into mangrove coves and inlets, persisting until the pirate rogues were gone.

Porter tried to banish buccaneers like these, but they can still be spotted at the annual Key Largo Pirates Fest. (Photo by Bob Care, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Yet even Porter couldn’t vanquish the buccaneering spirit of adventure and individuality that characterized the Florida Keys.

Today, that spirit is one of the most intriguing — and enduring — things about the 125-mile-long island chain. You’ll discover the Keys’ renegade seafaring heritage in museums and attractions, shipwreck and treasure tales, dive and snorkel trips, and sailing cruises aboard historic tall ships.

Many early settlers in Key West and Islamorada were wreckers — salvaging goods from ships that sank along the continental United States’ only living coral barrier reef, which runs parallel to the Keys.

FYI, despite popular myths, the wreckers weren’t lawless outlaws interested only in lining their own pockets. They actually became an early Coast Guard, often rescuing crews and passengers off sinking ships.

At the Key West Shipwreck Museum, visitors can meet "wreckers" and learn their fascinating stories. (Photo courtesy of Historic Tours of America)

Admittedly, they also earned a tidy profit. In the mid-1800s, the wrecking industry made Key West the wealthiest city per capita in the entire U.S.

Current-day visitors to the Keys can relive that era — by touring a Key West wrecking museum where re-enactors portray the industry’s colorful captains and crew. It’s also possible (and fascinating!) to visit Indian Key Historic State Park in the Upper Keys. The 10-acre island was once a busy port established by renowned wrecker Jacob Housman.

Long before the shipwreck salvors arrived, fleets of Spanish galleons sailed regularly past the Keys carrying goods and treasures from the New World home to Spain. Many ships sank in the area — including 13 from Spain’s 1733 fleet, which went down in the waters from Key Largo to Grassy Key.

The exploits of treasure salvage pioneer Art McKee are showcased at the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum. (Photo courtesy of the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum)

Today these shipwreck sites (a few in VERY shallow water) represent some of the oldest artificial reefs in North America. Modern seafarers can take dive or snorkel excursions to explore them, and spot their remaining ballast stones and timbers surrounded by protected corals and marine life.

Popular dive sites include the wreck of El Rubi or Capitana, the flagship of the 1733 fleet. In the late 1930s, Art McKee began salvaging the vessel’s remains — recovering cannons, religious medallions, silver pieces of eight, gold doubloons, weapons, navigational instruments, ship’s fittings and so many silver bars that he was nicknamed “Silver Bar McKee.”

You can find out more about his salvage efforts in a remarkable exhibit at the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum, located in Islamorada.

To discover the Keys’ most famous wreck — dubbed “the shipwreck of the century” by the national press — head for the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West. The museum showcases artifacts and treasures from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, found off Key West in 1985 by shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher after a 16-year search.

Today, Keys adventurers are still salvaging shipwreck glories -- like this centuries-old gold necklace found by divers from Mel Fisher's Treasures. (Photo by Sharon Wiley, Florida Keys News Bureau)

At the museum, you’ll see priceless objects from the Atocha and Santa Margarita, both lost in a 1622 hurricane — including a 77-karat emerald, gold chains, ship’s fittings, navigational instruments, gold and silver coins, and silver bars as big as shoeboxes.

If you want experience the Keys’ seafaring history for yourself, you’ve got two major choices.

First, you can set sail aboard a tall ship or schooner — and maybe even help the crew raise the sails. Many excursion vessels are docked in Key West’s Historic Seaport, once the heart of the island’s salvaging and commercial fishing industries.

Or, if your daydreams focus on the Keys’ piratical past, join brigands and wenches at Key West’s annual Pirates in Paradise Festival or the annual Key Largo Pirates Fest. With activities ranging from “attacking” unsuspecting landlubbers to savoring tankards of grog, they offer a great chance to celebrate the buccaneering spirit that still rules the Keys.

Topics: Festivals, Highlights, History, Islamorada, Key Largo, Key West, Local Color, Voices Main Archive

Forty-three world-class racers competed in NASCAR’s 53rd “Great American Race,” the Daytona 500. Several hundred entrants compete to become “500 Festival Princesses,” ambassadors for the 100th anniversary Indy 500 in Indianapolis.

Navigating the course along Duval Street can be pretty "tiring" -- particularly in towering heels. (Photo by Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau)

And in Key West, more than a dozen of the island city’s drag queens will compete on Duval Street during the 29th annual Great Conch Republic Drag Race.

Not to be confused with high-octane dragsters, our high-heeled drag stars — professional and semi-professional female impersonators — don makeup, sparkling eyelashes, gowns and tutus, big hair and the required three-inch-minimum high heels to vie for top honors in our madcap marathon set for April 23.

Key West’s Bourbon Street Complex hosts this offbeat event to benefit the Petronia Street Neighborhood Association — keeping the neighborhood clean, safe and fun for locals and visitors.

You might see Marilyn Monroe, Joan Rivers, or one of our local bartenders or auto mechanics (complete with goatee and chest hair, high heels and purple tresses) running the obstacle courses while tossing back a shot or two from Duval Street watering holes. A rowdy crowd of several hundred spectators eagerly watches this important competition, and some folks can get downright fierce about championing their favorites.

Some lively lovelies wear sporting attire with their heels -- a smart choice given the course's peculiar challenges. (Photo by Mike Hollar, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Travel Channel International host Gareth Davis joined in the past festivities and produced a fun video of Key West’s drag challenge. My husband Paul created his own video of the races and the crew of the Island House in full regalia.

This year, the racing pits in the 700 block of Duval open at noon with libations for spectators and competitors, and the preliminary races start at 2 p.m. The fast-paced competitive action proceeds through finals at 6 p.m., followed by one of our famous Tea Dances in the street. Don’t forget your camera!

The race isn’t the only standout event this month. April brings Paul Rudnick’s “The New Century” to the Waterfront Playhouse. Directed by Carbonell Award winner Rich Simone, it’s a laugh-out-loud collection of four one-act plays. Tickets are still available, so book before you arrive on the island.

By the way, right now our island is still abloom with bougainvilleas splashing color around the neighborhoods — and the silver palms are full of grape-sized dates, though I’ve never eaten them.

Bougainvillea in bloom gives springtime Key West a vibrant beauty. (Photo by Steve Smith)

Looking ahead, June is Pride month around the world and it’s no different here in Key West. We recently tied with San Francisco for the title of “Best City for Unity Between Gays and Lesbians,” and we won hands-down for “Best City for Unity Between Gays and Straights.”

Key West Pride begins on June 8, following Gay Days in Orlando. Events include contests to choose Mr., Ms., and Miss Pridefest, film screenings, pool parties, a “Drag King” pageant, sunset cruises and late-night swimming gatherings.

In addition, Michele Balan and Jason Stuart headline an evening of comedy and the 801 Bar invites you to visit their dungeon. Topping the event is the annual parade down historic Duval Street. Make your reservations now for the best airfare deals on American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Continental and AirTran.

Recently I was at Palm Beach Pride, and you can catch me at the Gay and Lesbian Travel Expositions in New York City on April 26 and Philadelphia on April 28. Otherwise … I’ll see you in Key West!

Topics: Events, Festivals, Key West, LGBT, Local Color, Quirks