For example, at the recent “Anything That Floats” regatta, even boats that looked about as seaworthy as cottage cheese stayed afloat in the nurturing Key Largo waters while their intrepid crews completed the course.

These party animals paddled to victory in Key Largo's recent "Anything That Floats" race. (Photo by Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Granted, several teams got “that sinking feeling” and anticipated saltwater baths when their craft began to crumble. But that’s hardly surprising — after all, the precarious vessels were cobbled together from materials like lawn furniture, pool noodles, PVC and duct tape.

No, the surprise was that they all somehow held together and made it to the finish line, with more than 700 spectators cheering so hard you’d think they were watching A-Rod hit his 600th homer.

Among the oddly sturdy entries was a vessel built from a converted kiddie pool and empty plastic gas cans. Its mast topped with a tipsy-looking “macaw” holding a margarita glass, the so-called boat actually won the half-mile regatta. This makes sense only when you realize that one of its competitors was composed primarily of a plastic shelving unit.

While these boats stayed afloat against all odds, the best-known vessel associated with Key Largo was intended to sink. In 2002 the Spiegel Grove, a 510-foot retired Navy ship, was poised to become the largest ship ever intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef for divers.

Shortly before its planned scuttling, the Spiegel Grove sank prematurely and rolled over. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

On May 17, 2002, at the site of its planned scuttling off Key Largo (and just hours before the event), the Spiegel Grove unexpectedly sank on its own and flipped over. Crowds of supporters reacted in stunned disbelief.

It wound up on its starboard side in 130 feet of water. And though the sinking went badly wrong, shortly afterward the ship began to attract marine life — large groupers, busy schools of smaller fish, vivid-hued tropicals and more.

For the next three years divers flocked to explore the vessel, not realizing that it (and Key Largo) still had a major surprise in store for them.

In 2005, after Hurricane Dennis skirted the Florida Keys, diver Bob Snyder headed for the ocean floor to check on the Spiegel Grove. What he found was so bizarre that he wondered if he might be suffering from nitrogen narcosis, a condition that makes divers feel giddy or intoxicated.

Shifted upright by nature, the Spiegel Grove (bow shown here) draws dive aficionados from all over the world.

No longer resting on its side, the Spiegel Grove was standing upright on the ocean floor.

Wave action from the passing storm had shifted the vessel into the picture-perfect position originally intended by the sink team. In the deep waters off Key Largo, nature had accomplished what man couldn’t — and today the Spiegel Grove is a “must-dive” site for underwater aficionados from all over the world.

So why does Key Largo have such an unusual effect on boats? Nobody seems to know, but it’s even drawn such venerable vessels as the riverboat from the classic 1951 film “The African Queen.” Navigated on screen by Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, the “Queen” has spent its twilight years sheltered beside a Key Largo hotel.

There's no better way to beat summer heat than by slipping into the cool, clear water that surrounds the Florida Keys. (Photo by Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Unlike most other areas of summertime America, the Keys are surrounded by the perfect antidote for oppressive heat — the refreshing waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Wherever you find yourself along the island chain, you’re never very far from cool, clear saltwater.

For some hard-to-resist summer activities in, on and beside Keys waters, read on.

First, if you’re a diver, dive into adventure with the new Wreck Trek Passport Program — an incredible way to discover the Florida Keys Shipwreck Trail.

How does it work? Basically, it charts a course for certified divers to explore nine shipwrecks from Key Largo to Key West — the Spiegel Grove, Duane, Bibb, Eagle, Thunderbolt, Adolphus Busch Sr., Cayman Salvager, Joe’s Tug and Vandenberg (the trail’s southernmost and most recently scuttled vessel).

The 327-foot former U.S. Coast Guard cutter Duane, a Wreck Trek highlight, is located in 120 feet of water off Key Largo. (Photo by Stephen Frink/Florida Keys News Bureau).

When you book a dive at a participating Keys dive shop, you’ll receive a “passport” or log book for recording your dives — and once you’ve completed at least one plunge in each of the Keys’ five districts, you’ll earn a prize.

Complete all nine wreck dives, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for one of several grand prizes including dive-and-stay lodging packages. The program runs through New Year’s Day, 2012, so there’s plenty of time for a late-summer dive trip or two (or more!).

If you prefer your adventures ON the water instead of UNDER it, check out the popular kiteboarding scene in the Middle Keys — and particularly the Kiteboarding Shop at Hawks Cay Resort. (For those of you who don’t know Hawks Cay, it’s a VERY enticing resort “village,” complete with cozy rental villas, nestled on the 60-acre island of Duck Key just north of Marathon.)

Kiteboarding blends windsurfing, wakeboarding and kite flying — and the Keys climate is warm year-round so the ’boarding season never ends. (Photo by Richard Hallman/Hawks Cay Resort)

Kiteboarding in the area is amazing — buoyed by balmy weather year-round, ever-present breezes and shallow-water flats with seemingly miles of room to ride. Whether you’re a total novice or have some boarding experience, you’ll find courses, equipment rentals and excursions that suit your style at the Hawks Cay emporium.

Want to slip into cool water off a sandy beach? Then indulge yourself at one of the top beaches in America: the pristine sandy expanse at Bahia Honda State Park, ranked the number-two beach in the country in 2009 by TripAdvisor. The highly-rated beach (it has also earned “best beach” raves in a flurry of travel studies, plus kudos from “The New York Times”) is located on Bahia Honda Key in the Lower Keys.

Forget the freezer -- head for a refreshing summer spot like Bahia Honda State Park. (Photo by Bob Krist/Florida Keys News Bureau)

One of the island chain’s most popular camping and recreation areas, Bahia Honda offers deep near-shore waters for swimming and snorkeling. You’ll also find camping, picnicking, watersports, a marina and rental cabins — and a stroll along the Old Bahia Honda Bridge, a historic span that was once part of the fabled Overseas Railroad, reveals an incredible panorama of sea and sky.

*****

I have a slightly demented friend on the Florida mainland who, whenever he can’t stand the summer heat and humidity any more, marches into his kitchen, opens the freezer door and sticks his head inside.

Besides its detrimental effect on his ice cream and frozen food, this practice doesn’t seem to be good for his brain cells (note “slightly demented” above).

Therefore, based on personal observation, I don’t recommend his approach. Instead, save your brain cells — and head for a late-summer break in the Florida Keys.

At some Keys centers, even young children can participate in magical dolphin encounters.

You can solve that dilemma in the Upper and Middle Keys, an area jam-packed with activities sure to make summer days unforgettable for kids and families.

For example …

Make friends with herons, owls, pelicans and egrets at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center. The Florida Keys Wild Bird Center is a bird rehabilitation facility located in Tavernier at mile marker 93.6. An Upper Keys landmark, it’s home to more than 100 ill, injured or orphaned wild birds — all housed in a natural setting on more than five acres of land. The main attraction is the daily pelican feeding, set for about 3:30 p.m., that typically draws hundreds of wild pelicans hungry for fish.

The Florida Keys Wild Bird Center is open every day during daylight hours. There’s no admission fee, but donations are requested.

Marine life and lively parrots intrigue young visitors to Islamorada's Theater of the Sea.

Swim with stingrays, dolphins or sea lions at Theater of the Sea. A lush 17-acre tropical oasis located in Islamorada at mile marker 84.5, Theater of the Sea is filled with scores of fish and marine life, native birds, colorful and engaging parrots, sea turtles, crocodiles and exotic plants. General admission includes live performances by dolphins, sea lions and parrots, a guided tour of marine-life exhibits and a glass-bottom boat tour of their natural saltwater lagoon.

Theater of the Sea also hosts special swim programs with dolphins, stingrays and sea lions for kids as young as 5 — and dolphin wade programs for kids as young as 3. The park opens daily at 9:30 a.m.

Discover shells, fish tanks and history at Crane Point Hammock in Marathon. Crane Point Hammock is a 63-acre environmental and archaeological preserve that offers a wide range of intriguing activities for kids and families.

Several Keys facilities teach kids (and grownups!) about the exotic-looking featured denizens of the island chain.

The historically curious can visit Adderley House, a simple home built in 1906 by a Bahamian immigrant who was a sponge fisherman, boatman and charcoal maker. Adventure seekers can get up close and personal with the museum’s touch tank that features sea urchins and starfish, or explore a large lagoon inhabited by nurse sharks and tropical fish. Nature lovers can hike along one of the nature trails or visit the Marathon Wild Bird Center, a haven for feathered friends in need.

Located at mile marker 50.5, Crane Point Hammock is open Monday though Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

###

For kids (and kids at heart), a world of excitement awaits during “summer vacation” in the Middle and Upper Keys. To discover more “keys” to enjoying the island chain, just click here.

These strange "undersea creatures" were spotted in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary during a past Underwater Music Festival. (Photos by Bill Keogh/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Unless, of course, it’s the second Saturday in July.

That’s the timeframe for the annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, an engagingly weird event that draws as many as 600 divers and snorkelers to boogie to the beat of music beneath the waves.

Staged by a popular local radio station, the submerged songfest takes place at Looe Key Reef, an area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary about six miles south of Big Pine Key.

The station’s playlist — ocean- and water-focused ditties ranging from the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” to humpback whale songs and the themes from “Gilligan’s Island” and “Titanic” — is broadcast to participating divers and snorkelers (and a whole lot of curious fish) on special speakers suspended beneath boats at the reef.

A few years back, divers and snorkelers at the Underwater Music Festival came across a patriotic parade -- on the ocean floor.

While you might think music would be distorted underwater, it’s actually surprisingly clear. Plus there’s an ethereal “surround sound” feeling that comes from the sound waves’ transmission through the water.

Adding to that ethereal quality are the bizarre reef denizens that can be spotted during the event. Unsuspecting divers and snorkelers at past festivals have encountered an underwater brass band complete with tuba, marchers in an ocean-floor patriotic parade, and the “Divas of the Deep” — a trio of female divers costumed as Ella Fish-gerald, Tuna Turner, and (wait for it) Britney Spearfish.

One memorable year even Elvis himself decided to take the plunge, though he wasn’t wearing blue suede fins at the time. Elvis impersonator Neil Goldberg, dressed in a white caped jumpsuit and flashy gold chains, “performed” underwater on a bright red guitar for a mesmerized crowd of “sea fans.”

“The fish seem to be Elvis fans — they’re ‘all shook up’,” The King quipped after resurfacing.

Elvis impersonator Neil Goldberg performs for "sea fans" at a recent Underwater Music Festival.

For the 2010 festival, scheduled July 10, rumor has it that “Alice in Waterland” and her fictional friends will be on hand. Organizers are staging an offbeat salute to the classic tale “Alice in Wonderland” and the 2010 film it inspired, with underwater appearances by divers costumed as Alice, the “Mad Haddock,” “Cheshire Catfish,” and other take-offs on the story’s memorable characters.

Goofy as it seems, this good time has a serious purpose: preserving the Florida Keys’ unique coral reef ecosystem. The musical broadcast incorporates diver awareness announcements by Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials, offering tips on how to enjoy the ocean while minimizing your impact on the reef and marine environment.

So if you’re a music “afishionado,” dive into the doings at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival. And even if you can’t come down and take the plunge, you can share the spirit — by “singing out” about reef preservation.

Ryan Butts of the Keys' Turtle Hospital releases Kentucky, the loggerhead sea turtle, into the Atlantic next to the Seven Mile Bridge. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)

At least, it can make ME cry. There’s something about seeing the turtle slip into its saltwater habitat and swim joyfully away (okay, I’m anthropomorphizing here, but trust me — their entire shell-covered bodies radiate joy) that touches the heart and inspires a powerful sense of oneness with the natural order.

Such was the feeling recently when Ryan Butts, administrator of the Florida Keys Turtle Hospital, released “Kentucky,” a 10-year-old loggerhead sea turtle, into the Atlantic Ocean next to the Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon.

Even before the release, Kentucky (named for his discoverers’ home state) was one lucky creature — because the Turtle Hospital is the probably the best place in the world for a sick or hurt turtle to wind up.

Located in Marathon, the hospital is the world’s only licensed veterinary hospital dedicated to treating sea turtles. It’s so highly acclaimed that airlines have been known to fly turtles injured in the Caribbean to Miami, where hospital staffers meet them in their turtle ambulance (yes, they really have one — I’ve seen it!) and drive them down to the facility for care.

Governor Charlie Crist (shown here at right) helps release a sea turtle in the Keys after its treatment at the Turtle Hospital. (Photo by Bob Care, Florida Keys News Bureau)

The hospital’s primary goal is to treat injured sea turtles and return them to the wild whenever possible. On top of that, founders and staff work tirelessly to raise public awareness about sea turtles and their needs, collaborate with state universities on sea turtle research, and work toward environmental legislation that makes the beaches and water safer and cleaner for their charges.

Each time a “patient” is returned to health, its release is a joyful occurrence. Even Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, has helped send a couple of the recovered creatures back to their watery homes — including a 140-pound green sea turtle that was serendipitously named Charlie.

But turtles aren’t the only marine denizens that find help in the Keys when they need it. Ailing dolphins, whales and manatees encounter willing and dedicated rescuers ready to lend a hand.

Caring professionals do their best to assess and provide what these marine mammals need so they can return to their pods or habitual territory. Assisting the trained professionals are volunteers — parents and kids, energetic 20-somethings and weathered seniors, first-time visitors and longtime residents — drawn together by the need to help.

Rescuers from the Keys' Marine Mammal Conservancy extricate a stranded infant whale from a mangrove island. (Photo by Bob Care, Florida Keys News Bureau)

The volunteers are particularly vital during whale strandings, when one or more whales are found in shallow water, disoriented and often seriously ill. Such whales are generally moved to sheltered lagoons for care and rehabilitation — and people are needed 24/7 to stand in the water holding the “patients” upright to make sure their blowholes remain above water.

A few years back, one of those volunteers was my husband. He doesn’t look like a whale rescuer — he’s stocky, laid-back and not very athletic. But when a pygmy sperm whale was found just a few feet off a popular local pier, he spent 18 hours in the water holding her. And that was after he nonchalantly hopped on a jet ski (for the first time in his life) to provide escort while the whale was transported several miles to a safe lagoon in an in-water sling.

I too had a volunteer assignment: driving the whale’s blood samples to a lab for testing and picking up fishy food rations in my trusty Chevy Explorer, which was quickly nicknamed the Squidmobile.

But what we did wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Each time there’s a turtle or marine mammal in need, dozens of people appear, seemingly out of nowhere, to help with whatever might be necessary at the time.

To me, that’s one of the things that makes the Keys such a magical place. And Kentucky the turtle, if he could reached in his blue-water habitat, would almost certainly agree.

Numerous species of fish, such as this French angelfish, are protected within the boundaries of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. (Photo by Stephen Frink)

This effort is especially important because the Keys are paralleled by the continental United States’ only living coral barrier reef. The reef ecosystem — much like a tropical rainforest — supports an amazing diversity of plants and animals.

To protect part of the reef, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was established off the Upper Keys in 1963 as America’s first underwater preserve. Visitors to this remarkable spot can observe wildlife through experiences such as snorkeling, scuba, kayaking and glassbottom boat tours.

Pennekamp is incorporated into the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, widely regarded as a national treasure, which was established in 1990 by the U.S. government.

The sanctuary contains 2,800 square nautical miles of coastal and ocean waters and submerged lands. Surrounding the entire Keys, it also includes vast stretches of Florida Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Protected refuge areas throughout the Florida Keys provide a nesting, roosting and foraging habitat for egrets like this one.

Within its boundaries you’ll find mangrove islands, historic shipwrecks filled with rare artifacts, tropical fish and other marine life — and the sanctuary’s creation means these ecological, historical, and recreational wonders can be responsibly managed.

The Lower Keys are home to the National Key Deer Refuge, established in 1957 to protect and preserve habitats for wildlife — particularly the tiny, shy Key deer. A subspecies of the Virginia white-tailed deer, Key deer average 60 to 100 pounds fully grown and are about the size of a big dog.

The refuge’s 9,000-plus acres include mangrove forests, freshwater and salt marsh wetlands, pine rockland forests and tropical hardwood hammocks. Besides Key deer, these native habitats sustain 21 other threatened and endangered plant and animal species.

A subspecies of the Virginia white-tailed deer, the shy and engaging Key deer are approximately the size of a large dog.

And the best news? Since the refuge’s creation, its deer population has increased from a near-extinct 50 or fewer to a thriving herd of 600 to 700 — making it a wonderful environmental success story.

The Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1938, provides safe nesting and breeding areas for great white herons and other migratory birds and wildlife. White herons are North America’s largest wading bird and, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they’re found only in the Keys and on the South Florida mainland.

Stretching between Key West and Marathon, the refuge features more than 375 square miles of open water and islands in the Gulf of Mexico — reached primarily by kayak, canoe or shallow-draft boat.

A few years ago, the Florida Keys’ first wildlife refuge celebrated its 100th birthday.

In 1908, then-President Theodore Roosevelt created the Key West National Wildlife Refuge to protect and preserve a breeding ground for migratory species. At that time, the hunting of huge numbers of birds for their colorful feathers (considered the must-have decoration for fashionable women’s hats) was decimating migratory bird populations.

For decades, great white herons and other migratory birds have found a haven in the Keys.

“The plume trading industry was so lucrative that in 1903 an ounce of bird feathers was worth $32 — twice the price of gold,” said Anne Morkill, manager of the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex.

Lying west of Key West and accessible only by boat, the century-old refuge stretches 10 miles wide and 25 miles long. It provides nesting, roosting and foraging habitat for more than 250 species such as the roseate tern, osprey, bald eagle and magnificent frigate bird.

Thanks to the foresight of the people who created the wildlife haven, and the Keys’ other preserves, the island chain’s priceless natural resources have been protected and nurtured. May that protection continue … for at least the next 100 years.

The Florida Keys, a realm of unparalleled natural beauty, remain untouched to date by any oil from the Gulf spill.

In fact, despite mid-May reports of some tar balls found on area beaches, things are pretty much normal in the Florida Keys and Key West.

As a 30-year Key West resident, I can tell you that even finding tar balls isn’t wildly abnormal. The Keys are seafaring islands, and they’re located fairly close to some major commercial shipping lanes. Sometimes, unfortunately, commercial vessels dump bilge water that has oil in it. So sometimes tar balls wash up.

These days, though, the oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico has people on red alert — and tar balls that might go unnoticed and unreported at other times are now big news.

Very quickly after the Keys tar balls were found, Coast Guard lab analysis proved they weren’t from the Gulf oil spill. Yet even with that proof, people who don’t know how things happen in the Keys are worried.

Keys waters are prime territory for watersports enthusiasts -- and concerns about the Gulf oil spill have not changed that. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

That’s not a surprise. It’s kind of heartwarming, actually, to see so many people acknowledging the Keys environment as one of America’s national treasures and worrying about its protection and future.

On May 19, experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that a small amount of oil — what they called light to very light sheens — had apparently reached the Loop Current, which might carry it near or past the Keys in coming days. If it does, NOAA said, the oil will be significantly weathered by then, and would most likely show up in isolated locations in the form of tar balls.

On the other hand, they reported that it might get caught in a clockwise eddy in the middle of the Gulf, and remain far from the Keys.

No matter how the oil spill situation unfolds, those who love the Keys are certain the islands' magic will endure and flourish. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

No matter how the Gulf oil spill situation unfolds, however, those of us who’ve lived here a long time have a deep belief that the Florida Keys will endure.

If oil from the spill does travel near or past the island chain, we will use every resource we can muster to protect our reef, our mangroves, and our wildlife. We’ll buckle down, but we won’t buckle under — we will live our lives, work together to do whatever has to be done, and emerge with our beloved islands as unique and as wonderful as ever.

And that’s a “reality check” you can take to the bank.

Yes, there’s a possibility that the oil might get caught up in the Loop Current and be carried down Florida’s west coast, through or past the Keys, and up the state’s east coast.

But it’s just that. A possibility. No one really knows for sure, yet there are some out there — including some scientists — who love to speculate and are saying they’re “absolutely certain” we’re going to get the oil.

At the moment, it’s staying well north of the Loop Current, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists who provide information to responders. But that’s not stopping the Chicken-Little-like rumors, both word-of-mouth and floating around the blogosphere, that say the Keys will see oil in a few days.

By the way, don’t know what the Loop Current is? I didn’t know either, until last week. Basically, it’s a clockwise current that carries water from the Yucatan Channel into the Gulf of Mexico, then back down Florida’s west coast and past the Dry Tortugas, finally exiting into the Gulf Stream.

Wherever the oil flows or makes landfall along the Gulf coast, it’s almost certain to have a negative effect on people, wildlife, the environment and the economy. From Louisiana’s sensitive marshlands to the Keys’ magnificent living coral reef, the Gulf of Mexico region is filled with environmental treasures that deserve all the protection they can get.

What they don’t deserve is a massive oil spill. And the people who live in the Gulf region deserve compassion and sensitivity at this critical time — not sensationalistic chatter that increases fear about the path or potential impacts of the spill.

The Florida Keys tourism council is leading an effort to make sure that, whether the oil gets caught up in the Loop Current or not, its path and effects are reported honestly and accurately. On the Keys’ official tourism website, you’ll find the latest news about the spill, trajectory maps and 72-hour forecasts, links to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration site and other resources, and a Q & A that offers down-to-earth insights into the situation. The information is updated at least once daily.

In addition, for live, real-time views of the Keys’ clear waters and unspoiled shorelines, check out the island chain’s long-established webcams. Throughout the Keys, more than 40 cams are broadcasting images from area beaches, waterfront bars and restaurants, underwater sites and even Mallory Square, home of Key West’s nightly Sunset Celebration overlooking the harbor.

Of course private and governmental groups are working 24/7 to contain the oil. So keep your fingers crossed that the spill’s effects — wherever they’re felt, whether in the Keys or elsewhere in the beautiful Gulf region — will be as minimal and short-lived as possible.

Deer Run takes its name from the tiny, shy Key deer that wander its tranquil grounds. (All photos courtesy of Deer Run)

One of the undisputed highlights of this tranquil region is Deer Run Bed and Breakfast.

Deer Run lies down a winding road on Big Pine Key, nestled on a secluded, tree-shaded Atlantic Ocean beach close to two wildlife preserves. And when you arrive, you’ll find an environmental focus that extends far beyond the property’s location: virtually every aspect of the small Caribbean-style inn reflects its innkeepers’ earth-friendly mindset.

For example, breakfast means vegetarian feasts prepared by Jennifer DeMaria, who owns Deer Run with her fiancé Harry Appel. You’ll savor home-baked breads and fruits, predominantly organic and sourced locally — plus organic and fair-trade coffee and tea that are an absolute delight.

Each morning, Jen dreams up vegetarian feasts to delight hungry guests. Most of the food she serves is organic and locally sourced.

In addition, all the guestrooms feature organic cotton towels, and cruelty-free eco-friendly products are used throughout the inn. Lighting at the property is 90-percent solar powered.

Deer Run’s grounds feature surprising nooks, shady areas and a hammock for lounging. Jen and Harry have an organic garden and water for irrigation is collected in rain barrels. They even use a biodiesel tractor for maintaining Deer Run’s Atlantic-front beach that’s surrounded by shade trees and plants.

The beach, by the way, is a small treasure — and guests aren’t alone in favoring the sandy spot. It’s not unusual to see tiny Key deer, a rare species that’s protected and cherished in the Lower Keys, wandering unconcernedly along the beach and shoreline.

As well as putting their eco-friendly philosophy into practice at their inn, Jen and Harry encourage guests to enjoy low-impact nature-oriented activities throughout the Lower Keys.

Kayaking from the secluded Atlantic-front beach is a favorite "green" pastime -- and allows exploration of the Lower Keys' fascinating and diverse environment.

They might suggest you check out the beautiful beach and indigenous plantings at Bahia Honda State Park, explore the nearby National Key Deer Refuge, try snorkeling or diving Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, or kayak in the shallow mangrove areas rich in bird life.

Actually, you don’t even have to leave the property to try your kayaking skills. To promote the use of people-powered instead of engine-powered water craft, Jen and Harry keep kayaks on hand for their guests’ use — plus an intriguing aqua bike.

As you might expect, the protected hideaway is a mecca for environmentally savvy travelers. But they’re not the only ones taking notice of Deer Run.

In late 2007, the eco-friendly haven became the Lower Florida Keys’ first certified member of the Florida Green Lodging Program, created to recognize the state’s environmentally conscious accommodations.

Rainwater is collected to irrigate the trees and plants that surround the eco-friendly hideaway.

In 2009, it was named to the “Islands Magazine” Blue List that celebrates leaders and innovators in sustainable travel. Of the 24 worldwide honorees on the list, Deer Run was the only one in the continental United States.

Most recently, Jen and Harry’s piece of paradise earned a prestigious Green Living Award from the Keys’ Green Living & Energy Education organization. Winners are chosen for their efforts in conserving natural resources, reducing waste and lessening environmental impact.

“When we came here, we expected to work very hard, deliver something different than people expect — better than people even know they want or need — and do it while having a sense of gratitude and respect for our natural surroundings and community,” said Jen.

Luckily for the guests who discover Deer Run, the engaging pair has succeeded … on all counts.

"Sunrise in Big Pine" showcases both Valerie Fecher's talent and passion for the natural world. (Photos provided by Valerie Fecher)

Her inspiration to become a shutterbug came from her mother, a painter, who also passed her artistic drive down to Valerie’s sisters. One became a sculptor and the other a craftsperson.

The natural world also has exerted an ongoing influence on Valerie, dating from a 1967 family camping trip in Alaska. These days, she goes regularly to the Everglades with her lobsterman father, where they ride around on their airboat capturing images that she uses in her shows. On one of their treks, she was lucky enough to spot and photograph a rarely seen Florida panther.

Valerie grew up in Miami but, by the time she turned 14, her parents had chosen to move farther south.

Valerie is influenced by her family's creative heritage and love of the outdoors.

“In 1971, my parents decided to leave the rat race behind and move me and my two sisters down to the Keys,” said Valerie, who lived on Big Pine Key and attended Marathon High School. “Big Pine was a small rural area back then and they liked that.”

After graduating from high school, she attended Florida Keys Community College, where she honed her darkroom skills in the medium of black-and-white photography. She later received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from Miami’s Florida International University.

Valerie eventually built a darkroom in her home that she used to develop her photos until it seemed the right time to embrace digital photography.

Nature and the water play a large role in her work, so she often takes off in a kayak right from her property on Big Pine to seek compelling images.

Valerie's "Clouds Out Back" contrasts the stillness of the water with the light-drenched energy of the billowy clouds.

While photographing outdoor subjects is her primary passion, portrait photography is Valerie’s second love. She even enjoys shooting portraits of local kids dressed up for Halloween.

Today, she’s a member of Big Pine’s Artists in Paradise Gallery, where her mother is a founding member, and happily displays her work in the gallery’s shows.

“I’ve been with them about a decade, and the photography I show is mostly images from the Everglades and the Keys,” Valerie said. “The gallery has grown tremendously over the years from its original 13 members.”

Her husband, a fishing guide, shares her love of the outdoors. Most of their vacations are very active, generally including kayaking or snorkeling.

It’s hardly surprising that Valerie’s life and photos are inextricably entwined. Each reflects her passion for the beauty of the natural world she finds in the Florida Keys — the island chain that is both her home and her inspiration.