Lookout Lodge For those of you who don’t like the pursuit of our spiny crustaceans, we just wanted to keep you advised of a bevy of events taking place throughout the Keys through the balance of the year. Lookout Lodge Resort is ideally located for you to participate in or partake of the festivities all through the Keys. Check out… this Event Calender and then our website. http://www.fla-keys.com/calendarofevents/, www.lookoutlodge.com

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Florida Keys & Key West events from the Official Florida Keys Tourism Council

www.fla-keys.com

Search the Florida Keys & Key West events calendar from the Official Florida Keys Tourism Council. View Florida Keys events and activities by month and region – Key West, Lower Keys, Marathon, Islamorada and Key Largo.

Another Lobster Mini-Season has been entered into the memories (and stomachs) of 40 or so guests here at Lookout Lodge Resort. It was great fun watching as they shared the grilles and their recipes for our local delicacy. Friendships were made, stories were told and dreams of next year were born. Be a part of the fun next year. www.lookoutlodge.com

History of Diving Museum: Free Admission to All Active Duty Military Personnel Located at MM 82.9 bayside, the museum is offering free admission to all active duty military personnel – and up to five immediate family members including spouses or children – as part of the nationwide Blue Star Museums program. Spouses of deployed military also are eligible. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Contact: 305-664-9737
Email: info@divingmuseum.org

Lobster Fest at Holiday Isle A wildly entertaining evening of fresh lobster (bring in your own catch to cook!), live entertainment, costume contest and the mechanical bull. Headliner Amber Leigh is to play at 10 p.m., with her crossover country sound mixed with rock, soul and Celtic. Hours from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., Holiday Isle Tiki Bar.
Contact: 305-664-2321

History of Diving Museum presents: FREE Seminar Series This month’s free seminar is to be themed “Breaking Ground as a Female Navy Diver.” Starts at 7 p.m. at Diving Museum, mile marker 83 in Islamorada. Immerse yourself in the fun!
Contact: 305-664-9737
Email: info@divingmuseum.org

Islamorada Swordfish Tournament This modified release tournament benefits the Billfish Foundation, and is the first leg of the Florida Swordfish Series. Anglers compete for valuable prizes, including a $10,000 cash payout to the overall series champion and another $5,000 to the angler with the largest fish in the series.
Contact: Richard Peeples 305-282-1006
Email: Supersti@aol.com

Islamorada Invitational Fall Fly Bonefish Tournament Fly anglers are to pursue Islamorada bonefish, some of the largest and smartest in the world, at this all-release tournament.
Contact: Charlotte Ambrogio 305-942-0428
Email: csasun@aol.com

History of Diving Museum presents: FREE Seminar Series This month’s free seminar is to be given by Eric Smith, themed “Adventures in Underwater Exploration.” Starts at 7 p.m. at Diving Museum, mile marker 83 in Islamorada. Immerse yourself in the fun!
Contact: 305-664-9737
Email: info@divingmuseum.org

Herman Lucerne Memorial Backcountry Tournament Up to 100 anglers will be competing for snook, tarpon, redfish, sea trout, snapper, bonefish and black drum against the backdrop of Everglades National Park.
Contact: Charlotte Ambrogio 305-942-0428
Email: csasun@aol.com

Lookout Lodge Resort has 2, count um 2 firworks shows that can be watched from our beach on July 4th.

9PM the Annual Rotery fireworks display from Founders Park, and at 10PM the Marker 88 Fireworks display (Next Door!)

Enjoy a safe and happy 4th of July with us at Lookout Lodge Resort.

(no personal fireworks allowed)

Click on the link for a short video!

Florida Keys Outfitters IGFA Inshore World Championship Tournament winners from around the world compete for one of the most prized trophies in angling. The tournament features inshore fishing for permit, tarpon, bonefish, redfish and snook.
Contact: Denise Scoble or Sandy Moret at (305) 664-5423
Email: sandy@floridakeysoutfitters.com

History of Diving Museum presents: FREE Seminar Series This month’s free seminar is to be given by NOAA’s Ellen Prager, themed “Bringing Marine Science to the Public.” Starts at 7 p.m. at Diving Museum, mile marker 83 in Islamorada. Immerse yourself in the fun!
Contact: 305-664-9737
Email: info@divingmuseum.org

Islamorada Fishing Club RedGhost Stalk Anglers compete to catch redfish and bonefish, the gray ghost of the flats. Winners qualify for the IGFA Inshore Championship. The tournament is open to anglers ages 11 to 25.
Contact: Jim and Sherri Trice (305) 664-3864
Email: trice_j@bellsouth.net

The Florida Keys Scenic Highway may be the closest you’ll ever come to driving on water.
By Stacy Tillilie

It’s been called “the Highway That Goes to Sea,” “the most spectacular highway in the U.S.” and even “the Road to Paradise.” It’s the kind of road that not only gets you some place but takes you somewhere. And it’s 1 of only 31 roads in the country that’s deemed an All-American Road by the National Scenic Byways Program, sealing its reputation as a destination in itself.

It is the Florida Keys Scenic Highway, a 106.5-mile ribbon of road wrapping across 42 bridges over the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay and unfolding through some of Mother Nature’s most generous gifts: seamless stretches of calm turquoise waters and vast blue skies; patches of mangroves and palm trees bowing in the breeze; and a string of lazy little islands, or keys—some seemingly so fragile that if you blink, they might disappear with the tide. But you don’t merely look at the scenery here; you’re engulfed in it.

You could drive the scenic highway from Key Largo to Key West, which follows in the tracks of oil tycoon Henry Flagler’s ill-fated Florida East Coast Railway (defunct spans of which still stand parallel to today’s modern highway), in just a few hours. But linger for an entire day to fully experience these islands where nature remains untouched and life is laid-back. And along the way, take time to drop a line off an old fishing pier, enjoy Conch cuisine, explore little-known museums, or relax on a beach and keep watch for birds and dolphins in the distance.

Your journey begins in the Dive Capital of the World: Key Largo, home to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (Mile Marker 102.5), the first undersea park in the U.S. Snorkel or take a glass-bottom boat to explore the living reef, teeming with a menagerie of coral and hundreds of species of fish. Or dive to see the nine-foot-tall bronze Christ of the Deep statue, or scuba to the Spiegel Grove artificial reef.

Continuing south from Key Largo, you’ll come upon Islamorada, the Sportfishing Capital of the World. Here, you can take a charter boat to fish for everything from mahi-mahi to tarpon to bonefish. Or stay on land to visit the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum (Mile Marker 83), showcasing the world’s largest collection of diving helmets and artifacts.

At the heart of the highway is Marathon, home to the Crane Point Museums (Mile Marker 50.5)—composed of the Museum of Natural History of the Florida Keys and the Florida Keys Children’s Museum, as well as a preserved tropical hardwood hammock. Kids will especially enjoy touring the nearby Turtle Hospital (Mile Marker 48.5) and getting up close with its resident sea turtles.

Back on the highway, you’ll reach the famous Seven Mile Bridge (Mile Marker 47), one of the world’s longest bridges stretching 6.79 miles over open water. When the original bridge was completed in the early 1900s, it was called “the eighth wonder of the world.” The new bridge, completed in 1982, runs alongside its predecessor, which now serves as a fishing pier and walking trail.

Next come Bahia Honda Bridge (Mile Marker 36)—get your camera ready for the boundless vistas—and Bahia Honda State Park (Mile Marker 37), renowned as one of the top 10 beaches in the U.S. Here, you can camp, swim, fish, snorkel, hike and kayak.

Traveling the last leg of your journey is the gateway to Key West, where the highway ends at Mile Marker 0, the southernmost point in the continental U.S., just 90 miles from Cuba. Key West is where you’ll want to spend days—if not a lifetime—retracing the steps of authors, U.S. presidents and pirates; snorkeling, diving and fishing; popping in and out of shops, art galleries, and open-air restaurants and bars; and celebrating the sunset, as locals and visitors alike do at the end of every day.

You’ve come a long way. You’ve virtually driven on water. Bring a towel, and as they say, leave only bubbles.

Top 5 Little-Known Finds

While you’re exploring those places in the Keys you’ve always heard about, take time to discover these lesser-known locations you’ve likely never heard of: Long Key State Park (Mile Marker 67.5), once a luxury fishing resort, where you can still enjoy some of the area’s best bonefishing.

Grassy Key, where kids can learn about and interact with Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins and California sea lions at the Dolphin Research Center (Mile Marker 59).

Big Pine Key, home to the National Key Deer Refuge (near Mile Marker 31), the habitat of the endangered Key deer.

Looe Key (off of Big Pine Key), a reef that’s also a national marine sanctuary and regarded by those in-the-know as one of the world’s best snorkeling and scuba locations—along with being the site of the annual Underwater Music Festival.

Pigeon Key, featuring a museum exploring the history of Henry Flagler’s railroad and the lives of the workers who resided on the island (Mile Marker 45).

—ST

Photos courtesy of Floridakeys.com.