Though the Keys are an extension of the Florida peninsula, they're a world apart. They can be divided into three groups — the Upper Keys, the Middle Keys, and the Lower Keys. Each island group has its own unique history, culture, and activities.

First discovered by Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century, the Keys have been home to pirates, smugglers, salvagers, shipwreck survivors, and now retirees and urbanites from Miami seeking the paradise of their dreams. Novels, films, and folklore have portrayed the Keys as a place of sultry romance and intrigue. In fact, nature dominates them.

The 127-mile Overseas Highway connecting the Keys began as the Overseas Railroad, the brainchild of Henry Flagler. Reporters nicknamed it “Flagler's Folly.” Constructed by thousands of men, more than 700 of whom died during the project, the railroad, begun in 1906 and finished in 1912, became “the eighth wonder of the world,” according to newspaper accounts. In the first year alone, 130 workers drowned in a hurricane. And in 1909, another hurricane washed away 40 miles of track and embankment. The track bed ran over viaducts of imported German cement, still standing today. On January 22, 1912, the Extension Special departed Miami with Flagler riding in his own luxurious railcar, the Rambler, and with four passenger cars filled with reporters and dignitaries. Key West welcomed Flagler's train with open arms. His dream had come to fruition, but two dozen years later, a horrific Labor Day hurricane swept the railroad into the sea.

In 1938, workers completed the Overseas Highway, also known as Route 1, laying it out over the rail route and utilizing Flagler's bridges. With the roadway only 22 feet wide, bridge crossings were hair-raising experiences and stuck drawbridges caused endless traffic jams, so travelers partied along the roadside to pass the time. Many of the bridges have since been replaced, including a new Seven Mile Bridge, constructed at a cost of $45 million, which opened in the early 1980s. The old bridges have since become long fishing piers.

The Upper Keys — Key Largo through Long Key — are nearest to the great Florida Reef. Beautiful corals captivate divers as well as passengers of the glass-bottom boats. Bird lovers seek out many rare winged birds. From backcountry guide fishing to the thrilling hunt for deep-sea big game, the fishing is great year-round near Islamorada.

Islamorada, which means “purple isles,” was so named by Spanish explorers because of the way the beaches, covered with purple janthina (sea snail) shells found there in the spring, looked at a distance. It is the centerpiece of a 20-mile strip of islands including Plantation Key, Windley Key, and Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys, collectively known as Islamorada. The Calusa Indians enslaved or killed shipwrecked sailors here. Today, fishing is king, and tales of catches of giant tarpon and marlin are common.

The town of Marathon sits in the center of the Middle Keys — Long Key to Seven Mile Bridge. The Marathon of yesterday was on the route of ocean lanes sailed by pirates Jean Lafitte, Henry Morgan, and Edward Teach, the notorious Blackbeard. On these same ocean lanes today sail thousands of sportsmen-vacationers who enjoy fishing, scuba diving, and snorkeling.

The Lower Keys, which comprise forty-eight various size islands, begin at Mile Marker 40 below the Seven Mile Bridge and continue to Mile Marker 5. They're different from the rest of the Keys — different in their geological makeup, different in their plants and animals, and different in their pace. Mostly, they have a foundation of fossilized coral, interspersed with limestone granules called oolite. On some, pine trees flourish, while on others tropical hardwood trees festooned with bromeliads and orchids thrive in the tropical climate. Generally, life is slower here, more laid-back, more Caribbean.