WE ’ RE MIDWAY THROUGH June, which means the island is blanketed in a gluey humidity that makes a short walk to the postbox feel like wading through tapioca. South Florida ’ s particularly damp trade name of summer estrus is known for making even the brightest brains feel boggy and decelerate. fortunately, Key West is chock wide of fascinating museums where both kids and adults can attempt to stave off the cognitive decline that begins to take hold when the temperature hits 88 degrees. If you ’ rhenium fresh in township, or if you ’ re just desperate for a position to escape the inflame and possibly learn a few things while you ’ re cooling off, check out some of Key West ’ s best places to expand your beware .
Ernest Hemingway House
907 whitehead St. www.hemingwayhome.com He might be better known for his written works ( or his bibulous antics ) but one thing ’ sulfur for surely : dad had bang-up taste in real estate. Check out Hemingway ’ s Key West digs, which — along with the respect of having housed the writer while he penned some of his most long-familiar works — was besides the first sign of the zodiac on the island to have a swim pool. You can ’ triiodothyronine swim in it today, but you can admire the many six-toed cats that laze around it, said to be descendants of Hemingway ’ s original polydactyl feline friends. The museum is rid to locals every sidereal day and boasts an eclectic collection of Hemingway ’ s erstwhile possessions .
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Ingham ( WHEC-35 ) Maritime Museum & National Historic Landmark
Southard Street at the Truman Waterfront www.uscgingham.org You don ’ t need a arrange of ocean legs to visit this ship — it ’ s safely docked at harbor, and, after being decommissioned by the Coast Guard, now serves as a non-profit veterans museum honoring those killed in legal action during WWII and Vietnam. The ship is one of lone two preserved Treasury-class U.S. Coast Guard tender ships, and the most decorated in the fleet, with two presidential Unit Citations to her list. now a national landmark, the Ingham hosts day by day tours, including an excellent happy hour deal : $ 5 buy you a tag onboard and your foremost drink .
Key West Lighthouse & Keeper ’ south Quarters Museum
938 whitehead St. www.kwahs.org nowadays, you can purchase a GPS arrangement for your gravy boat that will navigate you around the ball and will tell you jokes along the manner. But spinal column in the nineteenth century, the likelihood of crashing your transport in the shallows off Key West was potent enough to support a enormously profitable wrecking occupation ( basically a legal interpretation of finder ’ south keepers. ) The administration of Key West ’ s naval base in 1823 solidified the desperate motivation for a beacon to guide boats safely through the straights. Over the run of its active service, Key West ’ s beacon played host to a range of weather Keepers and their families ( including, preferably shockingly at the time, a female Keeper in 1848. ) Peruse their belongings, climb the 88 steps up to the top of the light and learn how this once full of life beacon served to protect thousands of ships before being decommissioned in 1969 .
free on the first Sunday of every month for locals, while any child presently matriculating at a Monroe County school may enter the museum for free year-round .
Custom House Museum
281 Front St. www.kwahs.org today it serves as the official headquarters of the Key West Art & Historical Society, but over the class of its past life sentence, the Key West Custom House has been home to a variety of Key West businesses, including the island ’ randomness postal service, zone courts, dark blue and port of entrance serve center. Despite early bibulous antics that about prevented its structure, the build is considered an architectural icon of Key West ; it towers over the harbor with a loss brick façade that is immediately recognizable amidst the endless blocks of wooden homes that surround it. impeccably restored and immediately used as a museum, this beautiful example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture is home to some of Key West ’ s most frequently photograph outdoor sculptures. Meander through the galleries and learn about the history of Key West through family-friendly exhibits on some of the island ’ s most pivotal moments. limited exhibits from a wide image of artists are besides scheduled throughout the year. respective discounts on ticket price are available throughout the summer for locals, seniors, students and small children .
Truman Little White House
111 Front St. www.trumanlittlewhitehouse.org Discover the bewitching history behind this once active “ Little White House, ” which served as a base of operations for President Harry S. Truman during some of the most celebrated moments of his presidency. The museum offers regular tours by the most intimate docents in township ; they ’ ll fill you in on the house ’ mho farseeing and storied background ( Truman wasn ’ t the entirely U.S. president of the united states to make use of the Little White House ) while you peruse a collection of fine antiques and relics. Located inside the picturesque Truman Annex development, the surrounding area is lushly landscaped with fledged palms, perfective for a shady stroll down charming residential lanes. release to locals for the entire calendar month of June .
Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Gardens
5210 College Road www.keywest.garden While not technically a museum, the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Gardens offer visitors a opportunity to get lost in a alcoholic, frost-free wilderness that spans 11 acres and features numerous National Champion trees. The garden hosts an low-cost Speaker Series throughout the summer ( the approaching speak on aeroponics and advance garden engineering on June 16 is certain to draw a push ) and the besiege gardens are a fantastic, semi-wild put where families can enjoy outdoor sculpt, rare plants and excellent bird watch. ground markers point out some of the garden ’ s most matter to specimens. Locals free the first gear Sunday of each month .
Shipwreck Museum
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1 whitehead St. www.keywestshipwreck.com A solicitation of costume actors, abruptly films and artifacts make up the Key West Shipwreck Museum, which seeks to educate the public on Key West ’ randomness past as a shipwreck salvager ’ sulfur paradise. Get an in-person expect at the valuable loot that 19th-century “ wreckers ” ( played with varying degrees of enthusiasm by actors ) salvaged from actual shipwrecks off Key West. But the view ( and cinch ) from the 65-foot loom is what makes this museum worth it for us — there just aren ’ triiodothyronine that many places in Key West to get a bird ’ s eye view of the island .
Audubon House and Tropical Gardens
205 whitehead St. www.audubonhouse.com Dedicated to the art of celebrate ornithologist John James Audubon, Key West ’ s Audubon House and Tropical Gardens is a fantastic reprieve from the sun. Vibrant tropical gardens overflowing with orchids and bromeliads surround the historic firm, which, in addition to its gallery of first edition works by Audubon himself, besides houses a carefully curated solicitation of age-old furniture and china. Slated for demolition in 1958, the house was saved by affluent Key West locals Mitchell and Frances Wolfson, who paid for painstaking renovations, making the house the first official restoration project in Key West and inspiring a wave of architectural rehabilitation projects in what is nowadays historic Old Town .
Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center
35 E. Quay Road www.floridakeys.noaa.gov For anyone with even a obscure pastime in the ocean, The Eco-Discovery Center is a definite do-not-miss during your trip to Key West. The kernel houses 6,000 square feet of synergistic exhibits centered on the delicate submerged ecosystem of the Florida Keys. From living reef exhibits on coral restoration to an in-depth search at how marine scientists live submerged for weeks at a meter during research trips, this family-friendly kernel is a great place to flee the heat and expand your mind. Spend an hour making your room through exhibits mimicking the versatile habitats found in the Keys, including hardwood hammocks and mangrove shorelines. then take in an unexpectedly moving short-circuit movie by celebrated film maker Bob Talbot. The gift patronize is stocked with educational toys and souvenirs beyond the common commemorative T-shirts and baseball hats .
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum
200 Greene St. www.melfisher.org If the Shipwreck Museum left you craving more buried treasure, make your manner to Mel Fisher ’ second Maritime Museum, which offers an expansive case of Fisher ’ s celebrated treasure-hunting efforts ( both the failures and epic successes ), arsenic well as a series of profoundly poignant exhibits dedicated to the history of the transatlantic slave trade. See substantial spanish galleons discovered by Fisher and his crowd and learn about the conservation efforts and research programs the Mel Fisher arrangement performs to this day. Of course, there ’ s a gift denounce decked out in real ( and, for the more economically limited, realistic-looking reproduction ) care for if you ’ re so slope to take some home with you .
Key West aquarium
1 whitehead St. www.keywestaquarium.com Can an aquarium be cute ? If it can, the Key West Aquarium surely fits the bill. This is no Sea World ; the exhibits are little, but what this wee museum lacks in distance, it more than makes up for in character. There are daily nurse shark and ray feedings ( do not miss these ), colored displays of local and not-so-local fish, enthusiastic employees cook to bend a knee to explain exhibits to children, a touch tank car, and a kind of alfresco rehab out back where a handful of aquatically challenged turtles have found a supportive home .
Ripley ’ s Believe it or not
108 Duval St. www.ripleys.com Yes, it ’ s a chain. And yes, it ’ s a little touristed. But this self-proclaimed Odditorium is besides a bang-up plaza to beat the hotness. Relax in the air-cool 10,000 square feet of exhibit quad as you peruse thousands of eclectic odds, ends, and the casual taxidermied white american bison. There ’ randomness enough outlandishness to keep children and adults busy for hours — including a mind-bogglingly ocular illusion burrow, which will make you dizzy enough to lie down for the rest of the afternoon. The museum offers occasional discounts on tickets and coupons available at most hotel concierge desks, a well as 50 percentage off to locals every day .
Old Town Trolley
1 whitehead St. www.trolleytours.com Conch Tour Train 303 Front St. www.conchtourtrain.com If you like your museums mobile with a side of sea cinch, you ’ five hundred do well to koran a seat on one of the Old Town Trolley or Key West Conch Train tours. The two offer exchangeable tours in terms of content— you ’ ll get a narrate history of the island while your tour conductor drives past assorted points of interest—but streetcar tours offer the option of hopping on or off at one ’ randomness leisure, while the conch train ( technically more of a series of complect mini-cars ) is an continuous 90 minutes directly. Both offer ample discounts to military, seniors, children, and second-day consecutive riders. And for the month of June, both Old Town Trolley and the Conch Train are reserving the beginning four seats on their vehicles for locals, who can ride for complimentary with proof of residency on a inaugural arrive, first serve footing. ( The deal besides works for the first Ghosts & Gravestones trolley tour of every evening. )
ghost Tours and Ghost Hunts
301 Whitehead St and 1102 Duval St. www.hauntedkeywest.com With Key West frequently listed as one of the most haunt towns in America, there ’ s plenty of recorded creepy gorge that ’ s gone gloomy on this bantam island to make a ghost go here worth checking out at least once. Whether or not you choose to believe is up to you, but it ’ mho surely fun either manner. There are normally enough historically confirmable anecdotes to please skeptics, while dear extrasensory enthusiasts will enjoy the opportunity to photograph touch ectoplasm at respective haunted spots around town. There are tours to suit all tastes— walk tours, streetcar tours, individual tours, and even tours that take visitors inside East Martello Fort to view the infamously powerful Robert the Doll. Just remember to ask his license before taking his photograph— the walls are lined with letters from those who didn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate and paid the price.
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Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory
1316 Duval St. www.keywestbutterfly.com
If you want to feel like Snow White during your visit to Key West, look no further than the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory—a charming indoor garden wide of hundreds of butterflies that will settle on your nose and your toes as you explore amongst the tropical plants and waterfalls. The Conservatory is besides home to over twenty alien bird species, including a nonmigratory couple of flamingoes named Rhett and Scarlett. ( Ornithophiles can even get up near and personal with the duo— “ flamingling ” is available to the public between 4:45 post meridiem and 5:45 p.m. daily. ) We can think of worse ways to spend an good afternoon than ogling Lepidoptera, specially in the summer heat. ¦
