Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

The military never left.

Fort Zachary Taylor began in 1845 as one of the few southern forts the Union held for the entire Civil War, which kept Key West in the United States while the rest of Florida seceded.

And the blockade fleet that strangled the Confederacy sailed out of its harbor.

In 1898, the battleship USS Maine sailed from Key West to Havana and blew up there.

This is the best cheap lunch on the island.

Lots of recommendations from locals.

For your first swim, ride out to Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park at the west tip of the island.

It is a state park, so there's a small entry fee, and it's the best beach in Key West.

Bahia Honda's beautiful.

I mean, Smathers is nice, and Fort Zachary's nice, and all the rest of them.

But they are not your normal beaches.

That's why we push get on the water and get out to the sandbars, because that's what you want to do.