Living in the Florida Keys
There isn’t a place called Kokomo, but the Florida Keys are nonetheless a paradise you can get to fast and take it slow. An astounding 882 distinct islands compose this coral-sheathed archipelago at the Sunshine State’s southern tip, forming a 125-mile tail that stretches from lower Miami-Dade to Key West. The latter’s location 90 miles off Cuba made it a lucrative trading port through much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, prompting Henry Morrison Flagler to run his Overseas Railroad from the mainland. Several viaducts from this engineering marvel were commandeered to construct the first highway, opening the region’s powdery beaches and proliferous fisheries to leisure-goers at large. Less than 100,000 inhabit these islands year-round, preserving their unspoiled Caribbean feel. As the Beach Boys said, it really is where you want to go and get away from it all.