{"id":37309,"date":"2025-11-01T15:41:46","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T15:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/my-favorite-vacation-spot-is-an-island-city-in-florida-i-love-it-so-much-that-i-hope-to-move-there-once-im-an-empty-nester\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T15:41:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T15:41:46","slug":"my-favorite-vacation-spot-is-an-island-city-in-florida-i-love-it-so-much-that-i-hope-to-move-there-once-im-an-empty-nester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/my-favorite-vacation-spot-is-an-island-city-in-florida-i-love-it-so-much-that-i-hope-to-move-there-once-im-an-empty-nester\/","title":{"rendered":"My favorite vacation spot is an island city in Florida. I love it so much that I hope to move there once I&#8217;m an empty nester."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6904d4240be9845f2dc57ade?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Dock area in Kewy West, Florida\"\/><figcaption>My husband and I would like to make Key West our permanent home one day.<\/p>\n<p>xbrchx\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>My favorite vacation destination in the US is the island town of Key West, Florida.<\/li>\n<li>Though I&#039;ve visited several times, I never tire of the island&#039;s natural beauty and local history<\/li>\n<li>The relaxed island vibes make it seem ideal for retirement. I plan to one day call Key West home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On the first cruise I ever took, I happened to be pregnant and terribly sick. However, a switch seemed to flip when we arrived at the island of Key West, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>The sky and waters were a stunning blue, and the weather was lovely and mild. Suddenly, I felt better \u2014 and that feeling persisted as my husband and I explored the southernmost city in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Though being sick on a cruise ship wasn&#039;t ideal, I&#039;m grateful the experience introduced me to what&#039;s still my favorite vacation destination years later. <\/p>\n<p>In fact, we love the city so much that we now hope to retire there. <\/p>\n<h2>It&#039;s easy to understand why Key West is such a popular travel destination<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6904da430be9845f2dc57c0c?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Peopel taking pictures during sunset at Mallory Square\"\/><figcaption>Key West has famous sunsets.<\/p>\n<p>Jen Golbeck\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Key West welcomes about a million visitors a year, which is no surprise given it&#039;s a popular stop on cruises and it has an international airport. <\/p>\n<p>The city has a lot to offer tourists, and when I travel, I seek to indulge my love of both history and nature. Key West has plenty of both<\/p>\n<p>The Key West Shipwreck Treasure Museum enchants with the island&#039;s rich history of shipwreck salvage operations, which date back centuries. <\/p>\n<p>Mallory Square, the city&#039;s historic waterfront plaza, serves as an outdoor market where visitors can check out local artisans, entertainers, and food vendors. <\/p>\n<p>It&#039;s also where dozens of people gather each night for the island&#039;s Sunset Celebration. Yes, the sunsets in Key West are <em>that<\/em> spectacular. <\/p>\n<p>On our first visit alone, we took in the island&#039;s gorgeous beaches and stopped by for a photo at the Southernmost Point of the Continental United States. <\/p>\n<p>We were also mesmerized by the inhabitants of the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, which has dozens of species of colorful birds and butterflies. <\/p>\n<p>Finally, we took a tour of the Hemingway Home, a museum established in author Ernest Hemingway&#039;s former Key West house, and were absolutely charmed by the location&#039;s famed polydactyl cats.<\/p>\n<h2>The culinary scene is great, too <\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6904d447599d46a4ccc13b3c?format=jpeg\" alt=\"a slice of key lime pie in a plastic container\"\/><figcaption>Key-lime pie is famous for a reason. <\/p>\n<p>krblokhin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Key West&#039;s food and beverage scene is impressive, and the island is especially famous for desserts and drinks made from its eponymous Key limes. <\/p>\n<p>Coincidentally, Key-lime pie and Key limeade were the first foods I could enjoy without experiencing morning sickness, so they have an especially dear place in my heart.<\/p>\n<p>Key West has multitudes to offer on a savory front, too, especially when it comes to seafood. <\/p>\n<p>Though it&#039;s native to the area, queen conch is no longer allowed to be harvested in Florida due to decades of overfishing. However, it&#039;s still imported and is a staple, as locals in the area specialize in preparing conch and do it very well. <\/p>\n<p>Briny and sweet, conch is used in fritters, chowders, salads, and ceviche. <\/p>\n<p>Don&#039;t worry if seafood isn&#039;t your thing, as Key West&#039;s Gulf Coast locale means you&#039;ll also find tasty Caribbean and Cuban fare here.<\/p>\n<h2>Key West feels worth rediscovering over and over again<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6904d4b3c007ca8c27380384?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Sunset along the water with palm trees, buildings nearby\"\/><figcaption>Hopefully, I will call Key West home one day. <\/p>\n<p>emson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>My husband and I have been to Key West several times since that first visit. On our next trip there, we&#039;ll be celebrating our oldest son&#039;s 18th birthday. <\/p>\n<p>It&#039;s hard to believe the cause of that morning sickness will soon be an adult, but I can think of no place more fitting to celebrate his life.<\/p>\n<p>I know it won&#039;t be our last trip to Key West, either. My husband and I have a goal to make the island our permanent home one day.<\/p>\n<p>In my opinion, ocean breezes, local history, a distinctive culinary scene, and unique attractions make the island an ideal place to live out one&#039;s twilight years.<\/p>\n<p>However, we&#039;re still raising our kids in Houston \u2014 a city we love just as much as Key West \u2014 and plan to stay put until they finish their education.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, we&#039;re looking forward to enjoying brief pockets of &quot;living on island time&quot; on our vacations. <\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My husband and I would like to make Key West our permanent home one day. xbrchx\/Getty Images My favorite vacation destination in the US is the island town of Key West, Florida. Though I&#039;ve visited several times, I never tire of the island&#039;s natural beauty and local history The relaxed island vibes make it seem [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}