Wednesday, April 14, 2010

About Marathon

Geographically, the Middle Keys stretch from the southern tip of Islamorada at the high-rise Channel 5 bridge – which has, in both directions, perhaps the most beautiful and stunning views in the Keys – to Marathon’s improbable, spectacular Seven Mile Bridge connecting Marathon to the Lower Keys. Most of us have seen this famous 7 mile bridge in movies (True Lies) or television commercials. It neatly divides the Atlantic Ocean on the East from the Gulf of Mexico to the West, a mere thread of concrete across the 75-100 square miles of azure and green seas and “flats” and islands that your eyes encompass simultaneously.



As a practical matter, the Middle Keys basically refer to the “large” incorporated town and bustling commercial center of Marathon and the nearby expensive housing areas of Hawks Key (Duck Key), Key Colony Beach, and Long Key. The other islands in the Marathon region are Boot Key, Knight Key, Hog Key, Vaca Key, Stirrup Key, Crawl and Little Crawl Key, East and West Sister’s Island, Deer Key and Fat Deer Key, Long Pine Key and Grassy Key. Marathon’s metro area sits between mile markers 48 and 55 and has a non-tourist residential population of more than 13,000 (it feels bigger than that), with a median age of 44.

Marathon is centrally located 80 miles south of mainland Florida and more or less just 50 from Key Largo and 48 from Key West. Marathon is served by bus lines to Key West and the Mainland, and by the sleek Marathon airport offering connections to Miami and Ft Lauderdale and from there to anywhere in the world.

Employment
The primary industries here are:

Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services
Retail trade
Educational,health and social services
Construction
The Marathon area is definitely a destination point and has hundreds of small and medium size business to support it. It is fairly self-contained, too. It’s not necessary to go anywhere else, because everything you really need is right there, including shopping and services, police and fire, healthcare facilities including a modern full service hospital, all the usual municipal functions, and outdoor recreational activities like boating, fishing, and diving.

If you want to work in the Keys in the construction trades or certain kinds of services or consulting, Marathon can be a good location, because it is centrally located – jobs and commissions from Key Largo to Key West are pretty easily reached on a within-day commuting basis.



This sense of Marathon as a sort of “hub” for the whole middle section of the Keys, including the edges of the Upper Keys and Lower Keys, goes back a long ways. In the early 20th century Henry Flagler built a large work camp and supply base at Marathon while constructing his “railroad that went to sea”.

About Key West

Key West is both a place and a state of mind. It lies about as far away as you can go in this USA, almost part of the tropics, some four hours and 150 miles south and west of Miami. You cross a lot of bridges and spectacular blue and green water to get there, and when you get there you’re only 90 miles from Cuba. Cruise ships consider a stop at Key West part of their Caribbean itineraries!

It’s not a big place, and it is a place where real people live. It has a year-round population of just over 26,000 and a median resident age of 39 years. Key West also includes the neighboring communities of Stock Island, where a lot of the remaining commercial fishing is based, and which used to be where Key West’s supplies were “stocked” in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and Key Haven, with wide canals and lots of pleasure boats.

Key West has been described in about a zillion travel guides and Web sites and the name used in countless movies as the place people want to finally get away to. Having lived in Cudjoe Key (23 miles away) and selling real Estate in Key West, I have a good feel for the place.

The best way to describe Key West, is a vacation place. Meaning whenever you’re there, the ambience and atmosphere catches you up in it and you could well be somewhere in the Bahamas or the Caribbean.

Key West is also a state of mind. You can watch sunsets from Mallory Square on the harbor, or from the bars and restaurants on the boat basins. You can shop or whatever on famous Duval Street. Since nobody knows how to throw a party like Key West does, you can join in at Fantasy Fest (think Mardi Gras) at the end of October, and see for yourself. This is, after all, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. Whatever you imagine about Key West is probably true.

Or you can enjoy the reality of Key West’s other state of mind too – its wonderful diversity, history, and creativity. Lots of writers, artists, artisans, and musicians have always called this state of mind/special place home, from Hemingway to the present day.

There are also plenty of areas in Key West where the locals go besides Duval Street and the sunset bars. In fact when you get off of Duval, you will find restaurants, art galleries, grocery stores and antique shops in the neighborhoods, and tree-lined little streets with lots of tropical foliage where people live.

So although you’re in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, the neighborhoods here are quiet, lined with historical architecture and have a very comfy feel. And the historic district is very compact. You can walk everywhere.