The clock is ticking on Florida's most sustainable seafood...

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Hey Keys lovers! If you've been waiting for the perfect excuse to order a plate of cracked claws and mustard sauce, consider this your final warning. We are officially in the last four weeks of stone crab season, and the clock is ticking. This week we're diving into why this local delicacy is the most sustainable seafood in America. Plus: two rescued manatees finally head home, the 4th Annual Island Fest takes over Islamorada, and we've got the wild, haunted history behind Key West's most famous dive bar.

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❓ KEYS TRIVIA

What major international airline was actually born on a tiny island in Key West?

Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.

📣 THE MILE MARKER ROUNDUP

• 🦀 Marathon Seafood Festival: The 4th Annual Original Marathon Seafood Festival packed Community Park earlier this month, drawing huge crowds for two days of fresh catches, live music, and a massive boat show. Read more →

• 🐋 Manatees Head Home: Luca and Giovanni, two manatees rescued as youngsters in the Keys, were successfully released back into the wild at Calusa Campground after months of rehabilitation and gaining hundreds of pounds. Read more →

• 🎨 Island Fest Returns: The Islamorada Chamber of Commerce's 4th Annual Island Fest takes over Founders Park this past weekend (March 28–29) with a juried art show, live music, classic cars, and plenty of island culture. Read more →

• ✈️ Airport Upgrades: Million Air just broke ground on a new $12 million, 8,000-square-foot terminal at Marathon International Airport, designed with an indoor-outdoor flow to capture that classic island hospitality. Read more →

• 🌊 Sargassum Watch: Scientists are tracking a massive 13-million-ton bloom of sargassum seaweed heading toward Florida, though current beach reports from Key West show minimal impact so far. Read more →

🌴 THE POST-SPRING-BREAK SWEET SPOT

If you've ever tried to drive down U.S. 1 during the third week of March, you already know the drill. The traffic backs up in Homestead, the sandbars are packed, and getting a table at your favorite waterfront spot requires the kind of patience you're supposed to be escaping.

That's why a lot of long-term Keys visitors have started shifting their trips to late March and early April. It's the savvy traveler's "secret season." The colleges are back in session, the spring break chaos is over, the water temperatures are warming up, and the winter winds have finally died down.

If you're planning your next run down the Overseas Highway, consider aiming for this post-spring-break window. You get the exact same islands, with about half the stress and a lot more available bar stools.

🧩 THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON STONE CRAB SEASON

You have exactly four weeks left to eat the most sustainable seafood in America.

Walk into Keys Fisheries in Marathon or Lazy Days in Islamorada right now, and you'll see plates piled high with bright orange claws and little cups of mustard sauce. But if you want to join in, you need to move fast.

Florida's stone crab season officially ends on May 1st. We are in the final four-week window, and once the traps come out of the water, that's it until October 15th.

What makes stone crab so unique isn't just the sweet, dense meat — it's how they're caught. Stone crab is arguably the most sustainable fishery in the United States because it is entirely catch-and-release. It is illegal to kill the crab. Fishermen pull up the traps, carefully snap off one claw (if it meets the strict legal size requirements), and return the live crab to the ocean. Over the next 12 to 18 months, the crab will completely regenerate a new claw.

The Florida Keys are one of the top stone crab producing regions in the state, and right now, prices are at their peak as the supply dwindles. But ask any local, and they'll tell you it's worth every penny.

Here's an insider tip: don't get distracted by the "jumbo" or "colossal" claws. Order the mediums. Locals swear they are sweeter, more tender, and a much better value for your money.

What's your go-to spot for stone crab in the Keys? Hit reply and tell us — we'll publish the best recommendations next week.

🕰️ THE MANY LIVES OF CAPTAIN TONY'S SALOON

The wildest, most haunted building in Key West.

If you've ever grabbed a drink at Captain Tony's Saloon on Greene Street, you've probably noticed the massive tree growing right through the middle of the bar. That's not just quirky decor — it's the original "hanging tree" where 18 people were executed back in the 1800s.

The building at 428 Greene Street has lived more lives than most people. Built in 1852 as an ice house, it doubled as the city morgue. It later housed a wireless telegraph station (which reported the sinking of the USS Maine in 1898), a cigar factory, and a bordello.

In 1933, a local named Joe "Josie" Russell opened Sloppy Joe's there, making it Ernest Hemingway's favorite hangout. When the landlord raised the rent by a single dollar a week in 1937, Russell and his customers literally picked up the entire bar and moved it overnight to its current Duval Street location.

In 1958, Captain Tony Tarracino bought the building and renamed it. A young Jimmy Buffett played there in the early 1970s, often getting paid in tequila, and immortalized the bar in his song "Last Mango in Paris." The bar is still there today, largely unchanged — bras on the ceiling, business cards on the walls, and a whole lot of ghosts.

✅ TRIVIA ANSWER

Pan American World Airways (Pan Am).

The most iconic international airline of the 20th century was founded right in Key West in 1927. Its very first flight was a mail run from Key West to Havana, Cuba, on October 19, 1927, in a tiny four-seat Fairchild FC-2 floatplane.

Bonus fact: The original Pan Am office was located at 36 Whitehead Street in Key West. Today, that building is home to Kelly's Caribbean Bar, Grill & Brewery — a popular spot where you can grab a drink right where aviation history was made.

Until next week, keep your windows down and your watch off.
— The Florida Keys Road Trip Team

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