Location and size
The Florida Keys are a chain of over 200 coral islands with a total length of over 290 km. They lie off the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Inhabitants
According to transporthint.com, Key West has around 25,000 inhabitants, Key Largo almost 11,000, Islamorada 7,000 and Marathon around 10,000 people.

Arriving by Air
Key West Airport (EYW) is accessible by regular scheduled flights from various American cities. Connections are possible via Miami (American Eagle / American Airlines), Atlanta (Express Jet / Delta) and Charlotte (US Airways), as well as with United and Jet Express from various Florida airports. Marathon Airport (MTH) is located 110 miles south of Miami and is currently only served by a variety of charter flights. Rental cars are available at both airports, as are taxis and shuttle buses.

by car from Miami
To avoid Miami’s city traffic, take the I-95, I-75 or FL-836 to the Florida Turnpike and head south to the Overseas Highway (170 miles, about 3.5 hours driving time). It should be noted, however, that the route over the Turnpike is subject to a toll. The toll is only collected electronically, which is why the usual rental car providers have various solutions on offer (e.g. the “Sunpass”). An alternative route to Key Largo is the Card Sound Road. The Greyhound Key Shuttle operates between the Florida Keys, Miami International Airport and Key West Airport.

by sea
Another option is to rent a boat. All channels are well marked. There are numerous marinas and berths are always available. There is also a daily passenger ferry to Key West from Fort Myers (year-round) and Marco Island (December through April only) .

Climate
Key West is one of the sunniest and warmest parts of the United States year-round. Even in winter, the average temperatures are between 24° and 27° C. The weather is perfect almost every day with mostly very short, small rain showers (especially in the afternoons in summer). The Florida Keys are in the subtropical climate zone. Due to its proximity to the Gulf Stream and the Gulf of Mexico, the Keys have a mild tropical oceanic climate where the average temperature difference between summer and winter rarely exceeds 10 degrees.

Average temperatures in Key West, Florida in °C
Month	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max	24	24	26	28	30	31	32	32	31	29	27	25
Min	18	19	21	22	25	26	26	26	26	24	22	19

Active in the Florida Keys

Diving
The 180-mile-long island chain of the Florida Keys is home to America’s only living coral reef. About five miles off the coast of the Florida Keys, teeming with colorful schools of fish and other aquatic creatures, this makes for a dive trip that will last a lifetime. Thanks to the nearby Gulf Stream, for which the coral reef serves as a “resting place”, the well-preserved coral reef is widely known for its immense abundance of fish and its varied underwater world.

The US government created the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary a few decades ago to preserve this unique marine habitat. In addition, there are now numerous exciting shipwrecks all along the Keys, such as the USS Spiegel Grove or the Vandenberg, which were deliberately sunk to offer new challenges for divers, but also to relieve the natural reef.

Fishing
According to the International Game Fish Association, the Florida Keys has more world record catches than any other fishing destination in the world. VUSA Tip: Rent a charter yacht with a guide for the best fishing experience. Not only do the captains in the Keys have the best local knowledge and full equipment, they also already have the necessary state fishing licenses for all visitors. Not only deep-sea fishing on the Atlantic side, but also fishing on the Gulf side in the shallow waters of the backcountry called “flats” attracts many anglers from all over the world.

Health and Wellness Vacations
There are many places in the Florida Keys where you can have a life-changing experience with health and wellness therapies. Virtually every area of ​​the Keys offers rejuvenation, massage, yoga classes, or alternative healing treatments for every vacationer to rejuvenate mind, body, and spirit.

Cultural Offerings
The Florida Keys & Key West also offer visitors a diverse cultural offering. The “creative community” is lively and diverse. Many of the dance performances in the Keys bring together amateur and professional actors and dancers, children and adults, and visitors alike.

The Florida Keys is home to the non-profit independent film association, screening contemporary, foreign and alternative films in digital and 35mm formats. Galleries, music, theatre, literature are other fields of activity for the municipal creative community.

All along the Keys, festivals of all kinds take place throughout the year. From the Humphrey Bogart Film Festival in Key Largo to the Seafood Festival in Marathon and the Fantasy Festival in Key West – there’s a lot of celebration going on. You should always pay attention to such events when planning your trip, as the hotels in the Keys can be fully booked very quickly.

Swim with dolphins ( learn more ), boat trips, eco-tours, golf, shopping, sightseeing, the Keys have something for everyone.

Coral Castle (Miami, USA) – history, excursions, expositions. Exact address, telephone, cost of entrance tickets. Local legends and ghosts.

Coral Castle (sometimes called Rock Gate) was the embodiment of an eccentric idea of ​​an American of Latvian origin, Edward Leedskalnin. This complex is not so much a castle as a cluster of numerous megaliths, each of which weighs several tons. The castle is now privately owned and serves as a vibrant and quirky tourist attraction in Miami-Dade County.

The history of Coral Castle is directly related to the history of love, and the “castle” is surrounded by numerous legends. Few of the tourists are not touched by the reasons why Leedskalnin manually and single-handedly dragged here and hewn all these giant stones. And, most importantly, no one can understand how he did it. Until now, the version is in progress that the matter could not have done without the use of reverse magnetism and / or supernatural abilities.

In 1984, Coral Castle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. See topschoolsoflaw for brief history of Kentucky.

The total weight of stone walls, furniture, decorative elements and the tower reaches 1000 tons. The stones are bonded without the use of mortar and are held together only by their own weight.

Legend has it that Lidskalnin’s 16-year-old fiancee left him in Latvia on the eve of the wedding. The rejected groom left for America, being almost in the terminal stage of tuberculosis. Here he suddenly recovered and later claimed that magnets had such an effect on him.

For more than 28 years, Edward has been building his Coral Castle, forbidding anyone to look at how he works. In his own words, the only tool he used was a “perpetual motion holder”. The castle, called “Rock Gate Park” by Leedskalnin, was completed in 1923 in Florida City (these places were completely wild at that time). In 1936, Leedskalnin decided to move to a new location and take the castle with him. It took another three years: it was necessary to drag all the stones over a distance of 16 km, to where they can be seen now.

The name “Coral Castle” is due to the fact that all the megaliths on the territory of the complex are processed blocks of limestone. And limestone is formed from coral.

After the move, Leedskalnin continued to work on the castle until his death in 1951. For viewing his creation, he charged visitors a fee of 10 cents and, when the visitors rang the bell twice, descended from the living quarters on the second floor of the castle tower and gave a tour. True, he never told a single living soul how he managed to build all this. The only explanation that could be heard from Leedskalnin during the tour: “It’s not difficult if you know how.” Periodically, he also hinted that he was well versed in working with weight and leverage and generally comprehended the secrets of the pyramids.

Today, on the territory of the castle, you can see stone walls, furniture, decorative elements and a tower, the total weight of which reaches 1000 tons. The stones are bonded without the use of mortar and are held together only by their own weight. The work is so precious that not a single gap can be found at the joints. Even after decades and after Hurricane Andrew (category five, by the way), the boulders have not moved an inch.

Among all the buildings on the territory of the castle, a two-story tower, in which the creator lived, stands out. Its walls are made of pieces of stone 2.5 m high. Also noteworthy are an accurate sundial, an obelisk, a barbecue place, a well, a fountain and numerous chairs, tables, a bed and even a throne. With a few exceptions, all these objects are made of monolithic blocks weighing an average of 14 tons each.

Edward said that he created the castle, inspired by his “cute sixteen”. This, in turn, inspired Billy Idol to write the hit song Sweet Sixteen.

Of particular surprise was the main gate of the castle weighing more than eight tons and 2.4 m high. They are carved so carefully that there is no gap of even 0.5 cm between the doors and the wall. In addition, the gate is so well balanced that even a child can open it by pressing a finger. The secret of the gate was preserved until 1986, when they stopped rotating. It took six people and a crane to remove the gate from its hinges. Only after this was done, the secret of the gate was revealed: Leedskalnin somehow drilled a through hole in them, into which he inserted a metal pin with a bearing.

Practical Information

Адрес: FL 33033, South Dixie Highway Miami, 28655.

The castle is located at the intersection of the South Dixie Highway (US 1) and 157th South West Avenue, north of Homestead.

Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday from 8:00 to 18:00. Friday and Saturday until 20:00.

Admission: 18 USD for adults, 8 USD for children aged 7-12.

According to Abbreviationfinder, Florida borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and Georgia and Alabama to the north. Florida is made up of a plain that runs along the northern Gulf of Mexico and a peninsula with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. It limits the north with the states of Georgia and Alabama. Among the Parks, the Biscayne National Park stands out.

Economy

Florida’s economy relies heavily on tourism. The mild climate for most of the year and the many miles of beaches attract many tourists from all over the world. The Walt Disney theme park, the largest in the chain, located near Orlando, drives the activity in the area, along with other theme parks that have been gradually installed, such as Universal Studios.

The large amount of sales tax the state collects is what allows Florida to have no income tax. Other important industries are citrus and juice production, banking, and phosphate mining. With the arrival of the space program at the Kennedy Space Center in the 1960s, Florida has attracted numerous aerospace and military industries.

Florida’s economy is based on tourism: almost one million work in this area of ​​the 18.8 million people who inhabit the state. Amelia Island is a very visited place for its beaches, its central historic district and the ability to see nests of turtles and whales swimming on the shores.

Florida does not collect income taxes and relies on sales taxes, in which tourism contributes a high percentage. For example, in Amelia Island County, 35% of taxes come from tourism, although that of the other counties hovers around 17%.

According to CountryAAH.com, Florida has the following major cities and districts:

• Adventure
• Boca Raton
• Bradenton
• Cape Coral
• Cardal
• Casupe
• Cerro Colorado
• Clearwater
• Dade County
• Coral gables
• Coral springs
• Davie
• Florida
• Fort Lauderdale
• Fort myers
• Friar Marcos
• Gainesville
• Hallandale
• Hialeah
• Hollywood
• Homestead
• Jacksonville
• Key Biscayne
• Kissimmee
• Lakeland
• Melbourne
• Miami
• Miami beach
• Miramar
• Naples
• Nico Perez
• North Miami
• North Miami Beach
• Ocala
• Orlando
• Palm coast
• Panama City
• Pembroke Pines
• Pensacola
• Plantation
• Pompano beach
• Port Saint Lucie
• Saint Augustine
• Saint Petersburg
• Sarandi Big
• Sarasota
• Sunny isles beach
• Tallahassee
• Tampa
• August 25
• Twenty five of May
• West Palm Beach
• Weston

Recent History

Reconquest of Florida by Spain

The second period under Spanish sovereignty occurred during the United States War of Independence when the Spanish regained West Florida in 1779 after the battles of Baton Rouge, Fort Charlotte, San Fernando de Omoa and Mobila and East Florida after the famous victory. in the Battle of Pensacola (March-May 1781), in which Bernardo de Gálvez, Spanish governor of La Luisiana (Spanish since 1763) and to face the English, gathered troops from different parts of the Empire and additional supplies of Cuba, Louisiana… increasing its army to about 7,000 men, which, for the time, was considerable. This army defeats the English troops of John Campbell, achieving a decisive victory.

As Jamaica was the last major English stronghold in the Caribbean, Gálvez set out to organize a landing on the island and add it to the territories under Spanish sovereignty, but in the middle of the preparations, he was surprised by the end of the war. At the end of the war, Florida (eastern and western Florida) was officially returned to Spain by the Treaty of Versailles of 1783, it also maintained the recovered territories of Menorca and recovered the coasts of Nicaragua, Honduras (Mosquito Coast) and Campeche. Spanish sovereignty over the Providencia colony was recognized.

Florida independence and US invasion

In small West Florida, the Spanish had to evacuate their troops from Mobile (Alabama) in April 1813 to the capital Pensacola and the United States seized the city, in the context of the Anglo-American War of 1812 – 1815, claiming it as part of the Louisiana Purchase from the French a few years earlier.

Given the precarious situation of the colony, the 29 of June of 1817, General Gregorio MacGregor, militarily took the town of Amelia, in eastern Florida, located on the island of the same located name on the northeastern coast of Florida, 35 miles north of Vacapilatca (now Jacksonville) on the Georgia border. Days later, Florida insurgents north of Vacapilatca called on the population to proclaim independence from Spain and declare the “Republic of Florida”, establishing their capital in the fortified town of Fernandina.

Taking advantage of these events, the US President, James Monroe and his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, ordered a land and sea invasion to take over Florida. In September 1817, a great US military deployment supported by Spanish troops from Havana, landed in Amelia and from there they went to Fernandina to subject the rebels to blood and fire, arresting the authorities who were defending the insurgency in Florida..

In 1818, Andrew Jackson intervened in East Florida in what later American history called the First Seminole War, and this fact earned him popular support in his country and that of the Government.

The Spanish presence in the Floridas (West Florida and East Florida) came to an end after the beginning of negotiation, the Adams-Onís Treaty, in 1819, by which Spain was forced to sell the Floridas to the United States government (with President Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams), in exchange for preserving its borders in Western North America and five million dollars.

The vast majority of the Spanish population in Florida emigrated to Cuba and the Spanish footprint ended up being diluted, being today scarce (churches, government buildings, fortresses…) and their descendants numbered.

Confederate State

White settlers began to establish cotton plantations in Florida, which required numerous workers. In 1860 Florida there were only 140,424 people, of which 44% were slaves. There were fewer than 1,000 free black people before the Civil War.

On January 10, [[ 1861 ]], before the start of the Civil War, Florida declared its secession from the Union, ten days later, the state became a founding member of the Confederate States of America.

During the war the Battle of Olustee took place, carried out near Lake City (Florida), on February 20, 1864, it was the largest battle that occurred in the state of Florida during the war, with victory for the confederation.

The war ended in 1865. The 25 of June of 1868, representing Florida in the US Congress was restored.