News Details (Posted: January 3, 2006):

Key West resort town is a tonic for body, intellect and soul

Full Description:

By Lucy Komisar
In Key West you can have it all -- a gorgeous beach town with thrilling water sports -- scuba, parasailing, jetskis -- and an annual event that draws top writers to talk and schmooze with aficionados from around the country. Did you think you were just going to lie on this quiet beach? Noooooo. Key West exudes energy. Walk down Duval Street, past the restaurants and cafés and stores selling beach towels and bathing suits, and you will bump into open-air stands with brochures and agents urging you to sign up for adventure. Maybe it will be a dive to explore Alexander’s wreck, a U.S. Navy destroyer escort which sunk in 1962. It’s in shallow 26 feet of water and attracts angelfish, barracuda, snappers, pompano and stingrays. Or perhaps you’d prefer a snorkel trip to North America’s only living coral reef. Key West is a mecca for serious diving and water sports, because its charm as a sophisticated town draws both sportspeople and instructors. It’s the same reason the literary seminar started here 23 years ago: so many writers already lived here.