Rather than flying to Key West, we rented a car at the Miami airport and drove from Key Largo to the “Last Resort” on U.S. Route 1, one of the longest over-water highways in the world. We loved every mile of the two-lane Overseas Highway.

Forty-two bridges link a string of tropical islands that head westward into the setting sun. In the early 20th century, train travel was the only way to get from Miami to Key West. In 1935, a Labor Day hurricane demolished the railroad and killed more than 400 people. This act of nature led to the building of the Overseas Highway.

A brilliant sunset caps off the peaceful drive.

Key Largo anchors the northeastern leg of our journey. Mile markers on the island run from mile marker 90 to mile marker 106. (You can’t get lost in the Keys because there’s only one road in and out, and it has these little green signs that mark your miles.)

Though famous for “Bogie and Bacall” (the movie Key Largo, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, was filmed in 1948), the island is also known for the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, established in 1963 as the first underseas park in the United States. Visitors here can take a 2½ hour cruise on the glassbottom boat Spirit of Pennekamp.

The boat, 65 feet (20 m) in length, carries 130 passengers over park waters and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, 178 nautical square miles (611 km² ) of colorful coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps. The park also offers snorkeling, fishing, swimming, camping and picnicking for those wanting to stay a while.

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We keep driving, though. And as we cross from the rustic fishing village of Tavernier onto Plantation Key, the majesty of our trip unfolds. This first major bridge along the way divides the glittering green waters of the Gulf of Mexico on our right from the Atlantic Ocean on our left. And below the surface of these 30-foot (9 m) depths sit nearly a dozen Spanish ships that sank during a hurricane in the 1700s.

From Plantation Key, we cross a bridge onto Windley Key, the highest elevation in the Keys, at 18 feet (5.5 m) above sea level. Two miles (3.2 km) and another bridge later, we enter Upper Matecumbe Key and Islamorada, the self-proclaimed sportfishing capital of the world.

We’re hungry. Time to stop for a late lunch at the Islamorada Fish Company, where a tanned waiter serves us fresh grouper, conch fritters and cold beer on a dockside table near shrimp boats and envious pelicans. Conch fritters and key lime pie are required eating on this island chain. We grab some free recipes and a to-go cooler of the house specialty, in-season stone crab claws that we will savor during a Key West dinner.

After the meal, we change into shorts and T-shirts. Because it’s still winter in the keys, we are blessed with bright, sunny skies, daily highs in the 70s (around 21 C) and little, if any, rain. Summers can be challenging, though, with mosquitoes and hurricanes driving many of the locals northward between June and September. But the area comes alive again in October, when the eight-month season is greeted by a Fantasy Fest celebration in Key West.