In many ways, I don't feel like I'm in the Keys when I drive through Key Largo. It's too built up for my taste, and too wide. If I can't see or smell the water, it's not really the Keys to me. Yet here you see the first of the tacky trappings characteristic of the Keys. Huge sculptures, usually of giant multicolored fish, boats or menacing crustaceans stand in front of businesses.
Residences start sporting manatee mailboxes by the road.
These realistic replicas, about five feet tall, stand on their tails and hold a mailbox in their front flippers. It is traditional to dress them up for holidays. They are so tacky they're cool. I want one. Locations in the Keys are indicated by Mile Markers, which measure the distance to the end of the road in Key West.