The Keys have been damaged by man, says Ms. Williams, but the destruction would have been even worse if it weren't for mosquitoes, lack of water, hurricanes, palmetto bugs, and greed. Williams is a charming, knowledgeable journalist. Sprinkled about are suggestions about where to go for restaurants, rooms, snorkeling, and swimming. When the great Hurricane of 1935 roared in, it destroyed one of the engineering marvels of all times, Henry Flaglier's bridge that ran from Miami to Key West. They have been called the most reliable defenders of wilderness in the state.
Sandflies are big.
Palmetto bugs, the southern cockroach, are very big, and shiny, too. You'll see them in the best of places as well as in the wilds. If you crush them, there is a terrible smell of almonds. We suspect that the days have passed when all the vegetarian restaurants lived along University Avenue. All the food tasted like construction paper and the drinks had the aura of sassafras and rainwater.