VOICE ONE:
In the northern part of the world,the autumn season is turning the leaves brown, red and gold.Winter’s cold will arrive in a few short weeks. This is not true ina group of islands that extends into the Atlantic Ocean from thesouthern state of Florida. These islands are called the FloridaKeys. I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. We tell aboutthe famous Florida Keys in our report today on the VOA SpecialEnglish program THIS IS AMERICA.
(MUSIC: “Volcano”/Jimmy Buffet)
VOICE ONE:
The first European to see the Florida Keys was Spanish explorerPonce de Leon in the year fifteen-thirteen. He was searching forspecial water that would keep people young forever. But he did notfind that special water, or any other water that people could drink.Later, other Spanish explorers mapped the area as an aid to helptheir treasure ships return to Spain.
Many of the Keys still have Spanish names, like Islamorada, BahiaHonda and Key Vaca. The word “keys” comes from the Spanish word”cayos” meaning “little island.” And many of the Florida Keys arelittle. Hundreds of the islands are only pieces of sand that extenda few feet out of the water. Many are only visited by sea birds.
Yet some of the Keys are bigenough to support large numbers of people. One of the most popularis Key West. It is the farthest south of the Keys that can bereached by car.
VOICE TWO:
A road extends southwest into the Florida Keys. It is calledHighway One. It starts into the Keys from the state of Florida at abridge that crosses the water to the island of Key Largo.
The road is narrow and the traffic is often slow as it travelsthrough each of the small towns of the Keys. Highway One is aboutone-hundred-fifty-seven kilometers from Key Largo to its end in KeyWest. It extends across many bridges between the islands. Thelongest of these bridges is eleven kilometers long. It is calledSeven Mile Bridge and was completed in nineteen-eleven. At the time,it was considered one of the wonders of the world. No bridge crossedas much open water.
It was a strong bridge, too. SevenMile Bridge survived many storms, including one huge ocean stormthat damaged the Keys in nineteen-thirty-five. The first Seven MileBridge was replaced in nineteen-eighty-two, but you can still seethe old bridge, close to the new one.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
Today, the Florida Keys are a popular holiday area. Many of theislands have beautiful white sand beaches. Swimming and boating aremajor sports. Visitors can pay to go on a boat for a fishing trip.They can catch many different kinds of fish including huge fishcalled sailfish or marlin. People come from all over the world tofish in the Florida Keys.
In fact, the people who live onIslamorada Key claim their island is the “Sports Fishing Capital ofthe World.”
However, the people of other Keys say the fishing is just as goodoff their islands.
Visitors can ride on other kinds of boats in the Florida Keys.Some are special party boats. These go out for the day or during thenight. There are food and drinks on these boats. They might alsohave bands or recorded music for dancing.
VOICE TWO:
The music heard in the Florida Keys is unusual. You can hearCuban music. You can hear music of the Caribbean islands, oldcalypso music from deep in the Caribbean and reggae from Jamaica.You can also hear a lot of music by American songwriter and singerJimmy Buffet. His music is a mix of American country and western,rock and the sounds of the Caribbean islands. People who really likehis music call themselves “Parrot Heads.”
It is now time to take a little trip. Let us pretend we aretraveling across the last bridge on Highway One to the island of KeyWest. Our car radio is playing one of Jimmy Buffet’s most famoussongs, “Margaritaville.”
(((CUT ONE: MARGARITAVILLE CDP-)))
VOICE ONE:
As we cross the bridge to Key West, we can see many boats. Someare fishing boats you can use for the day. Others belong to peoplewho have sailed their boats here from many different places.
In the city, the houses are almost all painted white. A few arepink or light blue. Many houses are very old and very small. KeyWest is a very old city. Many of the buildings are more thanone-hundred years old.
Many palm trees grow here. Colorful flowers grow in front of manyof the little houses. You can stay in a room in one of these housesfor the night. You can smell the ocean on the soft warm wind thatblows across the island.
We drive past several streets and then come to Whitehead Street.We turn left. Very soon we come to the end of the street. There is amonument here. The sign says this is the southernmost part of theUnited States. The sign says “American Begins Here.” Beyond the signis the ocean.
VOICE TWO:
After taking a few photographs of the sign, we turn the cararound and follow Whitehead Street to number nine-oh-seven. Thishouse belonged to the famous American writer Ernest Hemingway. For afew dollars, you can see the inside of the house. Hemingway had manycats when he lived here. He is gone, but the cats remain. Many areasleep on the beds or chairs. They are used to seeing people walkingthrough the old house.
VOICE ONE:
After we leave the Hemingway house, we travel a little way toGreen Street. There is a private museum here we want to visit. It isthe Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Museum. The museum is namedafter treasure hunter Mel Fisher. He discovered an old sunkenSpanish treasure ship near Key West more than twenty years ago.
That ship was the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. Visitors can see someof the ship’s treasure at the museum. You can hold a huge, solid barof gold worth many thousands of dollars. You can put your handsthrough a hole in a clear, plastic box and hold the huge piece ofgold. But the box is built so you can not turn the bar toward thehole. You can not take the gold with you!
However, the museum store will sell you real Spanish coins thatwere found on the famous ship. They are very costly. Or you can buya copy of a coin for much less money.
VOICE TWO:
From Mel Fisher’s Museum, we walk the short distance to MallorySquare, the center of Key West’s historic area. The square is famousfor the Key West sunset celebration that is held each night if theweather is good. It is really more famous for the unusual people andanimals you can see here. For example, you can see people sing orplay music. You can see cats perform tricks. You can watch trainedbirds. You can buy a hat. Or just watch the beautiful sunset.
VOICE ONE:
From Mallory Square we walk to Duval Street. This is where wefind many good eating and drinking places. You can buy very goodCuban food. Cuba is only about one-hundred-forty kilometers from KeyWest. The Cuban influence can be strongly felt in the city.
Or maybe you want to eat seafood instead. There are many goodseafood restaurants. Singer Jimmy Buffet owns an eating place here,too. It is the Margaritaville Café where you can get a good Americancheeseburger.
You can also find drinking places that have bands. Some bandsplay rock music. Some play music of the Caribbean. Still others playcountry and western music. There seems to be a kind of music foreveryone.
There are many other businesses along Duval Street. Many storessell clothing. Some stores sell the works of local Key West artists.Duval Street is a lively area. There seems to be a party here untilvery late into the night.
VOICE TWO:
There is much more to do and see in Key West. You can take ahigh-speed boat trip for about an hour to the Dry Tortugas NationalPark. A huge military fort was built there before the American CivilWar.
You can rent an aircraft and take photographs of the beautifulKeys from the air. You can learn to breathe under water usingspecial equipment. And, when your holiday is finished, you can driveslowly up Highway One, through the many other Florida Keys, stoppingto enjoy each one on the way home.
(MUSIC: Jimmy Buffet)
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byCynthia Kirk. I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.