McCoy Indigenous Park

This rescue operation has released more than 2,000 healed animals into the wild since 1993. They take care of any animal that needs attention, from sea birds to raccoons, and at any given time you might see up to 100 creatures healing at the center. They come from all over, from the Seven Mile bridge to the Dry Tortugas. You can visit the patients any day from 9AM to 5PM, and the park is open sunup to sundown. It's free, but they like donations and volunteers.

The City of Key West has lost more than a thousand of its citizens to the AIDS epidemic. Some of their names are inscribed on a memorial near the White Street Pier. The memorial is embedded in the sidewalk near the ocean, and made of flat smooth granite. The memorial was dedicated on World AIDS Day in 1997, and funded entirely through private sources. At the time of dedication, there were 730 names engraved on the memorial. There are spaces for 1,500 names, and each year more are added and dedicated in a ceremony, also on World AIDS Day in December. A group called Friends of the Key West AIDS Memorial takes care of the memorial.

A "buoy" (actually an old sewer junction painted to look like a buoy) placed at this point contains an inaccurate message that it is the southernmost point in the continental USA. The true southernmost point of Florida is on Ballast Key, an island about 9 miles (14 km) from Key West, which is open to boaters during daylight hours only for minimally invasive activities such as birdwatching and nature photography. The marker is also not the southernmost point on Key West island—a private yard is immediately southeast of the buoy, and the island's true southernmost point is in the Truman Annex west of the buoy, which is U.S. Navy property and can be entered only by authorized Navy personnel. Even before Ballast Key was opened to public access, the buoy wasn't even the southernmost point that could be accessed by the public—that would be the beach area of Fort Zachary Taylor (see above). Nonetheless, it's one of the city's most visited and photographed spots. Expect large crowds on the weekends, and waiting for your turn to take a picture is the norm.

In Key West, burial customs reflect combinations of African, Hispanic, Anglo and other mixed heritages. Due to the water table of the Keys, most burials are in above ground tombs. Grave markers with unusual inscriptions such as I told you I was sick, Devoted Fan of Julio Iglesias and At Least I know where he's sleeping tonight are not unusual. Cemetery maps are available at the front gate.

With a panoramic view of the island.

Hemingway lived and wrote here for a decade. He also raised cats, the descendants of which still roam the grounds and have extra toes.