Do not come to the Florida Keys this weekend.

[tavernier]

I’ve been watching the traffic on US one from my house all day and it is bumper to bumper, often stalled for long periods, and I’m 80 miles from Key West so anyone going there will be stuck on the road for hours. However, I seriously think that as car number 2 million crosses the Monroe County line, Key Largo will just sink into the ocean and disappear. So please… stay home or go somewhere else.

[Joinfortmill]

1. Will do 😎

[CanonRay]

2. The Keys are the one place in Flori-duh I'd like to see again

but considering I'm on the Oregon coast, ok.

[Skittles]

3. have zero desire to EVER viist Florida

once was enough

[wnylib]

15. I'm with you on that.

[Shrike47]

4. I think Key West is safe from us Oregonians.

[captain queeg]

5. Just checked. It's a 3400 mile drive for me

I’d love to see them but think I’ll wait till I have a lot of time on my hands.

[GulfCoast66]

6. Was down for a week in early June. The wife had started going in 83.

As beautiful as ever. But the number of people was insane. We went there yearly from 89-95. Then not again until this year. It’s totally different. In the early 90’s most of the keys, including Key West in the summer were pretty laid back. Malloy square was a parking lot!

But good god, the entirety of the keys is like a drunk Disney! With chickens.

We discovered the Big Bend and Forgotten Coast of Florida. Will retire there. Figure I’ll be dead before it becomes crowded. Still have counties with 14,000 residents.

[onethatcares]

8. please

stop telling people that. Keep all that quiet and under cover.

As far as other folks coming here (not the Keys but Pinellas) it's crowded and smells and judging by the
license plates, there are plenty of Oreganians going to Olive Garden, Cracker Barrel, and the beaches.

[GulfCoast66]

9. LOL. Pinellas is not exactly sparsely populated!

Citrus is better. But Taylor and Franklin Counties defy explanation. Most people would not believe there are counties so empty in Florida. And Franklin has great beaches. After 35 years in the Orlando area, sparsely populated is welcomed.

The county seat of Franklin County does not even have a McDonalds. There’s not one in the entire county.

[onethatcares]

10. yeah, Pinellas is nutz

been built out since 19forever and now the developers are building up. In St Pete the new buildings start out looking like Russian apartment buildings then they slap some fancy name on them like "WheretheWaterWas", or ""Cutdown Trees".

I'd get outa here in a hot flash but my wife says she likes to go to the beach..............twice a year at least. The rest of the time, it's too hot, too much sand, too much traffic, tooo many people ad nauseum.

and I can't leave her here if I do go. Just ain't gonna do it.

Thanks for the heads up about Franklin County and the others.

[GulfCoast66]

12. Take your wife for a long weekend in Apalachicola. Franklin county.

One of the most historic towns in Florida. John Gorrie invented Air Conditioning there and there is a state park with a copy of his original machine. Great restaurants and one of the best breweries in Florida. And across the Bay is St. George Island. You won’t believe how undeveloped it is. Like Florida in the 60’s. And often rated as one of the best beaches in America. We’ve rented a house the for at least a week for the past 25 years.

[snowybirdie]

11. Lived in Levy

The old Florida still. Yankeetown is beautiful.

[GulfCoast66]

13. So you know the secret spots in Florida!

Yankeetown, Cedar Key, Horseshoe Beach, Keaton Beach, Carabelle and Apalachicola. The last part of our coast that is not overdeveloped. Of course that’s because only Apalachicola has a real Beach.

[snowybirdie]

14. I agree

A beautiful area.

[rampartc]

7. as elsa approaches ......

i hope evacuation is not necessary.

i was stuck in traffic in new orleans yesterday. getting out of here will be very difficult.

[wnylib]

16. I was thinking about Elsa, too,

as I read this thread. If Elsa hits the Keys, those long lines in reverse could trap people in place when the storm hits.