Islamorada is a string of low islands in the Upper Keys, and the name, Spanish for purple island, is applied to a village that spreads over several of them along the Overseas Highway. The sea is on both sides, the Atlantic to the east and the shallow, glassy water of Florida Bay to the west, and from the road you can often see both within a few hundred metres. It bills itself as the sport fishing capital of the world, and the claim is not idle, with charter boats, tackle shops and marinas lining the highway and anglers heading out before dawn for sailfish, tarpon and bonefish.
The island's history has a dark chapter. The Labor Day hurricane of 1935, one of the most powerful ever to strike the United States, swept across the Keys and destroyed much of Flagler's railroad, and hundreds of people died, many of them war veterans working on road projects. A memorial built of local rock, with a sculpture of wind and waves, stands beside the highway to mark the dead. It is a sobering reminder of how exposed these islands are, with the highest ground barely a few metres above the water.
Other sights are lighter. A short way along, Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park preserves an old quarry where workers cut blocks of ancient coral limestone for the railroad, and the walls of the cut show a slice through a fossil reef, with brain coral frozen in the stone. Tarpon, huge silver fish, gather at some marinas for feeding, and you can watch them thrash for scraps from a dock. Offshore, the reefs attract snorkellers and divers, and the water is warm and clear.
The riding is straightforward and slow. US 1 here is a two-lane road with a limited speed, a lot of traffic in season, and a steady beat of small bridges and shopping strips, so this is not a place for speed. What it offers instead is the feeling of riding on a thread across the sea, with pelicans on the pilings and the salt wind in your face. Mid-morning heat is strong, and thunderstorms build over the water in summer afternoons. Winter is the best season, dry and mild, though busy.
Islamorada has some seven thousand residents and plenty of fuel, and the restaurants serve what the boats bring in, from grouper sandwiches to stone crab in season, followed inevitably by key lime pie. Reservations are wise in winter. Sunset on the Florida Bay side, with the sky turning orange and the water mirror-calm, is one of the best moments of a ride down the Keys. Wear sunscreen and drink water, because the sun here is stronger than it feels.