Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/375259
f a l l 2 0 1 4 | w e s t w o r l d 23 figured he could either tend bar in the wintery Midwest or follow his semi-retired parents to Key West and sling beers in a T-shirt all year- long. e choice was a no-brainer. "You either are from here, get burnt out and leave or you come here from some place cold and never leave," he says. "And I can't see myself leaving." at sentiment is on full display down the road at e Green Parrot, where leather-faced regulars take on the presence of well-worn fur- niture. The popular dive bar, established in 1890, bills itself as "a sunny place for shady people" as well as "the last bar in the U.S." – on account of its southern latitude. But it's also as friendly and down-to-earth as they come, where bikers rub shoulders with artisans, live music is always on the menu and there's a uku- lele night every Wednesday. Plus, I've always had a soft spot for no-nonsense bar staff who call me "darlin'." A Pub and Key By Any Other Name Of course, Key West isn't the only place to find oddball watering holes and pit stops in the Keys. You'll probably have to ask for directions to find the No Name Pub. But the search is well worth it. Located on Big Pine Key, a 40-minute drive from Key West, the former bait and tackle shop, general store and brothel has been a local secret since the 1930s. Now it's known for its homemade pizzas and walls covered in dollar bills – a tradition initiated by a customer who was so smitten with one of the waitresses that he handed her his phone number on a George Washington. Filled with pizza and down a dollar bill, I jus- tify my lunchtime carb-load by taking a kayak tour with Bill Keogh, author, environmentalist and operator of Big Pine Kayak Adventures. Over the course of two hours, we glide across a calm expanse of turquoise, above shallow sponge flats, down hidden tidal creeks and into the secret mangrove forests of No Name Key, where anti-Castro activists set up headquarters in the 1960s to plan the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. e excursion not only Kayakers gather off Big Pine Key where miles of shallow sandy flats and warm torquoise waters meet lush mangrove islands.