My family are Conchs going way back. My Father was Joe Valdez and drove the Conch Tour Train for many years. I miss Key West when it was like this video.

@budblankenship4686

6 жыл бұрын

+David Valdez Thanks for supplementing this video with your contribution of great Florida history.

@dorothybrown5056

4 жыл бұрын

@@budblankenship4686 where do you live now bud

@budblankenship4686

4 жыл бұрын

I had been living in Jacksonville FL but recently moved up to Maine.

@dorothybrown5056

4 жыл бұрын

@@budblankenship4686 cool you won't have to worry about that hurricane 😊have a great holiday weekend 🤘🤙✌️👌

@budblankenship4686

4 жыл бұрын

@@dorothybrown5056 Yeah. What's worse than the hurricanes is the overpopulation and having trouble getting water and gas for 2 weeks whether ir strikes or not. Also if one needs to evacuate, its a risky also and can be an expensive ordeal.

How fantastic ! That somebody had the sense and great idea of filming the keys and Key West and keeping the film all these years ! Ive been looking for this for years and here it finally is. Key West when it was really an island paradise, before they turned it into a Disney World, a crowded tourist trap, where the damn cruise ships stop so people can go walk on Duval St. for an hour and buy a stupid t-shirt so they can say "I saw key West!" They see nothing but tourist shops and fancy restaurants. Garbage. I lived in Key west during my teens : 1961 thru 1966, but I consider it my home town. Im a Conch at heart. Key West back then was "Small town USA". You could park anywhere and by 11 PM you could go to bed and sleep without needing soundproof windows. It was quiet ! There were tourists, but I never saw them except when the Coch Train went by and theyd wave. A Navy town, but now the Navy's gone and they have 20 floor condo buildings and mansions built by millionaires who crowd the docks with huge yatchs. The tallest building in Key West used to be the hotel La Concha, which is 6 floors high and was pink. Now, try and find parking and find a motel room for less than $220 a night. Just like that old song goes "They paved paradise, put up a parking lot." Thank you to whomever put this up, from the bottom of my heart. I was dying to see my hometown again and here it is !!!

@arlindaatwood1409

4 жыл бұрын

I was born and grew up in KW and still back and forth a lot with family still there. I agree with most of what you say except the city and county have kept building restrictions in check. There are no 20 story condos here. I believe the most is 14 and not that many at that.

@Matt_from_Florida

4 жыл бұрын

@@arlindaatwood1409 Mostly correct. La Concha is still the tallest private building in KW. The overall tallest is what we call the "Fly Navy" building at NAS Trumbo Pt. that you can see from Palm Avenue.

@Zombie-lp8bx

2 жыл бұрын

It’s all of Florida its an overcrowded concrete park now.

@crankychris2

2 жыл бұрын

@@Zombie-lp8bx Yeah, FL is turning into the next CA, 24 million people here now. I've lived here since '53, sure is different today...

This brings back so many memories of my childhood in Key West. Too bad it’s changed so much, that’s the real Key West that people need to experience

@pedalingthru2719

Жыл бұрын

Sadly those Dasys are gone. Replaced by cruise ships and t- shirt shops.

My Dad was born and raise in Key West and I spent many summers there as a kid with my Grandfather, uncle, aunts and cousins.The old Key West holds a very special place in my heart.

Lived in the Ft. Lauderdale area in the 50's through the 80's. My dad and I fished all over the keys and never missed lobster season. I remember getting a flat on 7 mile bridge and we had to ride the flat and ruined a nice mag wheel because you can't block the bridge. Back then you had to wait a while for the next car to come along. It was rural back then for sure! Never did like that low tide smell from the grass flats but the best fishing ever! I live in the mountains now but I miss the old Florida, the ocean, fishing, lobstering. my best friend Kev and my dad! Those were the days, I am sorry that people don't realize what was the best of Florida is long gone and never coming back! Thanks for the memories, it's pure gold!

@budblankenship4686

2 жыл бұрын

I always welcome and enjoy comments and tales of Florida's glory days. All that's left are what are in people's memories and the one's lucky to capture on film and save them to share.

@Tom007Tiger

4 ай бұрын

I feel that, Florida is has been ruined

Thank you for this video. I was born in Marathon in '62 and still live here today. I really miss the days of a small community where we all knew one another and tourist season was a mere 3 months long, leaving the rest of the year only to us locals to enjoy OUR paradise. As a kid I loved crossing the Bahia Honda Bridge, so videos like this are priceless!

@dirtyharry7616

2 жыл бұрын

i grew up in north miami and my parent's would take us down to marathon every summer from67 thru 72 we would stay at the casa maniana the buccaneer and my favorite the tarpon lodge what a paradise for a kid growing up in miami

@roseymec2694

2 жыл бұрын

Do you remember how tourists driving down would get to the 7-bridge, pull over to look at it and get back in just to turn around and stay in Marathon?!?

@peteyou2325

2 жыл бұрын

@@dirtyharry7616 The Keys were truly like a South Seas paradise during the 1960's. My family spent at least 2 months each summer in Marathon. We stayed at the Tarpon Lodge. My Dad had a Boston Whaler. We would go out fishing just about every day. Back then we seemed to have the entire ocean to ourselves. And boy did we catch a lot of fish. Do you remember the South Seas restaurant and Hanley's? Well, as time marched on the Keys became to crowded and developed. Paradise lost. My Dad wanted to purchase some land on Big Pine Key back in the 60's when it was dirt cheap, but his brother-in-law who was a realtor from Miami advised against the idea. BIG MISTAKE!

@Rosary716

2 жыл бұрын

Lucky ! I’ve lived in Maryland all my life but spent much of the past 18 years visiting and trying to afford to live in Marathon.

@58bobw

2 жыл бұрын

We went Marathon every summer and swam in a saltwater pool at Halls Fish Camp. Gary Edelson and wife (think her name was Numpy) owned the place. Very nice folks

My Fathers shrimp boat.. "Miss Darlene" First time Ive seen this boat as an adult.

I lived in KW from 1974 to 2006. Those were the best years of my life. I will always love the thrill of crossing the 7 mile bridge and once over the hump, you could see the islands stretching out in front of you for miles. Beautiful place to be viewing a sunset or, a sunrise. Too bad it's become what it has become. Thanks for putting this on here. I will come back often to view this.

@rwerner43

3 жыл бұрын

What it has become??? We have lived here for 20 years and it is nothing less than a gift to be able to live here. It is an amazing place. I guess it is what you make it, even in the most beautiful place in the US.

@pedalingthru2719

Жыл бұрын

​@@rwerner43 if you had lived here back in the 60s you would understand. What you have in the lower keys now is embarrassing compared to what it used to be like down here.

Born in the keys, raised in the keys and I still live here. Thx for video, it brings back so many memories.

@budblankenship4686

24 күн бұрын

You're belated welcome

How I love this video ...makes my heart aches for the way it once was, a paradise, before those big resorts were built..starting with " Time Shares"...a time when the locals met on Mallory Square and we all knew each other's familiar faces, the Iguana man and the " Cookie Lady" who sold fresh baked good on her bicycle...i lived at the " Old Island Inn" on Simonton across from the Post Office. I need to put some of my dad's home videos 8 mm on disks.!!! Thank you for posting this wonderful and nostalgic video.

@notyetjp

3 жыл бұрын

Please post anything you have. This brought tears to my eyes.

@jski7355

2 жыл бұрын

Those of us that were lucky enough to have seen the Keys ,experienced the TRUE KW back in the early 60s into the 70s really were so fortunate .So vast the waters .the clarity of it ,the MASSIVE schools Of Kingfish ,Jack's , even Barracuda . That were commonplace .No need for high tech gadgets to find fish .The Backcountry rarely saw another boat , so much to explore ,witness nature that was pristine , serene .A slower pace of life Such a Paradise for fisherman ,nature lovers , and a place one could slow down to smell the roses .Friendly ,cheerful ,helpful residents that welcomed you everytime you returned there .Found myself taking more and more vacation time to return to the Keys And staying longer and longer . It's so dang sad that it has become so overrun by masses of tourist , greedy realtors that cater to the wealthy , charge a kings Ransome for a month rental .Tourist that have no regard for the environment just tossing their trash overboard , discarding un used fuel containers ,broken styrofoam coolers , etc . Its tragic , very few ,if any of those ,old school residents are still with us OR they had to relocate due to affordability . It's has changed so much after the late 80s that long time visitors no longer want or can't afford to return there . Still a few hanging on .Talk frequently .Granted change is a constant .Whether due to storms ,natural things ,algea blooms , red tide etc rarely seen in the past . Helped out after Irma , seemed to me that the aid to the residents that needed it the most ,were the last too receive it .Seems the tourist now are just spring breakers college students or those searching for " their lost shakers of salt " for their margaritas . The change is drastic .I just consider myself so fortunate to have experience many ,many years of the Real KW .

I grew up in Florida and my first trip to the keys was in 1966. I got to meet Mitzi the star of Flipper and it was so beautiful and pristine back then. Thank you for sharing this video as it brought back so many memories of what Florida used to be like when I was a child. Not at all like that today.

I was not even born back in that age and it looks so different and more simple than today , no traffic , no rush on the streets , everyone seems busy enjoying it , the houses looked like some Narco's owed them , all luxury , yet the roads were not developed and u see people respecting the rest , I used to deliver goods in trucks in the last 2 years and i see what it has become , an overpopulated business full of tourists and people driving careless , everyone only paying attention to their cell phones , so sad to be living this today

Saw this for the first time today. Brought back lots of memories. Was born and raised there. Parents owned Wylk’s Restaurant for many years. Thanks for the memories!

This was the year of my first road trip to Key West. I had just turned 21 and was going to make up for "lost time." I did but I don't remember the trip back. Over the years, I went back many times and lived there for a few years in the '80's. Loved every minute of it. Thanks for the memories. It's a very special place for me.

When I was two, my Aunt taught me to swim in Florida. A year later, that saved my life during a terrible storm in Virginia when i fell into a creek. We visited the keys when I was 9, say around 77 or 78 and it looks much like it did in this film! I mostly remember driving from Miami across the 7 mile bridge and having the most fantastic, and probably the 1st time I ever had broiled shrimp which I love to this day!

This is excellent video I moved there Oct 1976 I was 35 now 80 what a wonderful,paradise it was.

Oh how I miss the way it used to be!

All the badass cars

I was there around 1968 as a kid about nine years old. This brings back memories. Those were the days.

Born in Miami im '53, I'm still here. Yes, this was the Florida Keys before the 1970's, when developers like Lennar turned it into a rich folks playground. Thanks for the look back. :))

My mom lived in Marathon in the 1980s I was a frequent visitor in the winter from the frozen north and I often relaxed at the Dockside bar. I have lots of memories of those times, and like many other commenters said it's too bad things have changed so much.

This is how I remember the keys as a kid.really glad to see this video. Really takes me back. Thanks for sharing your video.👌👍

I was 10 years old when this film was shot. Grew up in the Redlands and we went to the Keys all the time. BTW My father-in-law built Card Sound bridge and did a lot of work at the Ocean Reef Yacht Club. I miss the Coral Grill in Islamorada. Back then you could go to Key West and ride on a Naval submarine. Great to look back on good times.

Love watching the old 7 mile bridge. It was still being used. I first visited Key West in 1982 when the new bridge was inaugurated. It was the first of many visits. Lots of memories.

Brings back some old memories of when my aunt and cousins lived on Summerland Key back in the 60's till the 90's, they were one of the few houses on Flagship Drive. My cousin and I would cruise around most of the Keys in our little 10 horsepower dinghy and we would stop at Murrays Market for sodas and lunch. Too bad they had to widen the bridges and destroy the quaintness of the original Keys with all the yahoos that moved down.

@Nh-oe3gp

3 жыл бұрын

The smaller the boat, the bigger the fun!...Similar childhood existence up north on Long Island, NY...been to the Keys 7-8 times and just ain’t enough!!

@pedalingthru2719

Жыл бұрын

Do you remember watching the tourist turn around at 7 mile because they were afraid to cross the bridge ?

what a sweet and sad memory. all those young and vibrant people are now old or deceased. I long for the good Ole days.

Very cool video. It gives me flashbacks to my teen years and my high school days in 1968 when things and life was simpler. I spent a lot of times snorkeling in the keys.

I am also a conch. Wonderful memories in this video. Thank you.

@davideustache4119

6 жыл бұрын

The late great '68

@axiomist1076

4 жыл бұрын

Hy there, bud ! Lets never forget the real Key West, with the sun bleached white houses and streets and the total absence of mobs and millionaire mansions. And remember how empty the shore side of North Roosevelt Blvd. was ? I do. And the south too !

@budblankenship4686

4 жыл бұрын

Let's never forget the real Florida PERIOD.

@notyetjp

3 жыл бұрын

@@budblankenship4686 People wonder why I stand and stare sometimes. I'm remembering these times.

Lived on Big Coppitt key on dolphin road, Attended Sugarloaf elementary when this video was filmed. Lots of great memories.

Great video.. My father was born in Key West, and I spent a great deal of my life there. I was born in 68.

@budblankenship4686

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I love the classic Florida. A lot of its beauty is being lost these days.

I forget the old train bridges were still being used in those days. Nice to see the spot where the southern most buoy would be before it was there. I think it’s actually a sewer capstone if I’m not mistaken.

My ancestral hometown: 1870 to 1984. My mom graduated from KWHS in 1968.

@lmacfsu

3 жыл бұрын

Mine 1877-1952. Cuban relatives (Pendas-Ramirez) came in 1877, Gringos (Brady’s) in 1908. I was born at Dr Galey’s in 1945. Dad worked on the Subs, Mom at Shorty’s.

@m.r.7836

3 жыл бұрын

@@lmacfsu My paternal great-grandmother Dolores Castellanos was born in Key West in 1870; her son (my grandfather) was born there in 1913; my dad and two aunts were born in Havana (from 1948-1951); and I was born in Key West 45+ years ago. :-)

Hi! I really love this old video. Love it at 1:17, coming onto the old Seven Mile Bridge, I had the experience of doing this three times back and forth in the late 70's. To think I drove across the spot where "Fred the Tree" and "Donna the Bush" now live! REALLY loved the segment on the old Bahia Honda Bridge, I missed that by three years. Thanks for this great post! :)

Coming out of Navy boot camp in San Diego, my first duty was station Naval Air Station Annex in Key West, Feb. 1967 to Feb. 1969.....Lots of fond memories!

Thank you! Brings Back A lot of Great Memories.

Thanks for sharing ❤

i grew up in the keys .moved there in 65 when i was 5 . islamorada. my dad worked at holiday isle (just before the chesapake on the left ) in the beginning at .41 sec. on the right before the bridge was estes fish camp . i knew art mckee and his kids kevin and karen.it was a special time back then much simpler. rode my bike everywhere.had a boat at the age of 10.went pool hopping with friends to all the hotels.sat on my moms lap at age 6 and learned how to drive on the old road that ran parallel to us 1 on windly key and islamorada.

I can only wish I would’ve visit KW around that time. Great video!! 👍🏼👍🏼

My family lived in Miami from 61 to 72, and we drove down on weekends several times. I went snorkeling a few times; Marathon ? as an eager 8-10 year old, and the ocean was amazingly clear and full of sea fans and corals and barracuda. Just murky Gatorade colored with some tired eelgrass. So sad.

AMAZING VIDEO !!!!!

Would love to have visited back in that time.....

Cool! Thanks for sharing.

Stationed at Homestead AFB reminds me of my friend Felix and his Triumph TR3a bar hoping all the way to Marathon in 1963.

Developments have destroyed most of Florida now..

I can remember when Key West was mainly a Navy Base and fishing village. I was stationed there, on and off, from 1965 to 1967. Once the Navy Base was shut down and sold for condos, the tourist boom just exploded. My ex-wife and I went to visit in 1975 and I could hardly recognize the place.

In 68 there weren't a lot of cars on the road after 7PM. You could pay football on the highway going thru Marathon

@darleneguthrie7581

3 жыл бұрын

I lived there until 77. My family had been there since 50s. I was 8 in 1968. I miss that era so much. I hear its heartbreaking for Keys kids to go back and see now it's so commercialized.

I always worried that the new bridges would ruin The Keys and it did.

@user-lr7fv6td5y

3 жыл бұрын

how?

@Ottertailllll

3 жыл бұрын

@@user-lr7fv6td5y crowds, traffic, blocked views, inflated prices and commercialization.

This is the key west I grew up in before the cruise ships and all the tourist..

Very cool, can still recognize most places..back when they drove on the train bridge..good times

i and my family the wartchows lived in key west from 1967 68 69 father was in the usn i was 10 11 and 12 those are the best times of my life, my name is dorothy if you remember me haller i remember karen her father ran a gas station

@budblankenship4686

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching.

Summers were far away from Hialeah & spent @ the Trailer Park behind the Movie Theather in Marathon in early 70's. Went there in 2000 & the staghorn coral, the sea urchins, starfish & horseshoe crabs were pretty much gone. We got nasty Lionfish now & they are yummy.

this is great!

My first visit was in 1967, a full 2 years before Jimmy Buffett made it to town. I was in 5th grade.

Good to see some footage of the rail road track guard rails that I remember so well.

Dang that’s before my house in 1970

Old Florida was pretty cool.

Two lane all the way One of the most beautiful drives in America Where's all the fat people

Seams like there were alot more birds flying around back then compared with today.....

I feel the same way about Dunedin and Clearwater, FL.

Those were the best days

Grew up in Miami and we vacationed in Key Largo. I think the motel was Keith's Longhorn(?) Maybe 10 units and a saltwater pool, enclosed by nets. Oh how I would love to see pictures of it and know if anyone else remembers it. Im sure its been gone for years.

damn what a great time to live down here.....its still great to live on the rock but its not like that that being said I love having my boat on a lift right behind my house on the water at mm 103

I wish the reefs still looked like they did

@garraper

4 жыл бұрын

We camped at bpkfl ..33 mm...check this out...www.geoengineeringwatch.org/

what a opportunity at that time to invest in Real estate back then in the Key West Area

Those Florida Keys are gone, a long distance faint memory. Today, they're just the skeleton of their former glory.

Wow what a difference. I would have liked to see mell fishers fleet.

It’s amazing to see the southernmost bouy wasn’t there at the time. I think the southernmost bouy was starting to be built in 1982. I wonder if the Keys had an invasion of migrants at that time compared to the way it is now?

@pedalingthru2719

Жыл бұрын

No. If we had they never would have widened the bridges.

@SilverHonda0767

Жыл бұрын

@@pedalingthru2719 huh 🤔?

I lived in Key West for 3 years, Bahama Village on Petronia St. My ex husband's family is from there. I love it, but I didn't love paying $2600+ to live there. Ex hubby is still there, and our boys get to brag that they vacation in the keys 😎

I never knew conchs were so selfish. Sorry folks. I did not have the great fortune to have been born in Key West back in the 60s. However do feel the Keys are my spiritual home. So this tourist is going to keep visiting whenever He feels like it.

@brrr8904

2 жыл бұрын

If u were a conch and witnessed the damage that has been done firsthand u would feel the same!

I lived in Tampa from 68-71

...many gen conch here...a trip down memory lane....but the music for me did not fit...

What is the first song??? I cant find it anywhere?

Hey Ms. Mayor, do you think they targeted unspecting tourists with (sanctioned???) parking scams this far back?

@pedalingthru2719

Жыл бұрын

5.00 for 30 minutes from a machine that only works 40% of the time. Is that the scam you are talking about?

@glenbowman1678

Жыл бұрын

@@pedalingthru2719 The privately owned lots use the same signs (going from memory here so cut me some slack), Round-White-Blue Border with a big blue colored P. So when you buy (i.e.) 10 hours from a city owned parking meter on the street and you cruise around enjoying yourself and you see a parking lot with one of those signs you whip in there, hop out and go your merry way because you already have paid for your parking (you enter license plate in machine. What I failed to notice was a seperate sign with the fine print "private lot give us more money or we will tow your vehicle". Wonder why the mayor and city council allow this to go on? Why allow private lots to use those same "loud" bright signs? Tax revenue?

Though I wasn’t in Key West, in 71… I was in a little farm town call Ruskin, right off 41 on the Gulf side. Man… it was heaven. You never went anywhere without a 6 pack and a few joints. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sun shine quite the same way since. I do know this. People can sure fuck a good thing up. Florida, now…, is a dump. Shit house pirates looking for, and trying to make Florida their own idea of paradise. I finally did get to Key West in 2016 - I couldn’t wait to leave. Swag shops and nail bars run by Middle East hucksters trying to hook you up with an area rug. The whole Caribbean seems to have been swallowed up with all inclusive high roller shit holes, where everyone drinks all they can and adds a little more lard to their fat asses. Paradise Lost…

$.29.9 per gallon of gas, is all I can think of as I watch the cars roll down 159 miles of 1

@doughelmle6575

2 жыл бұрын

I pumped gas at the REX gas station in 1970 when I was 10.....29 cents a gallon on Saturday .! In islamorada.

1968?! 1968?! !!! KEITH RICHARDS ZOMBIE --- Pass me an LSD tab !!!

Ahhh! Albert Kee was there even then. KW is nothing but a mess now. Sad that greed has made it the mess that it is now.

55 years ago us Americans looked fit and trim. Today we are not.

Not sure why most of these vids focus so much on the roads/bridges. Wfc. Get into town and show the people/places and nature

@budblankenship4686

2 жыл бұрын

Film was expensive. People had to make tough choices as to what to film unlike now where you can film anything and everything...If you don't like it or it came out like crap, DELETE!

Wish I had been around then. KW has lost so much character and vibes. It's really too bad that most of it is now gentrified to the point that the special part of old Key West is a shell of it's former self and has been Disneyfied for the masses.

People say it's what make of it...I worked there 20 yrs. Nothing but a rat race. Good for vacation ,,then leave. Crowded and lots of crime

Some of these clips are definitely not Key West. More like Miami!

I'm here now on vacation seaweed everywhere on the beaches stinks like shit

@ShannonHarper

3 жыл бұрын

It doesn’t always smell like that.

@jamespierce6309

2 жыл бұрын

You bring it with.