If there’s anywhere in the continental United States that’s a true getaway from reality, it’s Key West. One of the funkiest towns in the country, this small tropical island—the last in the Florida Keys archipelago—follows the beat of its own drum, to say the least.
In fact, Key West proved its fierce independence by declaring itself the Conch Republic with a tongue-in-cheek “secession” in 1982. The flag of the Conch Republic, which you’ll see flying from many a front porch in Key West, jokingly declares “We Seceded Where Others Failed!” and its proud citizens live by the motto: “We’re all here because we’re not all there.”
