It Happened in the Florida Keys

Far from the culture shock she expected upon moving to Duck Key in 1993, Victoria Shearer discovered that island life opened the window on a tropical wonderland of sun, sea, and the sweeping bounty of Mother Nature. An avid traveler and no stranger to the wonders of the world, Vicki concluded that the Florida Keys reign in a class by themselves. So, like the Bahamians and Cubans who adopted the islands centuries before her, she stayed.A University of Wisconsin graduate, Vicki wore several professional hats—elementary school teacher, advertising agency account executive, and magazine copy editor—before combining her passion for travel with her love of writing. A member of the Society of American Travel Writers, she now writes feature articles for newspapers and magazines across the country. She is author of The Florida Keys Cookbook: Recipes and Foodways of Paradise (The Globe Pequot Press, 2006) ten editions of The Insiders’ Guide to the Florida Keys and Key West (The Globe Pequot Press), as well as Walking Places in New England (Out There Press, 2001).Vicki divides her time between Duck Key and Chocowinity, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband Bob. Vicki loves to cook, play tennis, needlepoint, and quilt. And while the title of “author” is quite nice, Vicki’s most cherished monikers are “Mom” (Brian and Lisa, Kristin and John) and “Gram” (Christopher, Bethany, Bobby, Ashleigh, Nicholas, and Leia).

Introduction (1) Hard Aground on the Reef: The Demise of the U.S.S. Alligator - 1822 (2) Double Cross: Salvaging the Slaver Guerrero - 1827 (3) Massacre on Indian Key - 1840 (4) Muddy Waters: Truth and Consequences - 1865 (5) Key West Cigars: Up in Smoke - 1886 (6) First Train to Paradise - 1912 (7) Catching the Big One: Zane Grey and the Long Key Fishing Camp - 1919 (8) Against all Protocol: Battle in the Florida Straits - 1943 (9) Mother Nature’s Fury: The Labor Day Hurricane - 1935 (10) Sabotage in the Mangroves: Litnumvitae key and the Bay of Pigs - 1961 (11) Island at War: Key West and the Cuban Missile Crisis - 1962 (12) Flotilla to Freedom: The Flooding of Key West - 1980 (13) If at First You Don’t Secede . . . - 1982 (14) Fat Albert’s Great Escape - 1984 (15) Drowning the African Queen - 1992 (16) True Lies on the Seven Mile Bridge - 1993 (17) Chained to the Mother Lode - 2000 (18) The Serendipitous Sinking of the Spiegel Grove - 2002 (19) Marooned in Marathon - 2005