Thank you all for your helpful advice. We have now returned from our trip to your lovely state and found it gorgeous and relaxing. We limited our stay to the southern part, rented a cottage on Cudjoe Key for several days, then drove over 41 and 94 to Everglade City where we rented a mobile home on stilts at the edge of a canal for a couple days. Stayed away from the large cities for the most part. The only 'tourist' thing we did was the Coral Castle, which was indeed amazing (I could have skipped the tour guide commentary but oh well). Saw lots of alligators, did some fishing and canoeing, admired all the local flora everywhere, enjoyed the balmy weather and got my skin all softened by the humidity, which was not over powering. We whistled through Key West and swam at Higgs Beach, but opted not to stay for the Mallory Square celebration, it was just too crowded. Very fun for us to compare the furthest northwest point (Cape Flattery in my state of Washington) with the further southeast point of the US, and also to note the difference between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Yours is much saltier than ours and such a beautiful turquoise color; while ours has a much higher surf crashing over rock stacks and of course extremely colder. We had a wonderful visit.
If I can ever return the favor of recommending sites of interest in Washington, please start a thread in the PNW forum. Take care - Deb
