Wednesday (Feb 25, 2009) was opening day for the new terminal at Key West International Airport (EYW), which is on Florida’s southernmost Key and just 90 miles from Cuba.
The new terminal has second-level ticketing, a departure lounge, retail concessions, and a restaurant and tavern. The old 1957 terminal won’t be torn down, just renovated and updated.
I haven’t toured the new terminal yet, but did have the pleasure of visiting the old one a while back and learning about the airport’s colorful history.
During WWII, the Key West airstrip, which was known as Meacham Field, served as a dirigible base. It became Key West International Airport after the war and for many years there were only two scheduled flights a day.
Still, the airport restaurant was a popular destination. Perhaps that’s because during the1960’s and 70’s the lounge featured a topless all-female band and the bar stayed open 24 hours a day.
An intriguing attraction right across from the airport museum is the Fort East Martello Museum, which is home to a wide variety of intriguing historical items, including Robert the Haunted Doll, a straw-filled toy that many believe to be the embodiment of evil.
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Thanks so much for reporting on what you saw and experienced at EYW. I really appreciate it and I’m sure other travelers do as well.
I flew out of EYW on the 25th, opening day of new terminal. While the new ticket and check in and restaurant areas are much better than the old areas there were some opening day glitches. Some of the check in kiosks were not working properly and the bag xray screening machine was out of order resulting in physical searches of all carry on bags by TSA personnel. However, I must say that they did an exceptional job of this very tedious and stressful task. These things will be fixed I;m sure, but my big complaint is that they have not finished renovating the depature area as there is still no restroom nor adequate room for departing travelers.