Sunday, April 29, 2007

 BY CINDY PRICE

Rolling Mangoes...

 KEY WEST -- It's tough to slap an itinerary on Key West. The whole point of this two-by-four-mile island, after all, is to kick off your shoes and let it all hang out. But here's the rub: do Key West wrong and you might not relax. So where is the strange, laid-back island that everyone fell in love with? It's still there, if you know where to look. It's found biking through Old Town at dusk, when the porches light up and jasmine fills the air. Done right, Key West is still a place where time stands still.

    How long does Lloyd's Tropical Bike Tour last? “In your mind,” Lloyd Mager likes to tell his customers, “forever.” If you only take one tour, make it this strange, awesome trip through the back streets of Key West. The Bronx-born, mango-obsessed Mr. Mager ducks in and out of private gardens (including his older brother's, much to his chagrin), hacking at coconuts with his machete, cracking jokes and spreading the local lore he has cultivated in his 35 years on the island. The stop at Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden, a stunning little rain forest with exotic parrots and an artist gallery, is worth the cost alone. The tour is $35 and lasts (in real time, anyway) two hours.

For the full article click here: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/travel/29hours.html

 BY CAMMY CLARK

Tour guide keeps his two-wheeler in motion

• For 17 years a one time hippie turned bike tour guide has been showing visitors the tropical Key west that many never discover
  

 KEY WEST -- Lloyd Mager, tour guide, is ready. Machete: sharpened. Coconuts: ripe. Conch shell: in tune.
     His latest group of vacationers, from Ohio and Maine, are about to see what's left of his paradise.

    "I'm here to show the real Key West," he says. "The funky, easygoing, laid back, relaxed island where you don't need a lot to have fun.

Mager's job is to energetically point out fruit, trees, flowers and other tropical aspects of Key West that the average tourist might miss.
     At Nancy's Secret Garden, Mager grabbed a fruit picker and speared a papaya for all to try.
     A big part of his two-hour tour is showing off all the fruit trees around the island. He came up with a list of 30 he has tasted on the tour.

    "He brings awareness to the island for its flora , and he does it on a bicycle, so there's twelve less cars on the road."
    "Lloyd takes you places you can't go on your own."

    It's healthy for the environment and healthy for your body and soul. It's one of the charm attractions in Key West.