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For the past thirty years, I have worked for an airline. Anything flight-related captures my interest, but I do love reading or learning about travel in the past. Seeing photographs of how passengers treated traveling by plane with great reverence, it of utmost interest. Many years ago, my airline merged with the now defunct Pan American World Airways. Tragically, with the fall of this great company, was also the fall of the way people traveled in style. Instead of suits, dresses and Louis Vuitton luggage, you see travelers in hair rollers, pajamas and trash bags.
When I see anything that refers to Pan Am, I am instantly intrigued. My desire to revisit the golden age of flying transcends above all, so when my husband and I were in Key West and enroute to the Hemingway House and I spotted First Flight, I had to stop and check it out.
Located on Whitehead Street, First Flight, claims to be the birthplace of Pan American World Airways. In this building, the first airline tickets were sold in 1927 for what was to become the principal and largest international airline in the United States.
With its inception as an air mail and passenger service which operated between Key West and Havana, Cuba, it became known as the airline that shaped the international airline industry.
Now a restaurant and brewery which features a beautiful garden dining area under a tree-top canopy and an interior filled with Pan Am memorabilia and an indoor-outdoor bar made from an airplane wing. You can also visit the Mercantile for airline themed gifts and souvenirs.
Sound amazing?
I think so and I wish that I would have been able to see and experience it. But…after reading the placard outside the bar and photographing the building, it was time to move on as it was the middle of the day and much too early to drink or eat!
Hoping to come back later in our trip, we never did but it is on my list for my next visit to Key West.
First class caviar and service? You bet!
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First Flight
- http://firstflightkw.com/
- Address: 301 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida 33040
- Hours: 1200 to 2200, daily. Happy hour, 1600-1800, daily.
- Admission: free. Menu items vary.