Fort East Martello Museum

Fort East Martello is the strangest and most atmospheric museum in Key West. It is a brick Civil War fortification on South Roosevelt Boulevard, out by the airport and Smathers Beach, begun by the U.S. Army in 1862 to guard the island against a Confederate attack from the sea and abandoned unfinished as the war drew to a close — it never fired a shot in anger. The Key West Art and Historical Society restored it and opened it in 1950 as its first museum, and today you walk through vaulted brick casemates and a central citadel to see exhibits on the island's history: Civil War relics, the wrecking and cigar-making industries that made Key West rich, the Spanish-American War, the World Wars and the Cuban Missile Crisis. One gallery is given to the welded-metal sculptures of Stanley Papio, a self-taught folk artist whose junkyard creations are funny and inventive. And then there is Robert. Robert the Doll is a straw-stuffed doll in a sailor suit that belonged to the Key West artist Robert Eugene Otto as a child in the early 1900s, and legend credits him with a century of mischief; he sits in a sealed glass case in the Ghosts of East Martello exhibit, surrounded by letters from visitors apologizing for photographing him without asking permission. Whether you find it spooky or hilarious, it is unforgettable. There is a rooftop observation platform on the citadel with views over the water. Allow about an hour. The trade-offs: you need a car, bike or bus to get here, and the exhibits are old-fashioned in places.

Why a Martello fort in Florida: the design borrows from the round coastal towers the British built against Napoleon, named after a tower on Corsica, and Key West received two such forts as outworks to Fort Zachary Taylor — East Martello here and West Martello at Higgs Beach, now a garden. Construction on this one began in 1862, but by the time the masonry was rising, rifled artillery had made brick forts obsolete and the war was ending, so the work stopped. In the twentieth century the fort was used by the military for training and then fell into disuse until the historical society took it over. Monroe County has invested in the masonry and roof over the years, and the brickwork, arches and moat make it as photogenic as the exhibits inside.

Visiting Robert and the rest: the rules for Robert are part of the fun — staff and signs ask you to greet him and request permission before taking his picture, and the wall of apology letters from people who did not, blaming him for lost luggage, car trouble and worse, is the most-read display in the building. The society also runs a separate Robert the Doll experience and sells plenty of Robert merchandise. Beyond the doll, give time to the cigar and wrecking exhibits, which explain why Key West was once the largest and richest city in Florida, and to the Papio sculptures. The museum opens daily from morning to late afternoon with last entry half an hour before closing; tickets are a little cheaper online, and a Museum Culture Pass covers the society's other sites, including the Custom House and the lighthouse. The grounds are ADA accessible except the citadel.

Getting here and pairing: the fort is about fifteen minutes by car or bike from Old Town, beside the airport and across the road from the water, with free parking on site. Pair it with a swim at Smathers Beach a few minutes away, or with the Key West Cemetery and a late lunch on the way back into town. It suits history buffs, ghost-story fans, teenagers and anyone who likes their museums a little odd.