KEY WEST, Fla. — "Do you want to go somewhere incredibly beautiful?" the clerk at the Simonton Court hotel gushed. "Somewhere so beautiful and relaxing it will actually lower your blood pressure?"

So we headed down Duval Street to her personal heaven: the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory.

Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory (ENLARGE)
A zebra longwing is one of the eye-catching butterflies at the center.
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RELATED LINKS Hemingway Days kick off Keys provide perfect family retreat Historic Keys inn has four-star cachet - but at a price IF YOU GO • Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. $10 adults; $7.50 ages 4-12; free 3 and under. 1316 Duval St., Key West, FL 305-296-2988, 1-800-839-4647, www.keywestbutterfly.com.

Walking through the conservatory is like entering a steamy, 85-degree glass-topped plant nursery, with a vibrant twist: You are surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of butterflies, tons of butterflies in every size and color: landing on your head, swooping into your hair, fluttering by your face.

You want to gasp, but you're afraid to open your mouth lest a butterfly fly in.

Was it really relaxing? No. It was crowded when we visited, with a constant line of butterfly lovers. But, yes, it was incredibly beautiful, a vivid dose of nature. And, yes, we would go again and again.

Did you know, for example, that the female Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly has an 11-inch wingspan? Did you know that the smallest butterfly, the pygmy blue, has a half-inch wingspan?

Over a year, 75 different species of butterflies flutter about, and most live only 10 days, so it's always a new show.

You will see mating butterflies and butterflies emerging from cocoons and butterflies eating pollen. The conservatory recently added bright birds to the scene, and it keeps visitors updated with Web reports on www.keywestbutterfly.com:

"We now have feathered, as well as scaly-winged, friends filling the air and delighting our visitors. Our flock includes red-factor canaries, zebra finches, cordon-blue finches and 'button' or Chinese painted quail. . . . The birds quickly set about the business of pairing off and setting up housekeeping. We now have several nests and egg-sitting hens throughout the conservatory."

Oh, what a wonderful sight.

Jan Tuckwood writes for The Palm Beach [Fla.] Post.