Monthly Archives: May 2013

Anywhere you go, whether at home or traveling, some days are better than others.  Our last day in the Florida Keys, for me, was one of my favorites.

As planned, we went back to Marathon to spend more time at Crane’s Point.  This time we were not rushed and walked  through small trails seeing trees and plants unseen anywhere else in Florida.  We saw several varieties of butterflies and spent as much time as we wanted at the point.  In fact, with the clear water, we even saw a nurse shark and some parrot fish. Palm Trail at Crane’s Point
The Point at Crane’s Point where we saw the nurse shark

Then we went to the Seven Mile Bridge and rode our bikes the 2.2 miles to the down ramp onto Pigeon Key.  We didn’t go down because you would have to pay another admission fee.  You can’t tell this unless you are actually on the bridge, but when they converted the bridge from train travel to auto travel, they used the train rails to create the upright and guard rails on the sides of the bridge.  View of old and new bridge, take note of guard rails (old train tracks)

If you ever drove down to Key West prior to the 1984 opening of the current bridge, this narrow bridge was what you were driving on.  People driving down back then always talked about how scary the ride on the bridge was.

Next we went back to our camp site and pulled out two lounge chairs.  We put them in the shade at the water’s edge and read and rested before getting ready for a special dinner at a special restaurant.

Since Jim’s birthday was so close to our trip to the Keys, we decided to pick a really nice restaurant here in Key West for his birthday dinner and we found a great one.  Just off of Key West is another small island called Sunset Key.  On this island, the Weston Hotel has a high-end resort with cottages and a fabulous restaurant called Latitudes on the beach facing the sunset.  You must have a reservation because you have to take their ferry to get to the island.  It’s also probably the only place in Key West that actually has a dress code.

We had a table outside facing the water which reminded us of our favorite restaurant in St Kitts, The Beach House.  We had an excellent dinner including a Caesar salad (me) with white anchovies, Lettuce wedges (Jim) with fresh citrus, homemade  lobster and crab meat ravioli (Jim) and Grilled Yellowtail Snapper in lemon butter sauce.  Of course, we ended with coffee and Key Lime Pie and Peanut Butter Bread Pudding.  Then just as we were finishing our dessert, the clouds moved enough to allow us and all the other patrons to see a spectacular sunset.  The only word I could think of to describe our dining experience was magical! View of sunset from our table at Lattitudes Restaurant

We leave in the morning for a one night stop in Fort Myers and the home on Thursday.  We really have no plans to speak of until the Fall and will be enjoying our home all summer.

We decided to head in the other direction today and take in the sights and sounds of Marathon.  It’s only about 37 miles away, but with just a two lane road to travel, it takes about an hour to get there from here.

Of course the first thing we did was eat.  We found a place called the Cracked Conch Cafe that had been there for 33 years and looked like locals ate there.  We had conch chowder ( I had Manhattan style and Jim had New England style) and then a grilled dolphin melt on rye with Swiss cheese and all the other goodies that make it tasty.  It was good!  Trivia information:  All the conch served in the Keys comes from the Bahamas.  It is unlawful to harvest conch in the Keys.

From lunch we went to Crane Point Museum and Nature Center.  We had low expectations especially after seeing the entrance, but we were pleasantly surprised once we got inside.  This reserve consists of 63 acres NEVER developed and kept in its natural state ever since  Mr. and Mrs. Crane bought it in 1952 from the original owner, George Adderley.  Adderley came to the Keys from the Bahamas with his family.  He built their home using a technique used in the Bahamas call tabby (made of burnt seashells) in the early 1900s.  The home is still standing in its original spot and preserved.The Original Adderley home

When Flagler was bringing the railroad down to Key West, Adderley gave him the right of way through his land in exchange for a train stop on this Key.  The Cranes came to the Keys on vacation from Massachusetts and like so many others, decided to stay.  They bought the property from Adderley and quickly understood just what they had acquired.  All around the property, the key was being developed and most trees and vegetation was being destroyed.  They began the process of building a home on the bay side of the point off the water without destroying its virgin state.   The view from the point is unbelievable!

When we started back on the trail, I notice something big on the pathway but we were about 30 yards away.  I first thought it was a snake of some kind but as we got closer, I realized it was a HUGE lizard of some kind.  When I asked at the gift shop, they told us it was probably an Iguana.  They have a lot because people buy them for their kids and they bring them here when they get too big for them to handle.

Today, the property preserves one of the world’s last remaining thatch palm hammocks containing rare and endangered species.  I counted no fewer than 5 different types of cacti growing in the natural wooded areas.  There are over 50 of the 150 types of trees growing on this property and many of them are not seen anywhere else. Sunburnt tree – This tree is constantly peeling and looks like someone with a bad sunburn as the red part peels away. 

There is a Wild Bird Center where rehabilitating birds are kept until they can be released back into the wild.  There is a butterfly meadow with plants attracting butterflies and the museum is small but houses many displays worth seeing.  We had to catch a ferry to Pigeon Key so we couldn’t stay as long as we would have liked.  We did get a rain check and we are coming back tomorrow to enjoy the property more leisurely.

Pigeon Key was one of the camps where the workers who built the railroad and bridges lived during construction.  House on right was the home of the Bridge Engineer/foreman after bridge was completed.
It is the key just before the infamous seven mile bridge considered at its time to be a major architectural feat.  Flagler built this entire series of bridges and railroad track with his own money.  Remember all the issues the government had at Fort Jefferson, well in true entrepreneurial fashion, Flagler thought of all that and sent his engineers to Germany to find the best solution for concrete that would withstand the salt water.  When it was completed in 1921, it had expectations of lasting for hundreds of years.  Unfortunately, the depression hit and travel to Key West was scarce.  The railroad and the bridges fell into receivership and the government bought everything for $684,000 which was a bargain since it cost Flagler $80 million.  Just like the Bahia Honda Bridge, the tracks were removed and a roadway for cars was constructed on the top of the railroad foundation.  The toll back then was $1.00 per car plus the driver and .25 for each passenger.  It was a scary roadway back then with no place to stop or turn around, so the government built a ramp down to Pigeon Key and created one of the first rest stops on US 1.One of the houses built on the island to house families of top ranking personnel who maintained the bridge after construction.

Today, there is a new wider bridge that was built in 1984 and the old bridge has been disconnected from US 1.  It’s also possible to actually stay in one of the remaining cottages for a long weekend or week with your family right on Pigeon Key.  It sleeps up to 10 people and has two full baths.  Kinda different and priced comparable to other rooms in the area.  You actually share the island with several interns studying marine biology.

When we come back tomorrow, I think we are bringing our bikes and we will ride the old bridge.

Since we are not “party animals” we decided to explore Key West by day and not do the typical nighttime activities.  One of the items on Jim’s bucket list is to visit all four corners of the United States.  We have already been to Lubec, Maine which is the eastern most point in the U.S. so naturally we needed a picture of the southern most point here in Key West.  We even got a shot of mile marker “0” on US 1.

Next on the list was the Key West Lighthouse which was originally on the spot where the Southern most point is now located.  It had to be moved because of damage sustained in a hurricane.  It has 88 steps to the top, but we decided neither of us had either the energy or knee functionality to do it.

From here we went to the Key West Cemetery.  This cemetery was established in 1847 after the hurricane of October 11, 1846 when the storm washed away the existing cemetery including most of the bodies.  The old graveyard was on the southern edge of the town and it’s rumored that some of the bodies were found in the trees.  The cemetery reflects the spirit of the people with some inscriptions that are light-hearted such as, “At least now I know where he is at night”, or “I told you I was sick”.  There is a mixture of below ground graves and, reminiscent of New Orleans, many are above ground.

One interesting fact about Key West is there are colorful roosters, hens and baby chicks everywhere.  They are protected and  actually have the right of way in the roads.  

Also, everywhere you look you see Royal Poinciana Trees with their spectacular blooms of reddish-orange.

We walked around the shops on Duval and Front Streets for a while but my bucket list stop of the sandal shop was closed.  Maybe, another day.  As we got closer to evening, you could hear the crowds getting noisier and the street vendors were multiplying.  Everything from leather bracelets to body art.  Time to find a restaurant for dinner!

We found a place called Two Friends Patio Restaurant right on the corner with open air dining, which I love, and had some really good food.  I order coconut shrimp with pineapple-orange sauce that was fabulous.  I had to get a small box for half of the shrimp because I wanted to leave room for Key Lime Pie.  According to our waitress the restaurant uses the same recipe since 1967 so that it’s authentic and it was good.  One the way out-of-town we stopped at Mathessen’s where they make 1/2 pound cookies.  Not only do these monster cookies look like something you have to have, when you taste it, your glad you did!  I got a chocolate chip, pecan, macadamia nut cookie.One of the many quaint homes we saw along the streets in Key West

One good thing about all this walking is you can eat more without feeling guilty.

Not too long ago, Jim got a new Android phone and found an alarm ring tone he really likes.  It sings, “Goood Morn….ing” and then plays this jazzy little tune.  That’s exactly what we heard at 5:30 a.m. this morning so we could be in downtown Key West by 6:45 a.m. to catch our ferry to the Dry Tortugas.

Located 70 miles from Key West, there is no way to get there except sea plane or ferry and a little on the pricey side but oh so worth it.  Acquired as part of the purchase of Florida from Spain in 1821, the Tortugas, as they were named by Ponce de Leon in 1513, were a major shipping route and very attractive to the U.S. government.  They consist of seven little islands (almost nothing more than sand bars) the largest of which is Garden Key.  When the map makers starting plotting these on maps the name got changed from Los Tortugas (the turtles) to Dry Tortugas to warn everyone there was no fresh water on these islands.

In 1846, the US Government began building Fort Jefferson, the third largest fortification ever built, on Garden Key to protect this important shipping route.    It encompasses the entire 16 acres of the Key and took 43 years to build but was never really completed.  Like many other government projects, Fort Jefferson was ill fated from the start.  Evidently, the government never considered the location when trying to incorporate methods used at other forts, albeit not of this size.  For instance, it contains almost 16 million bricks.  What do you think happens when you put 16 million bricks on a sand bar?  Yup, too heavy and foundation cracks.  They put in a mote around the entire fort that would not only protect them from invasions from land, but double as their sewage system when the tide would come in and go out.  Unfortunately, Florida tides are not as significant as they are up North and the waste was never washed out into the sea.  Yuck!  Then there’s the water filtration system.  They were collecting the rain water from the top of the walls and filtering it through layers of sand into holding tanks in the cellars.  A few issues they never thought of were the water they used to mix the mortar in the holding tanks was made from the sea water filled with salt and the sand they filtered the water through was sand from the ocean; more salt.  Anyway, it didn’t work in this fort.  It brought that often heard saying, “That’s not how we did it up North” to my mind immediately. Fort Jefferson as we approach on boat, as you can see it takes up the entire island.
 This is the moat around the fort.
Interior of Fort Continue reading →

It makes no sense to pay extra for a campsite on the water and then go out everyday.  That was my rationale for staying close to home yesterday and it must have sounded like a good idea because Jim didn’t disagree.  So that’s what we did.  We read and slept and read some more.  Then we walked down to the restaurant on premise and had conch fritters and conch chowder.  Then we took a run to the local Publix for some baby back ribs and read and slept some more.

I guess I was saving up my energy for today and boy did I need it.    We started the day with a two hour kayak trip around the cove.  There was no wind and the water was like glass with only the current to deal with and that wasn’t bad.  The cove is full of mangrove islands and one of the largest has a stream that cuts through it.  We found the opening and went into the mangroves for a short distance.  It was really different to actually be in the middle like that.

Then we found a section that formed a secluded area.  It was fairly shallow and I could see things moving at the bottom.  They looked like 4 inch snowflakes with a striped band around the bottom.  Suddenly, I noticed the band was opening and closing and it turned out that what I was seeing was a form of jellyfish that liked the seclusion of this area.  There were hundreds of them.  Once we were back in the main cove we were joined by a stingray swimming around us.  By now our time was coming to an end so we headed back in.There really is a stingray in the water, the camera could not pick it up.This is our campsite from the water

After lunch we put our bikes on the truck and went to Bahia Honda State Park on Bahia Honda Key.  This has to be the prettiest State Park in Florida.

The closest cove is on the west side of the key and the one on the top of pictures east side or the Atlantic Ocean.
The park is 524 acres with extensive white sand beaches almost all around the island.  You can bike the full length of the island on a paved road and explore the beaches on the Gulf side as well as on the ocean side, which of course, we did.  There are 80 campsites and 5 cabins, fishing, snorkeling, swimming and just everything you would want in a State Park.

Most of the vegetation on the island was blown here by the hurricane winds or carried by the birds from the Carribean and there are some really unique plants.  One in particular that caught our attention was the Spider Lily.

The last thing we did was to walk on the remnant of the Flagler Bridge that was built in 1912 to take the railroad to Key West.  During its hay day, Key West was the largest city in Florida and the wealthiest per capita in the U.S. mostly because of the access afforded by the railroad.  In 1938 the bridge was converted to a automobile bridge by creating a roadway on top of the train bridge because the track portion was too narrow for two lanes of car traffic.

A quick dip in the ocean to cool off and I was done!  Take me home, let me take a shower and take me out to eat before I fall asleep.

We were right.  The drive from Fort Lauderdale to just north of Key West is long.  But once we got here, boy was it worth it!  Getting into our campsite was a little tricky because it’s a back-in with almost no space in front of it and vehicles parked everywhere.  We are actually staying on Geiger Key and have the water to our back-end with this cute little tiki hut for shade. View from Tiki Hut behind our RV Continue reading →

We are “gone again” to the Florida Keys and although the trip down was uneventful, our home on wheels continues to make traveling more fun than I thought it would be.  We decided to stop in Fort Lauderdale for the night rather than take that long drive from Ocala in one day.

Before I moved to Ocala in 1973, I lived in west Fort Lauderdale and we tried to find where I lived.  Boy, 40 years makes a difference!  I lived in Davie back then, but after driving around for almost an hour, I gave up.  There was no resemblance to the Davie I remembered and the roads that were once two lane are mostly six lane now.  Just as we gave up and were heading away I saw a sign that read, “Historic Davie”.  Now think about that.  How would you feel if the last place you lived was young and new when you lived there and now was considered ‘historic’.  Talk about OLD!

We were in the farthest lane from this left turn to get there and I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble.  After all, my memories of riding horseback down the center of town and horses tied to time and temperature sign at the bank were my history.  Besides what I could see from where we were was very different from my memory.  Grif’s was the feed store back then, and now its a sports bar.

From Davie, it is only a short drive to downtown Hollywood.  Hollywood Blvd changed as well but not as drastically and maybe for the better.  They created a wonderful restaurant mecca with limited traffic and lots of parking.  Most of the restaurants offered al fresco dining and we found this great place called Chocolada Bakery and Cafe.  Any idea what got our attention?  We had a wonderful table just at the edge of the street so we could see everything and then we found two authentic Romanian dishes on the menu, Mititei and Sarmaze, to try.  They were lamb, pork and beef dishes and very good.  We took home a chocolate mousse/mango dessert for later.  Not a bad end to a fun day.