The Keys of Florida
Journal # 15
October 22-25, 2018

The Keys

The Florida Keys have many descriptions: the third largest barrier coral reef in the world; a string of 822 islands extending into the Gulf of Mexico (30 of them inhabited); 113 miles of coral and limestone. The word Key is derived from the Spanish word 'cayo' which means little island. The original European inhabitants before trains and bridges were wreckers. Wreckers lived on the revenues from collecting treasure from the numerous shipwrecks that occurred along the Gulf Stream where it moved quite close to the shores here. Some even lured ships too close to the coral reefs and then offered to help them for an enormous cut of their cargo.

The Keys are reached by only one road, therefore it is easy to find things; their mile markers indicate them. This reminds us of the Alaska Highway Milepost travel guide. As for parking in Key West … fellow Roadtrekers … the secret is the post office. For $15 for three hours, we can fit into one of their spots with our 210 backing in over the grass landscaping.

Bridges and the Strongest Hurricane

Forty-six bridges over 126 miles connect the Keys. Driving south towards the Florida Keys the first thing we noticed are the concrete barriers on the highway entering the Keys. Found all over the U.S. these particular iconic road dividers are unique. They are indicators of the color code for the keys. Found on the buildings and houses and walls … everywhere. Aquamarine to reflect the water...sky blue to mimic the sky and sandy beige to pick up the beach hues.

The longest bridge is the 7-Mile bridge (mile markers 47 to 40), which is amusing to travel.

However, most interesting is the parallel bridge built by Henry Flagler in the early 1900’s. A railroad bridge that connected all the islands, it has quite a history and several stories about its construction.

Most poignant is the 115 WWI veterans who were working on the bridge and canals in 1935. The strongest hurricane in history … a category 5 … hit there and killed over 500 people in all. There was little advance warning as good technology was not available at that time (no satellites). There is a memorial of that event at mm 82.

Key West Mile Zero

We drove straight without stopping to the end at Key West to Mile 0 on our first day there. This week was the famous Fantasy Fest … an adult themed party that includes party-party-party with quite a few very creative body paint displays. Sorry, no pictures … this is a G-rated Journal.

Sunset at Mallory Square in Key West

Every night is always a celebration of the sunset on Key West. Street entertainers and live musicians gather to honor this awesome event.  We are overwhelmed with the beauty of the sunset over the Gulf. Therefore, here are many pictures. I took these pictures ... honest.

😏

Dolphin Research Center 

There are five different dolphin encounter sites on the keys listed in the Islamorada guide. Our research brings us to decide on the Dolphin Research Center at mm 59. Staffed by researchers and college students, this education facility proves to be just right for us. There is much personal staff interaction and close up connections with the dolphins.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

We were fortunate to have secured three nights at this campground. We booked it last June. We understand that was rare to have found room as many of the Florida Keys sites need to be booked at least 10 months ahead; two of the state parks in the keys are still closed after Hurricane Irma of 11 months ago.


This park is more than a campground! It is the an undersea park with 178 nautical square miles of National Marine Sanctuary with coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps. They offer several snorkeling, scuba and boating opportunities as well as nature walks, swimming beaches, fishing and walking paths. The ibis are like squirrels ... looking for food.

There is also an Aquarium. 

The coral reef of the Marine Sanctuary is replicated in the aquarium.

The Lobsters are fascinating.

One of the worst invasive fish species is the Lionfish. Magnificently colored, it is predatory reef fish adorned with intricate stripes and venomous barbs at the end of its long, fan-like fins.  They have no natural predators and naturalists are encouraging us to find them in restaurants and eat them, becoming the first predator of Lionfish. They are alarmed that this beautiful fish that feed on small herbivorous fish thus decimating the local ecosystem.       

This Lionfish is admiring herself in the glass of your tank.

Pennekamp Visitor 

Rev. Hoyt, pastor emeritus, is 91 years of age and is proud of his bike which is 80 years old. Dan struck an interesting conversation with him about the bike and the Lord. His favorite pastime is to visit with young people who are drawn to him (and his bike). His business card does all the preaching.

Glass Bottom Boat tour

Out of Pennekamp Park, we took the Glass Bottom Boat Tour, which ventured out the three miles in the Atlantic Ocean to the coral reef. It is fascinating to see all the creatures that inhabit the coral. There were some jokes about a three-hour tour, but we returned to shore just fine. Can I be Ginger?

Susan talking about the Mahogany Tree

Pennekamp Nature Walk

Nature walks are a part of Pennekamp’s charms led by naturalists. Susan Kolterman was our guide and she was amazing … her knowledge and ability to communicate it made the walk most absorbing.

We learned about all the trees of Florida. Some we loved are the Poisonwood (leaves nasty rashes when touched), Mahogany, the Banyan, the Strangler Fig, the Mangrove, and the Gumbo Limbo. Elsewhere we have posted the Ficus Altimus.

Poisonwood Tree

Gumbo Limbo Tree

We saw a Julia Butterfly and a sweet blue morning glory. Morning glories are white where we live in Colorado and are invasive ... to be purged.

This red bug was also a mystery to our guide. Sabrina is our family ecologist. Sabrina: can you find out what this is?

The Blue Hole

The Blue Hole is an abandoned rock quarry now filled with fresh water and alligators, birds, snakes, iguanas and deer.
In the Key Deer National Refuge lives the tiny race of white-tailed deer that stand only 26-32 inches at the shoulder, the size of a large dog. Endangered, the Refuge at mm 30 helps protect a portion of the deer’s vanishing habitat.

We did not see any deer, but the pond did reveal a friendly alligator in the foot trail that goes out to the Blue Hole.

A note about National Wildlife Refuges –created to protect and conserve Americans wild plants, fish, animals and their habitats, there are 255 of them in the U.S. The one we visited on Oct 18 north of the Keys, Pelican Island, was the first one established in 1903 by Theodore Roosevelt.

Lobster and Whale

Just a touch of whimsy. Lobster is at mm 86 (a bit larger than Dan who is standing in front of it). The Whale is a mural on a shopping center at mm 50.

Sharks & Tarpons at Robbie’s

Robbie’s Marina at mm 77.5 is home to hundreds of Tarpons and occasional sharks that come right up to the docks waiting to be fed.

We ventured out to this oddity and offering only a few dollars we had fish in our hand to participate in this ritual. Luckily for us, today there were quite a number of sharks.

Tarpon

Tarpon and Sharks

 NEXT

While bicycling around Pennekamp, Park we visited with a couple who had come from the west coast (of Florida) and shared with us a campground on Sanibel Island that was at off-season rates until the end of October.  We returned that evening to our campsite and planned our next expedition.