Key Largo To Key West

Gilbert Resort at Key Largo. Dolphins were swimming right here!

On Saturday morning, April 19, I drove along the Keys, making many stops, the first at Key Largo's Gilbert Resort, where I saw dolphins swimming.

Fishing is a major recreational activity in Florida. The flow of water between the Keys seems to attact the fish, and the footings for the bridges provide easier access to the water for fishing than the mangroves that surround most keys.

Some of the older disused railway and road bridges have been left in place. Most are left to decay, but some are maintained as pedestrian links.

I was sorely tempted to go flying in this gem, but after half an hour waiting in hope that some other passenger would happen along to share the cost, my financial head overruled my aviator's heart.

By noon I was at the famous Seven Mile Bridge, which, as its name suggests, makes a 13 km link between two of the keys. This is what I had come for!

Relaxing at Bahia Honda.
On closer examination things were not so heavenly. The light turquoise waters are sandy, but the darker waters are areas of water plants that hide heavens knows what marine horrors. The sandy waters were very small and confining once one got swimming.

To my surprise, there are not many beaches on the Keys, and I began to wonder if I was ever going to get a swim into those fabulous looking waters.

Eventually, at 12:30 pm, as I was beginning to consider my luncheon options, I found a fabulous beach in the Bahia Honda State Park. What made this find even more wonderful was today being an "open" day, and I didn't have to pay the park entry fee.

However, the delights of the tropical waters lost their appeal somewhat when I approached what I thought was a cute turtle swimming in the shallow water. Less that a metre from it I suddenly saw it as a crab, about 20 cm in diameter, with a large claw opened and reaching out towards my feet. I beat a hasty retreat and thereafter examined closely every ripple in the sand in case another horror lurked there.

At 2 pm I was driven from this terror-ridden paradise as much by my desire to reach Key West as by the scorching effect of the sun on my skin.

When I arrived at Key West I discovered there was an air show in progress at the Naval Air Station. It was being held over two days - Saturday and Sunday. I was too late for Saturday's show, although I did see some planes flying low over the city. Now I was faced with another difficult choice. Did I stay for Sunday's air show - a proven attraction - or should I try to get to Cocoa for the space rally - an event that might be a fizzer.

After several late afternoon hours walking around Key West I resolved to go to Cocoa. What tipped the balance was the "SIM City" nature of many of the Keys, and the fact that in a few hours I had seen most of the attractions of Key West.

At 5 pm.

Unfortunately, I discoverd Ernest Hemmingway's house exactly at closing time.

The so-called southernmost point marker.

I also dicovered a marker that claimed to be the southern-most point on the continental US. The fact that Key West is an island notwithstanding, the marker was quite clearly well north of the nearby Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park. What a shonk!!

The view from the Souternmost Point marker to the even more southerly Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park.

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