Another Day in Paradise

Bird of Paradise

February 20, 2011
We are certainly enjoying these luscious days in Marathon, FL.  It's like being in  the movie "Ground Hog Day" where everyday seems to be a repeat of the day before.  Every day our wake up temperature is 66 degrees and the daytime temperature ranges from 75 to79 degrees with a delightful 8 mile per hour breeze.  I think this is heaven!

One of our field trips was to Key West, the furthest western town on the Keys. It's about 50 miles from Marathon (too far to bike) so we took the bus ($2.00 each way!) and had an opportunity to take in the beauty of the Keys while someone else did the driving.  Of course we were starving when we arrived so we had lunch at Alonzo's Oyster Bar on the waterfront in Key West Bight.  From there we took a tour around Key West to get a general sense of the town.  The tour explained the architecture, showed us Duval Street (the tourist street that has all kinds of shopping, dining and LOTS of drinking options), and the southernmost point in the continental US.  Key West has a reputation for some pretty wild night life but leaving by 4 PM didn't allow us to experience that-although from what we could see from the TV shows about it, it does look like fun!

A line forms here to photograph this buoy!

Elvis impersonator

Hens roam all around Key West--true free range chickens

Key West architecture

The beginning of Route 1

The oldest house in Key West

 Ernest Hemingway put some away here!

Smallest bar could still pack them in!

The old Strand Theater is now home to Walgreen's

Key West strip mall

In Marathon we visited the Crane Point Hammock, a 63 acre tract of land boasting mangrove forests, tidal lagoons, thatch palm hammocks, wetlands and hardwood hammock. The Bahamian  and Cracker houses gave us insight into how early settlers lived in the Keys.  It was a peaceful afternoon walking this natural beauty.

Bahamian cottage made from tabby-a coral mixture

a walk through the hammocks

 

Walter and Geri came for a weekend visit-so nice to spend time with long-time friends.  We went and visited in Islamorada and came across the monument dedicated to the people who lost their lives in the deadly (winds of 200 mph) hurricane of 1935.

Walter and Geri

 Our next adventure was to bike out (6miles) to Pigeon Key National Historic District.  The tiny island of Pigeon Key was a work camp for the workers of the Seven Mile Bridge when Henry Flagler was building his railroad between Key West and Miami in the early 1900's.  There are a few cottages left, used mostly as sleeping quarters for the camps they run during the summer.  

Pigeon Key cottage

Notice the old bridge to the left and the new 7 mile bridge to the right

Sheila and Tom

We visited Pigeon Key with Tom and Sheila, a lovely couple from Vancouver we had met on the Trent-Severn Waterway in Onterio last July.  They are staying at the same marina down here.




Our plans are to enjoy this place for another week and then begin our trek up the East Coast.
It's getting slightly busier down here as many people are on Presidents' Vacation and are escaping the weather from the North.  Hope you all are enjoying the vacation weekend!