Florida Keys – Riveted

Bluewater Key RV Resort

Laura Domela — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 10:52:00 +0000

We went for a walk before heading out for dinner last night and I took a few photos of some of the spots here, in case you wanted to see what sites besides ours look like:

It's a great location, and these are all bay front…there's a whole 'nother row that's canal front…most with docks there as well (and tiki huts, of course).

Loved our site. I don't remember if I mentioned or not, but the park has Wi-Fi…we've been using it, sometimes, but it's really slow. Great AT&T and Verizon coverage here. They apparently have cable, but we haven't been able to get a signal at all. Haven't cared much though. They also have a nice large pool, a clubhouse, laundry, etc.

We went to dinner right down the road at Kaya's Island Eats and had some great fresh fish (a tuna poke appetizer, blackened mahi mahi and one of the specials, a pan-seared grouper with risotto). The cocktails were bright and festive so I took a picture of 'em:

Kaya's is right on the water and we watched the sunset from our table. All I had with me was my iPhone, but imagine this WAY cooler that it is in this shot:

The Most Southern

Laura Domela — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:05:15 +0000

I love this line of people waiting to take their photos with the “Southernmost Point” marker. (Click photo to enlarge.) But more than that, I love the story of this thing. This point in Key West was originally marked with a sign, but the sign kept getting stolen. The city eventually erected this concrete buoy, but it’s not really a buoy. It’s an old sewer junction that was dug up and was too big and too heavy to move, so they painted it up to look like a buoy. Also, it’s not really the southernmost point.

From Wikipedia:

Florida’s official southernmost point is Ballast Key, a privately owned island just south and west of Key West. Signs on the island strictly prohibit unauthorized visitors.

(We flew over this island yesterday on our way to the Dry Tortugas.)

The buoy is not even the southernmost point on the island of Key West. Land on the Truman Annex property just west-southwest of the buoy is the true southernmost point on the island, but it has no marker since it is U.S. Navy land and cannot be entered by civilian tourists. Also, the private yards directly to the southeast of the buoy and the beach areas of Truman Annex and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park all lie farther south than the buoy.

Furthermore, if sand bars are included in the equation, then during low tides there are several sand bars farther south than Ballast Key exposed: the southernmost one of which is Sand Key.

The claim on the buoy stating “90 miles to Cuba” is a rounded number, since Cuba, at its closest point is 94 statute (81 nautical) miles due south.

So basically, it’s kinda sorta close to the most southern point in the Continental U.S.

Tomorrow morning we’re starting north. (It’s really the only option at this point. Our rough plan is to go up the Atlantic coast and then turn left at Charleston, South Carolina.)

We spent this morning doing a bit of work and then went out for some lunch and to run a few errands. We grabbed some lunch at the Geiger Key Marina & Smokehouse (which also has an RV park). Even though we made our own fish tacos last night with some fresh snapper we picked up, we both really love fish tacos so we had more for lunch. One order of hogfish tacos and one order of shrimp tacos, and some conch salad. The place is under a big tiki hut and the food was all very good and the service ROCKED (and the next table over was having a doozy of a conversation to entertain us):

Three guys and two gals all came in on a boat together and sat at the big table next to us. They ordered beer (the waitress suggested they looked like they were going to want a pitcher and they’d ordered two by the time we left…she was totally right). They were all really tan and the men in particular looked pretty rough and weathered. They were all Southern, but they were having a little bit of a friendly argument/discussion about who was the MOST Southern. Both women were youngish and attractive and talking about their costumes for Fantasy Fest and everyone seemed to be getting to know each other. The young gal with the Yves St. Laurent bathing suit top and shorts, and the quite a bit older man with shorts and no shirt on our side of the table seemed to be together, but they were not exactly “together” together…we wondered if maybe she was an escort or something…but more than this just once because she used the phrase “since I’ve been hanging out with this guy” while referring to picking up a bit of his accent (which I guess was a different kind of Southern than hers was). The other gal was inviting the “not exactly together” couple to come party with them during the festival, saying “We do most of our partying on the boat. We’re pretty much naked the minute we get out there.”

Oh and today we were going to take Kyle’s advice and do the Conch Train tour around Key West (touristy, but informative), but it’s closed one day of the year and that day is today. It’s closed because of Fantasy Fest…which we’re also missing. Nice timing.

Video: Seaplane Trip to the Dry Tortugas

Laura Domela — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 12:18:32 +0000

Kevin made a video of our seaplane trip yesterday to the Dry Tortugas! Woohoo!

We took a seaplane to the Dry Tortugas

Laura Domela — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 19:38:18 +0000

This is going to be a long post, with tons of photos. I'll just get that out there right now.

A couple days ago we learned that for not THAT much more than taking the ferry out to Dry Tortugas National Park (about 70 miles west of Key West) you could take a seaplane out there for a half day trip that includes snorkeling, hiking around Fort Jefferson, and the seaplane trip (definitely the main draw for Kevin and me). We called Key West Seaplane Charters hoping to find out they had availability for one of the 8am trips and they did. (The 8am trip is best because then most of your time on the island is just you and the six other people who flew over with you, and not a ferry-load of other tourists.)

We left the Airstream at 7am and headed for the Key West International Airport. It had rained hard earlier in the morning, but it was clearing up nicely as we drove into Key West. We got our snorkeling gear and a small cooler with bottles of water from the office and boarded a 1958 turbo prop DeHavilland Otter.

There were six other passengers, plus Gary, our pilot, and Kevin got to ride right seat up with Gary.

Leaving Key West at 8am:

We flew over a schooner that had run aground some time ago:

This is a sunken World War II destroyer escort, the "Patricia," intentionally sunk by the U.S. Navy to use for bombing practice:

And here's another shipwreck…a vessel called "Arbutus." This was a 70ft work vessel used by the famous treasure salver Mel Fisher's divers and it sank due to hull deterioration. This ship marks the northern edge of the treasure site where Mel Fisher found the treasures of the Spanish Galleons "Atocha" and "Margarita" — over a half billion dollars worth of gold and silver strewn across an eight-mile area. This is apparently still an active treasure site with regular finds of huge Spanish emeralds.

From the air we were able to see dozens of giant sea turtles and a few nurse sharks.

Here we are approaching the Dry Tortugas. This is Garden Key, the location of the enormous brick Fort Jefferson:

As soon as we landed (on the water!!) I leaned up to Kevin and said "Honey, we need a float plane!!" It was SO cool to just taxi up to the beach and back it up James, right there on the sand. (Only, it's Gary there on the pontoon, not James.)

We grabbed our stuff and put everything but the cameras down on a a bench by the beach and headed over to explore the fort while it was still not, well, not as hot as it would be an hour later.

The fort, surrounded by water, with its own moat. Isn't that a little redundant?

We climbed up the lighthouse tower and ended up on top of the wall that surrounds the fortress.

Walking the perimeter:

We headed back down and wandered through some of the inside areas including the cell where Dr. Samuel Mudd (co-conspirator in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln) was imprisoned.

We did a pretty good job exploring the fort and decided it was time for some snorkeling. We picked a spot off of the north sand beach to start:

We sat our towels and cameras and stuff on the moat wall and flippered up and headed out from this beach:

Coral sand:

We headed out and around some pilings to the east where our pilot Gary had told us we'd likely find good snorkeling. We did. We did find good snorkeling. Right off the bat we saw a giant stingray just making his way slowly along the sandy floor, lots of cool coral, huge schools of fish, yellowtail snapper, blue angel fish, tarpon, little stripey guys, more REALLY big tarpon (like, 4-5 feet long big) and some big barracuda (3-4 feet long). It was a blast. And you know when they show on National Geographic the enormous schools of fish moving all one way, then another, then back? Well we were swimming with 'em and they were doing that. I moved my arms and they'd go one way. Move 'em again and they'd turn. Thousands of them!

Here's Kevin just before we set out:

We snorkeled for about an hour or so and then headed back toward the beach. I spotted two small purple jellyfish about 4 feet in front of us and quickly warned Kevin and we made our way around them. Guess there was one more I didn't see though because I immediately felt that disappointing burn on mostly my right forearm and a little on my left. Got me!

We dried off and headed back to the plane for another fantastic flight. Here we are just before taking off (from the beach!!) I got to ride right seat on the way back…no one else wanted to (except Kevin, again, of course).

We highly HIGHLY recommend taking this trip if you get down to Key West. They say not doing it is like going to Egypt and not seeing the pyramids. We have to agree.

And I Don’t Even Have Proof

Laura Domela — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 10:36:22 +0000

Sometime in the middle of the night last night, there began a fantastic storm. The lightning was what woke me up…flashing right through my eyelids. I got up to refill my water glass. Flash. Flash. Flash. The bursts were no more then 10 seconds apart, accompanied by loud low rumbling thunder. I sat down at the dinette and opened the curtains to watch.

After about an hour I went back to grab my iPhone to see if I could capture some of the drama, and I did, but then when I was deleting the bad takes, I accidentally deleted the good one, too. Twice I did this. So much for my 3am camera skills.

I dragged myself back to bed several hours later, after about the 84th "That was a HUGE one!!! Okay just one more big flash and then I'll go to bed." I was like a lightning junkie.

This lightning was the kind of lightning that electrified the entire sky with a giant flash of white that ruined your night vision for a while. It was the kind of lightning that burned its jagged line designs into your retinas so that the next several strikes, you'd think you were seeing black lightning along with the white. It was the kind of lightning that made me feel like I'd never seen lightning before.

It was awesome.

(Posted by Laura)

Sunset at Bahia Honda

Laura Domela — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:32:23 +0000

I know, it's another picture of the Old Bahia Honda Bridge. It's also the last night of our stay here before we head further south down towards Key West.

Anyone know what this cool little bird is?

It flew in making quite a racket, and when its mouth was open while it was yammering, its head feathers all perked up kinda like a frazzled woodpecker.

Lunch, a Silvery Palm, and a Surveillance Blimp Called Fat Albert

Laura Domela — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:33:32 +0000

For lunch today we skipped down a few keys to Cudjoe Key and grabbed some sandwiches at The Square Grouper. Great lunch! When we came back outside it had started raining (the as-promised-afternoon-thunderstorm).

Silvery palm in the parking lot (but I don't think it's an official "Silver Palm" like in the grove of them here in Bahia Honda State Park):

Before we headed back up to Bahia Honda we decided to see if we could get a closer look at the big white blimp we saw in the air yesterday. It looked like this:

It looked like it wasn't moving, so when we got back to the Airstream yesterday we did a little research and learned it's a tethered aerostat radar system called "Fat Albert" and that it's part of the Continental U.S. air defense network. It carries radar and monitors suspected drug smuggling flights, fast boats smuggling Cubans, weather, low flying aircraft, and any other potential harmful activity. It also broadcasts Television Marti to Cuba (Cuban-directed U.S. government-financed anti-communist propaganda).

It's helium-filled, can be raised to a maximum of 15,000 feet but stays at around 10,000 feet tethered to the blimp base by a single cable with a maximum breaking strength of 26,000 pounds. It's 175 feet long, 58 feet across, and tail wing from tip to tip is 81 feet. It can lift a 1,200 pound payload.

There may be two of them, but if not, the one we saw yesterday was on the ground during today's thunderstorms:

Heading back over the bridge with a nice view of the Old Bahia Honda Bridge that we walked out on this morning. The train bridge is below, and the automobile road was built on top of it:

The part on the left is where we were earlier this morning:

Campsite from the Overseas Highway again:

As we were headed back to the Airstream it seemed like we were outrunning the storm, but after about 10 minutes it caught up with us and poured for a good half hour. It's nice again now.

Old Bahia Honda Bridge

Laura Domela — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:47:50 +0000

This morning we went for a walk out onto the Old Bahia Honda Bridge:

View from the trail out to the bridge:

Originally part of the Overseas Railway, the State of Florida purchased it after the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and converted it to provide automobile use as part of the Overseas Highway in 1938. After a replacement Bahia Honda Bridge was opened in 1972, two spans of the bridge were removed to accommodate boat traffic and make the majority of the bridge inaccessible to pedestrian traffic, but the rest remain standing. (Wikipedia)

The sailboat that was moored out in front of the campground heading back out to sea through the break in the bridge:

The campground and marina from the end of the accessible area of the bridge:

Bahia Honda State Park

Laura Domela — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:32:12 +0000

This morning (after kayaking with manatees!!!) we headed down to Bahia Honda State Park (another 20 minute drive further down the Keys). Here's our new campsite/office location:

Here are a few shots from the drive down. This is Pigeon Key:

Both new and old Seven Mile Bridge with Pigeon Key in the background:

Seven Mile Bridge connects Knight's Key in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. The older bridge runs parallel here, and was constructed from 1909-1912 under the direction of Henry Flagler as part of the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension, also known as the Overseas Railroad.

The old bridge running parallel:

We dropped the trailer off at Bahia Honda and ran out to grab some lunch…down a few keys on Summerland Key we stopped at the Wharf Bar & Grill.

We sat outside along the canal and had some fantastic fish tacos after a little appetizer of some smoked fish dip with cuban crackers and lime. We liked it so much that we bought some in the fish market to take home. (They told us that when people come in to get it and the restaurant/market has run out, people act like they've run out of crack. I can see that.)

A boat passing by in the canal during lunch:

Cool little jellyfish in the canal:

After lunch we went back to the Airstream and had a pretty normal work day. We noticed the sun was setting and decided to get our butts outside to enjoy it.

We cracked our stone crab claws out on the picnic table and had those for dinner with some mustard dip and a beer. Yum!

Oh yeah, and this is a little creepy, actually. (Larra, skip this part.) The stone crab claws are the only thing harvested…not the whole crab, because they can regenerate their claws. Here's some info from Joe's Stone Crab:

In order to assure the continued survival of the species: Only one claw may be removed so the crab can defend itself. Egg bearing females are not allowed to be declawed.The crabs are captured in baited traps. No spears or hooks are allowed. Four inches from the first joint to the tip is the minimum legal size, that's about two ounces. A colossal can weigh 25 ounces or more. The large crusher claw can exert extreme pressure. As much as 19000 lbs. per square inch. Although their massive claws serve as deterrents to most predators, fishermen have reported the stone crab falls prey to the octopus. Stone crab season in Florida runs from October 15th to May 15. Stone crabs exhibit carnivorous feeding behavior. Sometimes in traps they resort to cannibalism! The claws make up half the weight of the whole crab, they are removed by carefully grabbing from the rear and twisting. The crab is returned to water and the claw regenerates. It takes between 12 to 24 months to reach legal size again. In 1963 stone crabs cost 30 cents a dozen wholesale.

Kevin and I were thinking about that poor crab that's had one claw harvested several times in a row: "Dammit!! I just grew that one back…AGAIN!"

The colossal sized claws are as big as my hand!

We Kayaked with Manatees

Laura Domela — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:36:59 +0000

This morning over at Curry Hammock State Park we got up early so we could rent a tandem kayak for a couple hours before we headed out (and before our West Coast office was awake).

We paddled out to the sandbar (about 1/4 mile from shore):

And around Little Crawl Key and through the mangrove tunnel:

..and then out and around Deer Key. We saw some spotted eagle rays (very cool…couldn't get a proper photo but here's the one from Wikipedia:

So then, we headed back over toward where we'd first seen the stingrays, and came upon about a dozen manatees hanging out near where we first put our kayaks in. We paddled around with them for about an hour and it was AMAZING. They'd come up for a breath every minute or two, and the water was really only about 4-5 feet deep so we could see them very well the whole time. They're so cool and gentle and we imagined them down there going "Hey! OMG! There's one of those yellow things, and it's just RIGHT there next to us! How cool!!!" because that's what we kept saying about them.

Here are some of the many photos I took with my iPhone:

This one's my favorite. Look at that sweet face!

This is a nice shot of this guys' huge paddle-like tail:

It was one of the coolest things ever. They were probably around 8-9 feet long and who knows how big around (big!!)

Here's a little iPhone video, too: