Bahia Honda – Riveted

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!