Upper Keys Part 2

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Woke up to rain this morning.  A tropical storm seems to have stationed itself over the Keys and it is supposed to rain a bunch over the next couple days.  The pattern however seems to dissipate a little during the later morning into early afternoon hours.  Geez, just our luck to have this happen during our Keys visit.

It kind of puts a damper on things.  We went to a nearby visitor center in Key Largo early today.  We had questions about Key West regarding parking and got some worthwhile tips.  We also asked about inside, out of the rain, activities we might consider while here in Key Largo.  The answer was, “This is not an area with any indoor activities, other than shopping.”  Swell!  Well they did have WiFI, so we caught up on emails, etc.

From here we drove down US1 to Windley Key, a limestone coral fossil park.  As some of you may know, Dan developed an interest in the construction of the Florida East Coast RR extension to Key West.  The project was undertaken by Henry Flagler.  In the 1800s Flagler was a partner with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil.  We’ll develop the story as we go, but at Windley Key, Flagler found a great supply of limestone to use for his RR bed.  The area was 13 feet higher than the rest of the Keys, so no fear it would flood.

This wall was mined by Flagler for his railroad.  The process involved drilling down every few inches, then dropping in some dynamite.  Boom, you now have the crushed limestone.  Note the drill marks that remain on the wall.  The following are close ups of the surface.

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This mound of limestone is actually a fossilized bed of coral.  Today you can walk along the walls of the quarry and see all sorts of coral fossils.  After the railroad was completed to Windley Key in 1912. Slabs of polished coral, called Keystone, were then taken from the quarry for decorative panels, walls, and tables. They were delivered by the FEC RR.  The Quarry was active until the 60s.

Henry Flagler was a partner with Rockefeller in Standard Oil, owning about half the company.  When the company went public Flagler owned nearly half the stock.  He then retired (sort of) but pursued various business opportunities along Florida’s east coast.  His Florida East Coast Railway that started in Jacksonville, had worked its way to Miami.

Flagler saw an opportunity, there were plans for Key West to become a major port and his railway could become a commercial link with Miami.  It took 10 years to build and Flagler, at age 82, finally got to ride his rail to Key West.  The train operated for about 15 years, but never had the success Flagler envisioned.

On September 2, 1935 a category 6 hurricane struck the Keys.  Hundreds died.  The hurricane took out about a mile of the track and toppled the railcars containing people the train was trying to evacuate.  The only thing left on the track was the engine.  Already nearly bankrupt, FEC RR was sold to the state of Florida.  They tore out the rail and put in the highway, US1.  Much of Flagler’s old rail bed is the base for US1, including his amazing pilings and arches.  More on those in a later post.

A memorial was erected for all those killed in the 1935 hurricane on the location at Matecumbe Keys where the devastation was worst.  A crypt lies in front containing the cremated remains of hundreds killed.

The base and surfaces are from Flagler’s quarry in Windkey.  

Our final stop today was at the Bass Pro Offshore Fishing Shop.  The draw here is inside the store.  A sister of Hemmingway’s boat’s Pilar has been restored and contains some Hemmingway memorabilia.  His original boat is a rotted hulk in Cuba.  The store is pretty interesting.

Friday October 24, 2014

It rained cats and dogs all night.  We were hoping we would not find ourselves adrift this morning when we got up.  And it is still raining at noon.  So we have headed to the library to use their WiFi.  If the rain lets up later, we may have time to hit a couple of other places on our to-do list.

A while back we did a post about a boat ride in Everglades City, here is a You Tube video.

http://youtu.be/zZUcqvxJX3k

Tomorrow we move down the Keys about 50 miles to Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key.  We got more cool stuff planned, so don’t unfasten your seat belt.

The Upper Florida Keys

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Today we arrived at John Pennakamp Coral Reef State Park near Key Largo.  This is a really nice park with full hook-ups and a WiFi hot spot near the visitor center. Our site is on a concrete pad.  Since it is a very popular campground our check-in was delayed as the previous tenants were still on site past the 1PM check out time.  We finally got set up, but late in the day, so we visited the visitor center and their aquarium, which was pretty neat.

The Florida Keys are a string of islands (Keys) connected by US highway 1 that extends to Key West.  The further down US 1 you go, the smaller the islands become and the more remote until reaching Key West.  Key Largo is the largest, about 14 miles long and 7 miles wide.

The draw for us here is primarily two activities; the first is snorkeling the coral reef that lies about 5 miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean and second, the Key of Islamorada, the fishing charter boat capital of the world.  

Monday, October 20, 2014

Well as luck would have it,  the weather has deteriorated since yesterday, with big rain overnight and wind.  This morning it is overcast, but not raining, so we thought we would try the snorkeling this AM.  We chose the 4 hour trip run by a Florida State Park Concessionaire, which visits 3 locations.

It was windy with a good two 2 foot waves, kind of a tough go, but the views were awesome.  Check out the pictures below.

Brain Coral

Statue - Christ of the Abyss

The statue stands seven feet tall, made of bronze on a concrete base.  It lies in 20 feet of water. 

Its like swimming around in an aquarium.  There are all kinds of coral and fish.  Some coral is soft, some is hard.  The fish are a rainbow of colors.  This is a unique and unforgettable experience!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

We wanted to do a charter boat fishing trip, however the cost was more than we cared to spend. We needed to find another party to split the charter cost.  So the captain called and told us he had another party.  We arrive at Whale Harbor in Islamorada, about 20 miles and 2 keys down from the campground and guess who the other party is?

Its our son Brad, who flew down here to fish with us as a surprise!  Wow, this tops everything so far this trip and probably everything else we’ll do.  Now, if that wasn’t enough, we caught 27 fish!  Mostly Mahi-Mahi, with some others.  Check this out!

As you can see, the charter was Sea Horse Charters, the captain was Captain Rick Rodriguez, the First Mate was Jeremy.  These guys know where the fish are and how to catch them.  As we hit schools, it would not be unusual to have three or four on at a time.  By the end of the day our arms ached from reeling these guys in.  They were all fierce fighters. 

That’s Captain Rick cleaning fish.  If you want to catch some fish, these are the guys to see.  By the way, they told us it was the off-season.  Really?  When we got done we had about 75 pounds of fillets!

We cooked some up for dinner, man it doesn’t get better than that.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Much of the morning was spent repackaging the fish and buying a small fridge.  With good packaging we managed to get them in the trailer’s freezer.  Our current frozen food got transferred to the small fridge which will get emptied as we go.  The trailer freezer will not get opened again until we get home.

Brad wanted to snorkel the Coral Reef, so he and Dan went out on the same tour we took on Monday.  We really enjoyed our time with Brad, and look forward to some more fish dinners when we get home.

Swamp Part 2

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Today we traveled to Everglades City, which lies about 40 miles west of the campground.  This little town has some interesting history and a NPS concessionaire offers a variety of boat tours.  The one we chose carries six people and goes into some mangrove swamps.  The other is a larger boat and travels into the Ten Thousand Islands ending up in Everglades Bay.

We were not disappointed.  The boat was about an 18 ft Boston Whaler that we buzzed around islands, down narrow channels, then into a cluster of mangroves, through a very narrow channel that looked like another world.  Check out the pictures below.

 

We also saw some wildlife, like another of Florida’s big spiders.  This was one of many with webs spanning across the channel in the mangroves.  This guy was about a foot above our heads as we passed!  If you were standing he would have smacked you in the face.

The cute little guy is a Mangrove Crab.  Soft bodied, he’s more like a toad that looks like a crab.

And we saw birds,

White Ibis

Not sure of species on this one.  We also had dolphins chasing the boat, they like to play in the boat wake.  Pretty cool to watch.

As mentioned, Everglades City has quite a history.  In 1910 to 1920, Florida was getting going as a commercial interest and as a tourist destination.  Everybody loved the warmth in the winter and the recreational aspects.  Everglades City was a very desirable place to visit.  A river passes through town and it lies on the edge of the Everglades with its Ten Thousand Islands.  Fishing here is outstanding.

Big problem though, getting here was almost impossible.  In 1916 Florida began constructing a road to connect Tampa and Miami, called the Tamiami Trail (US41), but the lack of finances, WWI, and the impossible terrain of the Everglades, with it’s Mangrove Swamps, stopped them cold just south of Ft. Myers.  About this time, Barren Collier bought up 1.3 million acres of land that is now Everglades City, so it was in his interest that they get the Trail completed, thus he made a deal.  He would complete the road if they would create a new county encompassing his land. 

It pretty much bankrupted him, as the Trail was much more challenging than he figured.  Between the mangroves, the muck, and the limestone, he had his problems.  They built a rail and dredged a channel on one side of the planned road and dumped the dredging's onto the road bed to build it up. A slow and difficult process.  Eventually he got his county in 1923, but Florida had to complete the last 10 miles on the east and 13 miles to the south of Naples.  In 1929 the Tamiami Trail was completed, all 274 miles of it. 

Everglades City was a “planned city” meaning Collier laid out the roads and where important buildings were to be located; like City Hall, the Bank of the Everglades, a Community Church, Post Office, schools, and residential areas.  There is a traffic circle in the center of town. So as you drive through town, it has a very organized layout.  In addition, this was a “company town”. Collier owned everything and even paid workers with his own Everglades City script. The town served as housing and headquarters for work on the Trail.

The place was booming until Hurricane Donna in 1960.  It made a big mess and wiped out many of the homes and businesses.  It is still popular for vacationers and snowbirds.

City Hall

Bank of the Everglades

Community Church

It seems like it would be a very nice and quiet place to winter, but nothing to do but fishing (not all bad) and other water related recreation.  The nearest city of size is Naples, about 60 miles northwest.

The Tamiami Trail is Florida’s Route 66.  We have followed much of it in our travels the past few weeks. It connects a wide array of cities, landscapes, and things to see.  Considering it was built between 1915 and 1929, it is an amazing feat of road construction.  Today, I-75 has replaced it as the highway to Miami, but unlike Route 66, it is still active and vibrant.

Our last stop for the day is the Big Cypress Boardwalk in Fakahatchee Strand State Park.  The boardwalk is 0.6 miles, taking you right into a stand of really big cypress trees.  A cypress reminds you of cedar or arborvitae.  The needles are soft and they make cones that drop like a pine cone. Unlike an arborvitae or cedar, the cypress lose their needles in the winter.

    

Something we find interesting when looking at swamp plants is the survivor effect.  Banyan and Mangrove trees send out shoots and roots to continue their growth and multiply.  Cypress have knees to keep it stable in high water during the wet season here.  Epiphytes that  merely “sit” on other plants and live with water and air alone.  Then there are plants that end up killing the host as they grow.  This next picture shows this effect, where it actually strangled the tree it is attached to.

This is a Strangler Fig.  It starts out as an Epiphyte, but sends roots down to the ground.  Once the roots are established it begins to really grow.  To the point that it will encircle its host and strangle it.  This one was 50-60 feet tall, as tall as the tree it’s hooked to.

Well this concludes our visit to the northern half of the Everglades and Big Cypress.  We will be visiting the Everglades again, the southeastern half, when we get to Homestead.  Next we head for the Keys, our trip objective.  Stay tuned, got some neat stuff planned.