We met an English
couple while walking the Royal Palm Trail in Collier-Seminole State Park recommending we
should call into Robert’s in Homestead.....all I can say is the tropical thick shake’s
are worth stopping for.
Arriving in Key
Largo our search for warmer weather had ended as it was now hot and humid. It
had a laid back atmosphere but my senses were bombarded with large billboards offering
everything from boat tours, scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing charters, restaurants, art studios, T-Shirt outlets and many more.
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| Key Largo |
Then as we drove
out of Key Largo along the “Overseas Hwy” and over the first of 42 bridges gazing at the incredible blue of the water I realised this was our first view
of the Atlantic Ocean. We had driven 5,805
miles (9,342 km’s) to see it.
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| Overseas Hwy |
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| Gazing at the beautiful water |
We crossed the new
7 mile (12 km’s) bridge and turned into
Bahia Honda State Park, just before Big Pine Key, our home for the next 2
nights. We woke to warm sunny weather and we went for our first swim in the
Atlantic Ocean.
It was much later when I began scratching that I
found I had been eaten alive with either sand or water fleas. We took a short
walk along the old Bahia Honda Bridge and watched the sun set as we dreamed of sailing
into the sunset.
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| Bahia Honda SP |
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| Atlantic Ocean |
There was not much
chance of sleep as our campground backed onto Hwy 1 and the traffic seemed intent
on an all night serenade. Wide awake we broke camp early the next morning and
made our way directly to Leo’s Campground in Key West. At $77 per night and this was the
cheapest accommodation from hotels to campgrounds we could find.
After lunch we rode
our bikes 4.5 miles (7 km’s) into Key West. We sat sipping coffee and eating Key
Lime Pie at Mallory Square watching tourists and the many free range roosters
walking around the streets. In the popular Duvall Street spring break crowds
were partying to noisy music.
We rode by beautiful timber homes with lovely
coloured shutters, white fences, balconies and lovely tropical gardens ending
up at the southernmost point of the US where we waited in a long line to take a photo.
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| All around were beautiful homes |
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| It's an expensive place |
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| Island shopping |
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| Key Lime Pie and Latte's |
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| Just the thing for a lazy afternoon |
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| We're on key West time now |
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| I could live here |
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| Nearest land south....Cuba |
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| Lovely tropical gardens and decorative balconies |
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| Charming architecture |
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| Roosters, vehicles and bikes |
We stopped at Ernest Hemmingway’s home on our way back to the pier to have a seafood dinner at the Half Shell Raw Bar. We enjoyed half a dozen of the best tasting raw oysters, lobster bisque, spicy conch fritters and Mahi Mahi fish with salad. We sipped beer and Mojito’s a perfect way to end the day
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| Dinning out... |
That evening we packed our backpacks ready for our 4 day trip to the Dry Tortugas NP.
We were up and
ready in the dark for our 6am taxi ride to the ferry the next morning and the
ferry departed as the sun rose. The day was sunny and windy and the crossing
was rough.
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| Our first view of Dry Tortugas NP |
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| Landing at Fort Jefferson |
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| Jetty at Fort Jefferson |
After arriving we
collected our gear and pitched our tent in the campground. We had four amazing days exploring Fort
Jefferson, snorkeling around the Fort, paddling our kayak around the Fort and
over to Bird Island where we saw Frigate birds and Terns, standing on the jetty watching sharks swimming in the water below and our favourite pastime was looking for Elvis....
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| Our backyard |
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| Setting up home.. |
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| This was the biggest Blue Bottle I have ever seen |
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| View from the top of the Fort |
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| Until recently these were two islands.... |
This 3 story uncompleted coastal Fort was under construction during the civil war and was supposed to have been fortified with 400
canons though it never fired a shot in anger. When a confederate flotilla
demanded the Fort’s surrender the Commandant gave them 15 minutes to depart
or he would “blow them out of the water”. It worked but it was only a bluff as
no canons had been installed at the time.
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| Fort Jefferson |
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| Some Pelican madness |
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| Pristine blue water |
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| The beach behind the campground |
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| Our campground |
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| I feel like I'm back in the Fly Islands of Papua New Guinea |
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| Watch out for blue bottles |
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| Moat around Fort Jefferson |
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| Holding the sands of time... |
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| Tropical purple fan coral |
We met two sea kayaking
enthusiasts who paddled to Loggerhead Island twice (a total of 12 miles (19 km’s) and asked if we would join them.
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| Loggerhead Island.....a view using my zoom lens |
We
were keen to go but unsure of our kayaks seaworthiness if swamped and I wondered about my physical abilities so we
declined. On their return from their second trip they were glad we hadn’t
accompanied them as it had been a tough crossing, even for them, as they had to use
their paddles to climb huge waves that then crashed over them as they paddled into a stiff
headwind.
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Bird Island
|
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| Where's my dinner |
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| I need a new home... |
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| Serenity at sunset |
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| One of the frigate birds gliding above the fort |
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| Paradise at last |
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| Ahhh....we could get used to Island life |
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| Elvis, as John called him..... left the moat.... |
and yes the moat has an alligator…..!!
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| Booby's on Hospital Island |
We enjoyed a
farewell dinner with our new friends at Mo’s Restaurant back in Key West before they dropped us off at Leo's on their way to Flamingo campground in Everglades NP.
