Blerf Blog: The Keys Hit All the Right Notes

We took a trip to Key West.

The African Queen. Really.

On the African Queen? Well, no. But, it is a sight you can see on the drive down. Why did we go? Bucket list trip for FIL, return trip for us. Our first trip, 14 years ago, was cold and rainy. We wanted to see if it actually was a sub-tropical paradise. So, off we go. We drove down to Homestead the night before in order to have a whole day to drive the route down to Key West. We spooled up a GuideAlong tour (https://guidealong.com/tour/miami-key-west-florida/) and headed down the highway. "Gary" did not disappoint.

After stopping by to see the African Queen - original from the Bogart /Hepburn movie of the same name - we stopped at a place called Robbie's - to feed Tarpon...and Pelicans.

Big fish and pelicans and people at Robbie's

Who's looking at who?

The "let's get some bait" lady. We didn't know it was dead fish in a bucket.

You dangle the dead fish and the tarpon jumps out of the water to snatch it. They warn the tarpon can bite. So, I flinch when then jump and drop the fish - almost always missing the tarpon's mouth. I wanted to watch. Somehow, I got to be the "doer".

While you try to feed the tarpon, the pelicans try to steal your bait. Except, there is no try. There is only do. They do steal your bait - agressively!

Pelican stole fish from Patti - and tried to steal a couple fingers as well.

The bucket is empty, now. The pelicans, apparently, are not.

That was Robbie's. What's next?

A giant fiberglass spiny lobster!

Obligatory selfie.

We got down to the bottom of Marathon Key and were hungry for lunch. "Gary" had a great recommendation. Fresh fish. Key Fisheries restaurant. Open air picnic tables overlooking marina.

The real beauty of the Overseas Highway, is the scenery. The highway is the second iteration of the route. Key West was first connected to the mainland by the Florida East Coast Railway in 1912. Henry Flagler was a man who made his first fortune as a Standard Oil founder. He made his second by building the Florida East Coast Railway and is responsible for the development of the entire Florida eastern seaboard in the late 19th century.

Henry

His "last act" was to build the Key West Extension from Miami. It was completed in 1912 and terminated in Key West at a rail ferry terminal designed to tap into passenger and freight traffic from Cuba and the surrounding Gulf of Mexico. It saved days of transportation time from the water route to east coast ports. It consisted of a series of long bridges and viaducts over the water, joining adjacent Keys. A year after it was completed, Henry died.

The route was marginally successful, at first. But, the depression destroyed the leisure travel and goods trade with Cuba. A hurricane in 1935 destroyed a chunk of the route. The Florida East Coast Railway was already in bankruptcy at the time, and sold the route to the state. The federal government converted it to a highway in 1938, repairing and using the rail bridges.

In the 1970s and 80s, a new, modern two lane road replaced the converted railroad right of way although many of the original bridges remain and have been converted into paths and fishing piers.

Old and new 7 mile bridge. The longest. Notice how they used repurposed rail for guardrail when converting the bridge.

Bahai Honda bridge...

...now a state park. You can walk on part of it.

Finally, we arrived at Key West.

Mallory Square.

Day one. Sightseeing. First stop, the Truman place....and a guided tour. Harry stayed here quite a few times during his presidency.

Harry himself?

His working desk

The living room with tour group.

Lunch at Sloppy Joes, of course!

Then down the street to the Hemmingway house and another guided tour.

The house

The annex with infamous pool and his writing studio above.

His man-cave writing studio.

Six toed cat?

Across the street is the lighthouse, complete with keepers house and grounds. Worth the admission - you can climb to the top.

Spiral staircase not along the wall!

From the top!

A few blocks away, is the southern most spot in the continental US....or close enough, anyway. There was a line, but finally a picture!

The line

The scene.

Ta-dah!

Dinner that night was beach-front restaurant that served lobster pizza! Had to try it. It was very good!

The second day was boat day. As in, taking a boat to the Dry Tortugas National Park! A long day. Check in at 7:00AM. Board at 7:30. Arrive Dry Tortugas at 10:30.

Bagels, coffee and soda for breakfast on the way out. Oh, and a nap!

The bridge of the Yankee Freedom III

Mostly smooth sailing on the way out.

Loggerhead Lighthouse on Loggerhead Key

Arriving Fort Jefferson

Dockhouse and dock at the right. Remnants of south coal pier in foreground.

Yankee Freedom III as viewed from the moat

The Dry Tortugas include Fort Jefferson. The largest coastal defense fort built by the US. The trip included a walking tour of the fort.

Ship crewman "Hollywood" led the tour. He was knowledgeable and passionate and a good story teller.

The fort was part of beefing up coastal defenses after the War of 1812 where Washington DC was invaded and the White House burned to the ground. The Third System of Defense ( Wiki Third System of Forts ) was built to make the country more secure. Most forts were built in places where they could receive support from adjacent ones up and down the line, but Fort Jefferson could not. It was 70 miles by sea from the next closest in Key West and it was the last in the line, so only had support from one side. So, it was sized to be self-supporting for a siege up to a year long. Located on the key spot on the route between the Mississippi and the East Coast, as well as where all western Caribbean traffic funneled to catch the Gulf Stream to Europe and the only place for miles with deep water shelter, the location was one that needed be unquestionably defended. Fort Jefferson is just plain huge.

Second tier gun gallery. Plan was for 150 guns on each tier.

Rodman cannon on third tier bastion.

Finished gun emplacement on first tier.

Each gun emplacement had Hallet shutters to shield gun crew from incoming fire. They automatically opened and shut. (originals all removed because of deterioration from rust. These are non-ferrous replicas)

The fort was never finished. The second tier was roughed in, but gun ports never completed. The construction was so heavy, it started subsiding even before all the concrete and brick were in place.

The fresh water collection system was a failure, so sea water distillation boilers were installed. The fort required coal to fire the boilers, so two coal piers were built.

North side coal pier. (not the fool in the water, the thing behind him)

After, we walked the moat, flew a kit (or tried), waded in the water and watched the birds fly about. We could have snorkeled, but the water was, um, "cool" (76 degrees...) and a bit cloudy from the recent weather.

Kite flying

Magnificent Frigate birds (their actual name!)

Nesting birds of some kind I'm too lazy to look up.

Birds on Bush Key. Probably including Black Noddies.

In the water

The moat

Moat walkers

Moat near North Beach

More moat. Near South Beach.

The boat boarded at 2:45 and departed at 3:00 with a 5:00 PM arrival back into Key West. Seas were a bit rougher on the way back, but Dramamine is always your best boat buddy, and it was a fun trip bouncing over the waves.

Arriving Key West

The only day Key Lime Pie wasn't desert. Chocolate for Helen Horan to remember her birthday.

The third, and final day, in Key West, we visited the local Navy bases just to see what they looked like, plus a few other sights we missed the first day.

Fort Zachery Taylor. Another fort in the "Third System". Modernized through the years, then turned into a junk yard by the Navy, then abandoned. Dug out in the second half of the 20th century and restored. Now a State Park.