The 7 Mile Bridge

After lunch we headed over the 7 mile bridge, which is "located at the very west end of the City of Marathon...  It is a famous bridge in the Florida Keys and connects the Middle Keys to the Lower Keys and is among the longest bridges in existence when it was built."  

"The Old Seven was originally constructed in early 1900 as part of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension, also known as the Overseas Railroad."    It was also called "Flagler's Folly" because everyone thought he was crazy!

It's a beautiful ride, with the Atlantic on one side and the Gulf on the other.  

The old, original bridge is still there, running alongside the new bridge.  

The missing section was a 253' swinging span that would swing open to allow boats to pass through.  You can read a good history of the bridge here and it's very interesting.

Different sections of the bridge were made differently, depending on the depth of the water.

There's a tree growing in the bridge

Part of the bridge was made with an element from Germany that actually compacts and grows stronger as it ages, which is why the bridge is still standing.  Unfortunately, the entire amount of this element was used and it no longer exists, which is why newer bridges just don't last as long.  Concrete deteriorates as it ages...

You can see that it was built to carry trains.  It was later transformed into a highway for cars.

It's the longest bridge connecting the Keys to one another and it's DARK at night!!!

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

 

Bahia Honda State Park

Since we only have two full day in the Keys, we are filling each one up as best we can.  After visiting The Turtle Hospital and driving over the 7 Mile Bridge, we stopped at Bahia Honda State Park.

Wow!  This place is spectacular!  The sand is pearly white, the water is shallow and the color is absolutely amazing.

Loggerhead Beach on the Atlantic 

This is one of those places that pictures cannot due justice.

One of the signs in the park indicated that several of the plants that grow here are native to islands off the coast and seeds were brought here, either by birds or by the wind.  One of those plants is the Sea Lavender, which grows along the shore and is considered endangered.  

We took a walk up to the Old Bahia Honda Bridge, which gave us great views of both sides of the park.

The Gulf waters

The Atlantic Ocean

It's easier if you read about the bridge, rather than me trying to tell you about it ;o)

This is the section we walked up from the beach.

The view is really breathtaking!

From here we drove to see the Key Deer.  I'll write about that next time.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Heading Further South

My bucket list for "things to do in FL without a dog" ;o( included Disney World and The Keys.  After researching how much three days in Disney would cost...nearly $1600!!! coupled with the fact that neither of us enjoys being around a bunch of kids, fighting our way through large crowds or waiting in long lines, we chose The Keys.  

It was damn cold this morning...30*. WTH?!  I set an alarm but we didn't get up till nearly 8:00.  We ate breakfast at home and were on the road to Marathon Key by 10:30.  It had warmed up to 48*.  We stopped at McDonalds for coffees (Mercer's is closed on Sunday) and decided the cinnamon rolls looked good, so we each got one.  

They were warm and gooey but kind of dry.  We drove the short distance to Bayshore Park and ate them in the truck, along the harbor.  

Back on the road at 11:00.

We stopped at 12:35 to use the bathroom at a gas station located at the intersection of Rt 41 and Rt 29; not a cloud in the sky, 57*.  At 1:02 we stopped at the Oasis Visitor's Center in Everglades National Park to see the alligators.  We took waaaay too many pictures of alligators, so I won't bore you with all of them.

Literally "just hanging out"

There's a nice boardwalk overlooking the end of a canal, filled with all kinds of fish, big and small.  There's plenty for these guys to eat.  We stayed for about 30 minutes, then continued south.

We were back on the road at 1:37 (a whole 59*).  Traveling rhrough the outskirts of Miami was interesting, with an abundance of farms and nurseries.  

We stopped in a McDonalds inTavernier at 3:36 to get iced coffees, a snack and use the bathroom, which only took us 20 minutes.  

Our destination was the Coconut Cay Resort & Marina on Marathon Key, where we arrived at 4:49, room #41.  It was surprisingly larger than we expected! 

Although our room was located in the front, facing the Overseas Highway, it was quiet.  We brought in our things and headed back out at 5:15 in search of Sunset Park, which was only 10 minutes away.  We had no trouble finding parking and got a front row seat to watch the sunset. 

As you can see for yourself...there weren't any clouds, which means there was no "after show".  We were back in the truck by 6:11 and both a bit chilly.  The temp was only 57* and it was breezy.  Delightful never-the-less.

We drove up and down the main drag looking for a place to have dinner, finally deciding on Triton Seafood.  Not because we wanted seafood but because it was the only place we found that was open.  It was quite pricey but we ordered pizza, which was reasonable, and we had leftovers.  

We got back to our motel at 7:50 and spent the rest of the evening watching football.

Day one of our Keys visit was in the books.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Another New Punta Gorda Mural

We walked from Fisherman's Village to Laishley Park today and came across this new mural, painted by Keith Goodson, 2022.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

 

Hello Mercer's

We love this little coffee house!  They have some of the best coffee we have ever had and the atmosphere is quiet and comfortable.  The barista is really nice and funny and he always remembers us.  It used to have wonderful paninis; however, we were told that the food menu wasn't working out well, so that's no longer available.  They do have a limited menu tho. 

Last week we just got coffees, then went across the street to McDonalds, got sausage and cheese sandwiches and went to Bayshore Park and ate. Today we dediced to order bagels and cream cheese, along with coffee and ate there.   

It was good to be back!  Every year we comment how we wish there was a place like it near us at home. 

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)
 

Charlotte County Concert Band

We stumbled upon these concerts a few years ago (2019, maybe) and really enjoy them.  The band consists of volunteers, the ticket price is only $15 and the music is always entertaining. The last time we went was February 2020, in the beginning of Covid. They cancelled the concerts for March and April that year and they didn't have any in 2021.  I was really happy to learn that they would be back this year.

The concerts are held at the performing arts center at the Carlotte High School.  It's very much like the one at the new high school in Sanford. 

Since the April concert is before we leave to come home, we bought Snowbird season tickets, four concerts for $50 each, so we saved a little money. The first concert was tonight and, since Covid is the gift that keeps on giving and never goes away, we weren't sure what to expect.  The audience was quite a bit smaller than before and many of the people wore masks, including us.  People were very conscious about giving others space, there was no one sitting near us, so we took them off once we sat down.

Tonight's concert was called "Out of this World" and the music included "Fly me to the Moon", "Star Wars Heros", "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" among others.  To be honest, my most favorite part of these concerts is that each one starts with the "Star Spangled Banner" and it's such a great feeling to be there with everyone singing along.  

The next one is February 11 and is titled "Dance with Me" which I know we will love.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

A Bonus Day in November

 Amidst days with temperatures in the 40's, we find ourselves blessed with a day where temperatures reached above 60.  No way we could stay home, so off we went.

Months ago, Bill had saved a FB post about the Fisherman's Walk in York, so we headed south.

Parking in York is not very user friendly, signs for "permit parking only" were everywhere, although we found a 2 hour parking space along Rt 1A, near the Hartley Mason Reserve.  

This is a nice 4 acre park overlooking York Harbor Beach.

"Pleasure Ground" a sculpture by Sumner Winebaum, sits in the grass and shows little bronze people enjoying the day.  

Photo Credit: Drew Gall

The sculpture is built on a rock nearly 8' long, 4' wide and  weighs 3 tons.  The figures range in height from 10 - 12 inches.

Bill thought we were headed in the wrong direction as we walked down the path toward the beach, so we stopped to ask a woman sitting in the park with her dog, who we absolutely needed to pet.  She gave us directions along the beach, to the steps at the end and across the grass to the walk. 

York Harbor Beach

This is the beach we could see from the park above.  We even got to pet another dog ;o)

Without her directions, which we didn't follow quite correctly, we never would have found this path.  We entered it from a small area between someone's fence and some trees.

The path followed the river behind some, most likely, very historic and expensive homes, which enjoy a lovely view of the river.

It continues under Rt 103 and along a boardwalk toward the Wiggly Bridge.

The York River, which is brackish water, is on the left and Barrel Mill Pond, which is a centuries old tidal pond, is on the right.  The pond was formed when early colonists built a dam to power a sawmill and gristmill.

This path also provides access to Steedman Woods, a forested peninsula that was given to Old York by C. Richard Steedman in 1978 to be kept "forever wild".  We walked along the loop path, maybe half a mile, returning to the bridge.

The only thing missing was a bench to sit and enjoy the river view.

View of Rt 103 from Steedman Woods.  

The Wiggly Bridge...might possibly be the world's smallest suspension bridge.  It was built in 1930 and spans a mere 75' between two petite green towers.

It is indeed wiggly and fun to walk across.  There is quite a current running underneath, which used to push kids jumping from the bridge, one way or the other, depending on the tide.  That is no longer encouraged.

The pattern in the water reminds me of Titan's back end and tail.

It's so weird how something completely unrelated to him, reminds me of him.

We walked back along the path to the car, had lunch at Flo's hotdogs, yummy! and headed home.  It was another perfect day.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)