The Keys: Centerpiece of Florida, Corner of the Country

THE KEYS: CENTERPIECE of FLORIDA and a CORNER of the COUNTRY
(Yes, the water is this color in places!)

It was raining pretty hard for a few days in South Florida so we held off from taking the scooter down to The Keys.  Finally it cleared up and we took off Friday morning (6/7/13). We thought the traffic would be easy, you know--"low key"--but the drivers in Florida are pretty aggressive and The Keys are no exception. So, on a long 20-mile stretch of one-lane road (US-1 S), we had someone on our tail the whole time. It was not fun. Finally, once we got on the first island, the road opened up and we could go at a more relaxed speed. Then it was fun. 



Looking at Bayside Inn, Key Largo from the end of the pier.

The ultimate easy living! Dede had packed everything we needed into a little backpack and stuffed 2 swim towels into the scooter pouch: ready! Kim made reservations at Bayside Inn in Key Largo online and had done his homework on snorkeling places so we had an idea of what our options would be. Being the practical kind of people we are, the first thing we did was find the hotel and then confirm a reservation for snorkeling. Ah! Work first, play later.

Coral. The whole state of Florida
is made of coral!

At last we are free to tour around. And we do!

First public beach to stretch out on was Harry Harris public beach, (Mile Marker 93). Kim had a school principal by the same name. This is the one who got on the PA and announced to the school, "We have some pretty good teachers here." Kim still laughs at the offhanded insult, or at best, it was simply un-inspiring. Folks, if you're going to get on the PA, share something that fuels momentum and positivity!





We found a fun fish-house restaurant perched over the water where we called our kids. (They're hard at work in Los Angeles, making ends meet and we're gallivanting around on the other corner of the country!  We hope they'll see that it's all worth it once they decide it's break time!)





We walked all the way out along the arc of the coral/sand line.

We found a secret beach, "Annie's Beach" with an unusual water feature: we could walk far out into the water and back in, making an arc around the beach. The deepest part was only two feet but there were lots of surprise dips and slimy parts, which made Dede scream. (How embarrassing!) We were the noisiest beach-goers that day, well except maybe a couple of dogs who didn't like one another when they passed.

No that's not green slime; it's healthy sea grass on high ground.





We sat and read our books in the sand, texting words of encouragement to our loved ones. 


Little did we know we were below water level and when we got up our towels weighed more than five pounds--and stank, too! We laid them out in the hotel overnight with no improvement: we had to bag them up hot n heavy till we could get to the laundry back in Homestead.

We made it down South as far as Islamorada (Milemarker 73) before turning back North to return to the hotel.



Bayside Inn, Key Largo

Our hotel, Bayside Inn, had a beach front and adjoining it was Snook's restaurant/bar, with good nightlife including a live band which did NOT play Jimmy Buffet, to Kim's delight. Here we started our dinner at happy hour!  We're both reading our books, hanging out, listening to the band, ordering refills, appetizers and being genuine bums! This was Kim's favorite part of our whole trip.


Dede n Kim romantic reading lounge

Click here to hear half a minute from the bar band. "Don't Worry Bout a Thing!" (MWAH!)
Here's our sunset from the restaurant!
 

Breakfast at the Hotel.

Snorkeling in the Coral Reefs

When in The Keys, especially Key Largo, the thing to do is SNORKEL! 

Living Coral Reef

So at 8:30AM on Saturday morning we took off for snorkeling with Keys Diver. It was going to be a great ride and we even bought an under-water camera.


It started out great until Dede got into the 4-foot waves in the ocean with a noodle and inflated life vest on. After about 20 minutes, she started to feel woozy so she drifted back to the boat. As soon as she climbed aboard, she gave up her breakfast as fish food! (that's code ;-) She was barely able to hang on the rest of the trip, staring forlornly at distant land. Kim took all the pictures.




Living Coral Reef



Land ahh!

(Later on land, Dede took some of her dizziness medicine and felt better after two hours.)
  

Kim's water landing in the pool.

By late morning we were refreshed, back at the hotel and ready for more fun, (well Dede was a little subdued) and our return trip home.





Gilbert's Biker Bar

We found a sweet biker bar on the bridge from The Keys to the Mainland (US-1). They're everywhere, really.

This visit was too brief!  We'll have to get back here and go further, to the heart of the keys: Key West.  Maybe some of our friends will join us!




This is why we worked so hard at Amazon and teaching: so we could get our feet in the sand in the beautiful South East corner of the country!

(Budget note: we spent as much this week in Homestead/Keys as we've spent in any of the 5 months up to this point!)




This is the second corner of the country we're visiting with our motor coach. (The first was in Maine, many years ago.) It's cool to sit and meditate (Dede has been doing TM for almost 40 years now!) and send out love, light, and gratitude for compassion and happiness in the land above...like Atlas, holding up the world with positivity. Maybe we can get around to the other corners and say more prayers and send more love!  Why not!?

Next we'll head up the Atlantic coast to visit family and friends before turning West.

Next stop: Titusville, FL.

Hear and Taste Gator in the Everglades and Homestead, FL

 EVERGLADES

Everglades

We left Naples and drove SouthEast through the Everglades National Park on Rt 41. At this point in our winding journey, we're moving directly opposite of our final Westward goal of CA by January. This is because we want to make it to the SE corner of the country. Neither of us have ever visited The Keys. We're heading to Homestead, the southernmost city in the mainland USA, where we will leave the coach and take the scooter down The Keys.  As you can see, the weather doesn't look good for our plan...


Miccosukee Indian Village Hides in the Everglades

Wherever we've traveled, there have been remnants and markers of the American Indians who lived here before us. (A good read, though laborious, is Trail of Tears, which Dede read two years ago while we traveled out to Tennessee, sometimes on the trail.) We were delighted to find an Indian reservation, the Miccosukee on our way through the Glades. During the purge of Indians in 1830 ("The Indian Removal Act") they hid in the Everglades and learned to live off the fish and gators. (Later, a gator wrestler told us it is from them that we get gator wrestling!) Today they speak their native language and English. They have a tribal chief but they don't call him chief, they call him chairman.  They don't sing or dance, except in private just for themselves. They wear American clothes, but often add a home-made woven pattern on a scarf or vest.


Now we know that what we thought were "tiki huts" aren't all from Hawaii! They're Miccosukee huts! We saw them all the way down The Keys, too. They let in a little light at the top and the weaving is art!
 


Here at the Miccosukee Restaurant we sampled frog legs and gator tail (and fry cakes).

Frog Legs, Gator Bites!
(Everglades, FL)

Gator tastes like eating hard muscle if turkey could have hard muscle. Frog tastes like frog. (No kidding! Have you ever smelled frogs when you're around a frog pond?  Well that's the taste of frog!)  Everything had the taste of old grease, like the age of the décor (mid 50's), and the service was slow, but we were there for the bragging rights, not fine dining. Yup, we both ate 'em!


We waited on the pier and were entertained by fish and bird.


What kind of duck-bird is this!? Why it's a purple gallinule! (the females are brown.) Click here to find out more about Florida birds.


 

 

 

The Indians took us on an airbus ride. It felt like flying! Click here to see a video! (Warning: it's loud! We had ear plugs in.)  Want more? Here's a second video. (Dede plans to replace the audio with symphonic music on both of these....)

   

We flew the airbus all the way to the hidden Indian Village way out in the Everglades (pictured above).

Bumble Bee on the Wing

Can you see the bumble bee on the right of the path? Dede followed his flight down the path until she caught him on the wing! Over the side of the path is the vegetation that composts naturally. It's not pretty to look at and it has the smell of wetlands: the smell of decay and ferment and must. It's such an important part of the earth's renewal. Even though it looks like dying earth, it's really just the opposite: starting-over.





Homestead

Our place in Homestead the GoldCoaster was very much like the other SunRV resorts we've been in in Naples and Fort Myers Beach. We couldn't find a tennis court, not in the resort and not in the local High School or park. So we went swimming every day and rode our bikes around the resort. Mostly we got around on scooter to local sites, even visiting civilization on Dede's birthday.
 


We sampled some native fruit: dragon fruit tastes like a gentle mix of kiwi and strawberry.

Dragonfruit

CORAL CASTLE
We loved Coral Castle, built entirely by one  five-foot tall man--Ed Leedskalnin. He was love-sick for a girl who spurned him in marriage in the old country, so he quarried the coral under his property and built everything he needed to give his imaginary wife a life of luxury. This all goes to show the power of unrequited love!


He created a "time out" corner where he could put his wife or his child if they needed a talking-to.  He got to sit in the chair on the right side while the offending one put their head and arms through the slits in the coral wall.

Did you know that almost all of Florida is coral? It explains so much about all the underground springs and why there are so many sink holes!

 

 

His sun-dial tells the time of day and the season. Look at the shadow at the very bottom. It is telling us that the time is 1:30PM. When it's summer, the shadow is at the bottom but when it's winter the shadow moves to the top; thus showing the seasons.

He dug a well and made the biggest valentine gift ever given: the heart table. It's in the Guinness book of records! This is a place where he pictured himself and his wife sitting together for a talk if ever they argued. We think that's a great idea but it wouldn't be used too much at our house! Besides, it weighs 5,000 pounds and wouldn't travel well in the coach.














Sign at the beach.
(Dede kept an eye out!)

We toured other resorts and beaches nearby. This beautiful beachfront park (south of Homestead) includes a bath house with a second-floor bar/restaurant.

 

 

We learned where all the beautiful landscaping trees come from! Homestead is a real farming community.

From cart to scooter!









We've decided that farmers are the poorest Americans. Whether Alabama, Florida or Kentucky, you can tell you're in a farming community when you go into Walmart and the shoppers are wearing yesterday's clothes and haven't combed their hair. We must look very odd to them, in fact when we talk to each other the folks around stop and listen to us, like we're from another country. So after awhile we don't talk too much while we shop. When we go shopping, we have to be careful that all the food and supplies can fit in the scooter and backpack!  Here we are trying to pack all our groceries into the scooter and backpack. It gets tricky! Once in awhile you'll catch Dede holding a grocery bag in her hand as we scoot along.

Alligator Farm
We heard the roar of alligators at the alligator farm!  Click here for video! They roar when they are in mating season and when they want others to go away.

 

Florida Everglades are the only place in the world where Gators and Crocs live together in the wild.

    




There are over 250 alligators in this pond!

 
Alligators can eat a rat in about 3 bites or less! Click here for the feeding video. Yuck!


So here's a tip if you're ever chased by an alligator: climb a tree or run zigzag. They can outrun a galloping horse but only in short spurts and going straight ahead.

And how do they bite you? Sideways! So don't think about sneaking up on the side!

See ya later, alligator!

Next stop: The Keys!