Marathon, Florida

January 24 - 30, 2010

Curry Hammock State Park

Marathon, Florida

We arrived here after 266 miles on Florida's secondary roads....we'll never do that again; especially through Central Florida where there is mile upon mile upon mile of nothing, yet no where to pull over for a good rest stop.

However, all was made worthwhile with our "welcome" to the Keys. Susan and Bob had arrived here in Key Largo last Monday. While texting along the way, they knew where we were and when we reached their destination at mile marker (everything in the Keys is measured by mile marker) 101.5, there they were, waving and welcoming us to the Keys. Then, when we tooted the "air horn", cars took notice and started "tooting too". What a welcome...we had arrived; we were now visiting the Keys of Florida!!!

For the first time in this winter's travels we woke to 80 degree weather and set out for the two minute walk to the beach. We enjoyed an hour soaking up some Vitamin D, watching the wind surfers when that wind became stronger. All of a sudden that fine white sand started hitting us, feeling like tiny pellets. We covered up and headed home.

So, let's go shopping...we visited shops like the "Lazy Lizard", "Goofy Gecko" and "Crazy Larry's Last Store". It was fun window shopping, especially now that we're going to have a house again! However, still can't buy anything...no place to put it...not in the motorcoach and can't have it shipped anywhere! Just as we walked out of the last store, the heavens opened up and the heavy rain began. So, we returned home to take our routine naps.

I want to thank our cosmic cousin, Greg, for the following from his blog, http://www.gundyville.blogspot.com/. It sure saved me some time looking up all these statistics:

The Florida Keys. There are 42 bridges connecting 100 islands (or "Keys) and stretched out over 126 miles from Key Largo to Key West - the southern most point of the continental United States. On the overseas highway (Rt 1) 18.8 miles of the total span are bridges, which is 15 % of your total travel time The longest single bridge is 7 miles long near Marathon Key and this span connects the "middle" keys to the "lower" keys. In addition to stunning water vistas and rich tropical colors, fishing in the Keys is world class, as is shelling, beachcombing, watersports, shopping, tourist attractions, and people watching. Snorkeling, diving, and boating are "key"attractions as well.

Curry Hammock State Park is located at mile marker 56 about 1 mile north of the City of Marathon. This park is made up of a group of islands in the Middle Keys, with access to swimming, a playground, picnic tables, grills, and showers on the ocean side of Little Crawl Key. The hardwood hammocks found on these tropical islands support one of the largest populations of thatch palms in the United States. Mangrove swamps, seagrass beds, and wetlands provide vital habitats for tropical wildlife.

Susan and Bob came from the Upper Keys and joined us in the Middle Keys for a morning of kayaking with a Curry Hammock ranger who shared insights throughout the trip. We circumnavigated Little Crawl Key from the seagrass beach, through the mangroves and back out into the cove.

I have to say the seagrass off the beach on the Atlantic side is quite thick. And that sits on about 4 feet of mud. There really is not an area for "swimming".

Once through the mangroves (that was not easy when all those mangrove roots kept getting in the way of where I wanted to put my paddle!!) we entered the cove (shown on the left in the aerial photo above) and just paddled along the mangrove line (can't say shoreline because it's still water).

This pelican was one of five sitting in the tree tops. It's amazing to see that they can even "lay down" on these strong branches .

Ken, an "iguana virgin", got his first glimpse of one basking in the sun after another chilly night. I wish we could have gotten closer as you can't tell this fellow was about 4 feet long and 35 or so pounds.

(Now if we could only find a real moose, Ken would know that they too do exist!)

We just finished putting the yaks back on the car when we met up with Marilyn and Greg who came from the Lower Keys to join us in the Middle Keys. We took off to The Island Fish Company restaurant on the gulf side at mm 54 and spent a couple of hours "catching up". (I'm including the name and location of this restaurant because some of us can never remember where we ate and when.)

We haven't seen our cosmic cousins since we parted ways in Albuquerque last spring. They had a lot to share as they had spent the summer in Chicken, Alaska working at a prospecting camp, coming back with over $1,500 in gold. What an interesting way to spend a summer!! The six of us will be joining up the 1st when we all go to Bluewater Key in Key West. Should be a great time; especially since Sarah will be joining us there too.

Curry Hammock is such a popular spot (I sure can see why...I'd come back here in a flash). It took me 11 months to get my reservations here, checking almost daily to see if there had been a cancellation that I could snag. Therefore, I have "2" reservations here and we moved to another site after 4 days...this was with a beautiful ocean view!!

We spent our last two days here just enjoying our site, sitting outside, soaking up some warm sunshine.

We took a trip to this side of the 7-mile bridge we'll be crossing next week when we head to the Lower Keys. I have to say, it is quite imposing...I might be spending those seven miles in the back of the coach!

We're heading back to join Susan and Bob for a couple of days in the Upper Keys before heading to Key West (again, it's where and when you can get reservations in this popular area).

Happy 30th Birthday to my wonderful, amazing daughter, Sarah Anne!!!! We love you!!