Seems like everyone here is looking for a weather window to get somewhere -- Bahamas, West Florida coast, down the Keys, wherever. But the weather pattern isn't consistent enough yet. We all need a few days of consistent weather before the next vicious norther blows through and we need a protected anchorage. But not to be ... yet. We're hoping to leave Easter Sunday afternoon and sail to Bahia Honda State Park, with several of the top rated beaches in the Keys, some top rated in the US. We hope to see. And we REALLY hope there's really a reef inside the bayside beach where we'll be anchored so we can snorkel. TIme will tell!
In the meantime, we hiked the Crane Point Nature Preserve yesterday, including the Wild Bird Rehab Center & had a nice day. Here are a few photos:
In the meantime, we hiked the Crane Point Nature Preserve yesterday, including the Wild Bird Rehab Center & had a nice day. Here are a few photos:
Although the Crane Point Nature Preserve is known for the largest thatch palm hammock left in it's natural state anywhere in the Keys, there are also gumbo limbo trees scattered through the natural vegetation. They are known as the "tourist tree" - not only in Florida, but throughout the Caribbean because their red peeling bark reminds locals of sunburned tourists!
Throughout the Keys, development has been more important than preserving "old Florida" and the way the Keys looked before all the US 1 commercialism. The Keys Thatch Palm is endangered but abundant here in the nature preserve.
Somewhat shady trails led to "solution ponds" which are pools of fresh water that was necessary for wildlife, some fauna and humans to exist in the early Keys.
A butterfly garden never hurts a hike, although we were at the wrong time of year for most of the butterflies, we still saw several. Only if you're slow and quiet though. We saw several families "hiking" that noisily sped their way through the preserve and I'll guarantee you never saw a bird, butterfly or anything else unless it was in a cage! SSssshhhh!!! Slow down & enjoy nature!
Here's a green donner, one of the largest dragonflies in the Florida Keys. You can't see it very well in this small version of the photo, but he's looking directly at us with his giant eye AND smiling for the camera!
Lots of these giant spiders, not sure what they are & don't really care to know. But if you look carefully just to the top left, this one has a baby spider accompanying her!
The Wildbird Rescue Center takes in injured birds that people bring in from all over the Keys, fixes them up, releases the ones that are capable of living again in the wild, and keeps a few that are too badly injured to make it -- most have serious wing injuries that keep them from flying.
There's also the small Adderly settlement, originally several families from the Bahamas that immigrated to the Keys and started their own settlement. This is the only surviving house left, but it's very interesting. When Henry Flagler's railroad needed to buy property rights to build the railroad, the Adderly settlement negotiated the rights to have their own railroad stop -- called "Vaca Station" and that's why Vaca Key is so named today. Unfortunately the railroad and their special stop surrendered to the 1935 hurricane and the settlers only enjoyed their own railroad stop from 1912 to 1935.
After leaving the Crane Point Nature Preserve, we stopped across the street to see if Publix had any different buy one get one free sales, wandered to Walgreens to buy David some itch cream for some bug bite he got and then wandered back to the marina.
Another fun day in paradise.... STILL waiting for weather! :)
After leaving the Crane Point Nature Preserve, we stopped across the street to see if Publix had any different buy one get one free sales, wandered to Walgreens to buy David some itch cream for some bug bite he got and then wandered back to the marina.
Another fun day in paradise.... STILL waiting for weather! :)
RSS Feed
