Mary the Sponge Diver!
April 7 – Driving the overseas highway. Once again, we had breakfast at the hotel, gassed up the car and got on the road around 9am for the last leg of the drive to Key West.
First stop, the visitor center in Key Largo where sponge diving was once the primary occupation. Mary dressed the part using the helmet in the lobby. Mary and Andrea discovered the beautiful and “So simple a child can arrange it” sarongs.
Clowning around with Bogey.
Meanwhile, Jim and Richard hammed it up with the local hero. “The African Queen” was filmed here and Bogey still puffs away while tourists pose with him. (Was he really this short?)
We got some pointers from the nice lady at the visitor center and headed on down highway 1 in search of a beach or nice ocean view – neither was easy to find! The views were blocked by T-Shirt shops, churches in old gas stations, trailer parks and “Private road” signs. We tried to see the view from a Florida State Park but they wanted $10.00 just to get in.
Finally, a stop with a view!
We continued South and began to see holes in the foliage and a glimpse of water now and then. We finally came to a place where we could stop along side the gulf and enjoy the view. It was absolutely worth the trip just for this view of multi-colored water and beautiful clouds. The ladies dipped their toes and gathered some shells while the guys congratulated themselves on finding this spot. Of course, nearly every southbound car stopped at this same spot so we weren’t exactly alone.
Pellican Playpen
Next stop was at a combination marina, restaurant and flea market (I kid you not!)
They kept pelicans around the dock by feeding them and the tourists paid a buck a head to walk out and watch them. Isn’t capitalism great? We also discovered that tarpons love to hang out in marinas under the fishing boats – more than one fisherman expressed the sentiment that he could have caught more tarpon in a marina than on a charter..
After fondling more t-shirts, sarongs, sandals and lobster trap paintings, we reluctantly returned to the car and resumed our odyssey.
FOOD! Did I mention, we ate our way South? Today’s lunch was at the Island Fish Company Restaurant and Marina at mile 54 in Marathon where cold beer and Mexican style fish dishes were the order of the day. Be sure to click on their website link above and watch the video for the flavor of the place. It is worth a stop. Oh, they have a heliport so you can drop in from your private island and have a snack.
We finally reached Key West in the late afternoon, checked in to our hotel and promptly headed for Mallory Square for margaritas and this spectacular sunset!
Fisherman, schooner and sunset – WOW!
Stay tuned for more adventures tomorrow.
