Catching up the pictures

We are at Koreshan State Park in Estero, Florida. This place has an amazing history that is a long story in itself. I'll get to that later.
 It's been a while since I posted pictures, so here I am catching up.

the catch of the day at Key West before we left for Dry Tortuga National Park

Fort Jeffrson on Dry Tortuga Key

Yhe yourists get here by plane and ferry. It is about 70 miles southwest of Key West

Fort Jefferson was built by the US in the 1860/s with about 16 million bricks from Pensicola

I found a gun to play with

We snorkeled in the crystal clear waters around the beach and the pier heads. Lots of fish and conch shells

A moat went around the fort to keep the enemy at bay

 

A resident blue Heron

On the way back to Key West we passed Sunset key. Oprah and Tom Hanks reportedly have cottages here.

The moon shimmering on the water at Curry Hammock State Park

Our jungle camp at Koreshan State Park

One of the tortises we saw in the park

The Koreshan settlement has a lot of interesting history. Read up on it when you have some time.

They generated power for the surrounding communities

An example of their handiwork

 

We're back on mainland USA

We left Marathon and the Florida Keys today, We stopped at Key Largo Fisheries on the way out and had lunch at their backyard restaurant (Conch Fritters, shrimp salad and Mahi sandwich, mmmm good)! We also stocked the fridge with some of their fresh seafood.
It was warm and very breezy all morning, and on our way across the Everglades. Then when we got to our campground at Estero we had a little rain and the humidity set in. It got to 87 degrees for a while. Right now we are sitting in the air conditioned camper after dinner, a long walk and showers. Tomorrow we will start exploring this new area. We have never been at Koreshan State Park or Estero before.

Spending time around Marathon

We have been taking it easy the last two days. Yesterday we took a ride to the Big Pine Key Flea Market. Apparently this is what the locals do for kicks. We walked around through the various vendors and marveled at their wares.
I wound up getting a folding anchor for my kayak and a bar of insect repelling organic soap to ward off the notorious no-seeums. I tried it later in the day and it seems to work pretty good. I also have the benefit of smelling like a eucalyptus tree!
On the way back to camp we stopped at the Marathon airport to see the 1927 Ford Tri-Motor plane that is here for a week. They are giving rides for $70 a pop ($150 for a sunset flight).
Today Bev and Gary left us for Tampa to stay with Bev's sister. Then they will be going back to Michigan.
The weather has been consistently in the low to mid eighties and sunny every day. We get a lot of breeze here and this morning had a slight shower which produced a glorious double rainbow.
Hope everyone is well in the north country. We hear there is a minor heat wave going on in Michigan! The extended weather forecast for Maple City shows that the frigid temperatures of February have gone away and won't be back this winter. Halleluiah!!

All is well !!

We made a trip to Dry Tortugas National Park yesterday. It's a seventy mile trip to the south west of Key West. Fort Jefferson is the main attraction on the small Island and we toured the fort and did some snorkeling in the beautiful waters off of the shore.
It was quite a day!
Today we relaxed around camp. did some walking, biking, and kayaking/ Our neighbors from Wheeler Road are down here and they visited with us for a while this afternoon. It's crazy that we have to come to the Florida Keys to spend time with our neighbors!!
Pictures will follow. Hope everyone is well.

Exploring the middle keys

We spent the day yesterday around Seven Mile Bridge. We biked the old abandoned bridge on the north end, then walked the abandoned south end bridge. We saw Pigeon Key from the old bridge. We then went to Bahia Honda State Park and then to Big Pine Key and No Name Key to see the Key Deer.

The north end of the old seven mile bridge. It is now a walkway and bike trail and very popular with fishermen.

This is Pigeon Key below the old bridge. The only way to get to it now is by ferry from Marathon Key.

The ferry boats bring visitors to this dock. You can spend the day sunning and picnicking on the island.

Walking on the old bridge.

A glimpse of the old bridge and the new bridge. This is one of the most scenic areas on the overland highway through the Keys.

                                            We saw numerous stingrays cruising the flats.

Old Veterans beach at the south end of Seven Mile Bridge.

The new bridge from the beach. The old bridge was destroyed by a hurricane in the nineteen thirties.

Nancy at a break in the old rail toad bridge.

Bahia Honda beach. It could be a picture from paradise!

The end of the old road at Bahia Honda.

The sand flats at low tide.

We walked on the sand flats in water up to our ankles!!

Catching up the pictures part two.

I am posting pictures to catch up to where we are today. The post following this one is part one. This is part two.

Key West on Saturday. We walked around the harbor and took the trolley tour through town.

Shells at Mallory Square.

Bamboo wind chimes

Macs pick up

Posing with Evey and spongeman

Pelicans on the roof

90 miles north of Cuba in Key West

Key West chickens

An end to a nice day at Key West. We saw four weddings going on up and down the beach.

Tom and Evey headed for Orlando on Monday morning.

Catching up the pictures!!

It's been a while since I was able to post any pictures, but now sitting in the Monroe County Library in Marathon I have an excellent signal so I can load pictures from the last couple of days at Flamingo in the Everglades to John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo to Curry Hammock State Park in Marathon where we are now.
Tom and Evey spent the weekend with us and they are now on their way to Orlando and Disney World. We had a great visit with them and drove to Key West in Tom's mustang convertible on Saturday.

Pictures:

Coots at Coot Bay Pond in the Everglades. We estimated we were looking at about 2500 on the pond that afternoon.

A pelican walked up to watch the coots with us. (maybe he was looking for handouts?)

Nancy enjoying the afternoon at the Coot Bay Pond boardwalk.

 

A Roseate Spoonbill at Echo Pond in the Everglades. We had been hoping to see them this trip.

A red shouldered hawk near the campground.

One of the few woodstorks we saw this year.

Roseate spoonbills and egrets at Echo Pond.

Kayaking at John Pennekamp State Park. This ferry takes visitors out to the coral reefs for scuba diving and snorkeling.

Sunrise at Curry Hammock State Parke and low tide.

We have been seeing a lot of green iguanas at Curry Hammock. This is another invasive species in Florida.

Kayaking on a very calm morning on the Atlantic.

A Bahamas starfish at Curry Hammock. I saw six that morning.

Tom and Evey joined us for the weekend.

Kayaking we saw this four foot iguana and a heron in the mangroves.