Brian & Patty's Awesome Adventure!: Key Largo, Florida

November 20, 2015
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We left Key West on the Overseas Highway heading to Key Largo. This is just under a 100 mile day which gives us a chance to stop at a few beaches and put our feet in the water. This bridge was damaged during the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 to the point that the FEC sought to abandon it before it was purchased by the State of Florida. Rather than rebuilding the bridge, the existing foundations were repaired and was converted to become part of the Overseas Highway in 1938 by adding the deck on top of the existing truss. The bridge served as the primary mode of transport to the lower keys and as the main evacuation route.

In 1980, a new four-lane bridge was constructed just a few hundred yards north of the old bridge, replacing the old route. Two of the truss spans of the old bridge were later removed to allow boat traffic.

The original bridge still remains, though it has fallen into a state of disrepair and signs warning boats of falling debris. Maintained by Bahia Honda State Park, the easternmost section of the bridge is open to pedestrian traffic and provides a scenic overview of the area.

Old Railroad Bridge

This is Veterans Memorial Beach Park. It is a nice shallow beach. The water was warm, probably in the 80's. Very nice spot to stop and wade in.

Veterans Memorial Beach

Anne's Beach is located at Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida. The Islamorada Beach is dedicated to local environmentalist Anne Eaton.

Anne's Beach

Anne's Beach features a shallow swimming area, covered picnic tables, boardwalk and bathroom facilities.

Anne's Beach Boardwalk

This Keys Beach is located on the Atlantic Ocean, but there is almost no wave action, due to the wide expanse of shallow water typical for Florida Keys beaches. Visitors can enjoy the clear and warm waters year round.

Anne's Beach Mangroves

We found a Groupon for a tourist attraction called the Coral Castle Museum. It gave you a 50% discount which made it a proper price. Full price would have been too much. It was a good deal with the Groupon.

Coral Castle Layout

Coral Castle is a stone structure created by the Latvian American Edward Leedskalnin (1887–1951) located in Homestead, Florida. The structure comprises numerous megalithic stones (mostly limestone formed from coral), each weighing several tons. Coral Castle is noted for legends surrounding its creation that claim it was built single-handedly by Leedskalnin using reverse magnetism or supernatural abilities to move and carve numerous stones weighing many tons.

Originally it costs 10 cents to enter.

Admission 10 cents

There were tables and chairs and sun dials and planets and even a bbq pit.

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This used to be a turn style that was used to enter the castle.

Turn Style

This was a very colorful lizard. I believe it may be called an African Rainbow Lizard.

Rainbow Lizard

Not sure if this was his dining room or his study, either way it couldn't be very comfortable!

Dining Room

You had to climb steps to get into his house. He did have some cushions to sleep on.

House

After leaving the castle we stopped at a Walmart in Homestead. After that we continued on to Key Largo and the Bayside Inn where we checked into our room.

Bayside Inn

I was apprehensive about staying here. All the hotels were pricey in Key Largo. This was about the best price of all the pricey ones here. Some of the reviews were OK, but most were pretty bad. I almost canceled the reservation, but we are glad we did not. I don't know if we just got a good room, but it was actually really nice. This is not our picture, I took it off the Internet but it is indicative of what the room looked like. Not only was the room clean, but it was above standard. I guess we got blessed!

Bedroom

After checking in we went to the harbor. The iconic vessel the African Queen is located in Key Largo. Made famous in the 1951 movie of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn she is a timeless classic. This famous steamboat is available for daily canal cruises and dinner cruises in the Port Largo Canal area.

The African Queen was built in Lytham, England in 1912 for service in Africa for the East Africa British Railways company. She was used to shuttle cargo, missionaries and hunting parties across the Victoria Nile and Lake Albert which was located on the border between the Belgian Congo and Uganda. In 1951 she starred in the famous movie directed by John Huston. Afterwards she remained in service in Africa until 1968 when she was brought to the United States working in San Francisco, Oregon and Florida. She has been in Key Largo since 1982, where she is registered as a National Historic site and in 2012 celebrated her centennial year.

We didn't take a ride, but did go take a picture. It looks like a couple is getting ready to take a canal ride.

African Queen

The next day we drove to Fort Lauderdale and checked into the Bali Hai Motel. We used the day to catch up on Laundry and other things we needed to do to get ready for 2 week cruise. The one thing this 5 days in hotels has made clear to us is although we have had a good time, we much prefer traveling and living in the RV then living out of suitcases and Hotels! :)