The Trees of the Keys

We thought you might enjoy seeing some of the greenery around here.

This is a strangler fig. Birds leave its seeds in a host tree. As the seeds grow they send branches to the ground where they take root. The strangler fig will eventually consume and kill its host. This strangler is just getting started on its host. Notice the two different kinds of leaves. The lush leaves lower in the tree are those of the strangler fig.

 This strangler fig has completed its deed. The host tree is completely gone.

 This is a fishtail palm.

 Here is a coconut palm. you need to look up when walking under a tall coconut palm. A falling coconut can send you to La La Land.

 You can see the bananas in this tree. They never grow to full size here.

 This is the naughty tree.

 Mandy is standing in front of a Banyan tree. Like the strangler fig, it sends limbs down to the ground to widen its base. It does well in hurricanes.

 This is the Phyllis Diller Tree. Here, she is in her green hair phase.               (just kidding)

 Giant philodendron

 This is a Gumbo Limbo tree. Its extremely dense wood once made it a favorite of boat builders as the Keys were becoming settled. Its also known as the "Tourist Tree" because of the thin red bark that continuously peels from the tree.

The "Tree of Life" was once thought to cure syphilis.

A Drive over the Seven Mile Bridge

I had to break the drive into three videos in order to load it.

A Strole in the Sea

West of the seven mile bridge is Veteran's Park. I went for a walk in the water.

A Walk on the Seven Mile Bridge

Henry Flagler, who created the Standard Oil Company with partner John D. Rockefeller, first visited Florida in 1878. He returned to Florida in 1885 to build the grand St. Augustine hotel. Flagler realized that Florida lacked a transportation system. He purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad.

By 1894, Flagler's railroad system reached what is today known as West Palm Beach. Flagler constructed the Royal Poinciana Hotel and The Breakers Hotel, both in Palm Beach, along with Whitehall, his private 55-room, 60,000 square foot winter home. But recurrent freezes convinced him to extend the railroad further south.

                                                Whitehall

By 1896, his railroad reached Biscayne Bay, the largest and most accessible harbor on Florida's east coast. Flagler dredged a channel, built streets, instituted the first water and power systems, and financed the town's first newspaper. When the town incorporated in 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the man responsible for the city's development by naming it, "Flagler." He declined the honor, persuading them to keep the city's old Indian name, "Miami."
Flagler decided to extend the railway to Key West, a city of almost 20,000 inhabitants located 128 miles beyond the end of the Florida peninsula to take advantage of Cuban and Latin America trade and also because the opening of the Panama Canal would allow significant trade possibilities with the west.


The construction of the overseas railway required many engineering innovations as well as vast amounts of labor and monetary resources. At one time during construction, four thousand men were employed. During the seven year construction, five hurricanes threatened to halt the project. Despite the hardships, the final link of the Florida East Cost Railway was completed in 1912, the year before Flagler's death.

In 1935 a hurricane with 17 foot storm surge destroyed most of the railway and killed over 420 people, mostly war veterans and their families who were hired to build the railroad.

In 1938. the railroad bridge and overland railroad was widened to accommodate automobile traffic. In 1982 a new wider bridge carried the traffic load while the old historic bridge became a hike and bike trail and fishing bridge.

Our Marina and Boats

Above is a video of our marina at BananaBay here in Marathon Florida. We have about twenty five boats with live-aboards. We all know each other and party together, dine out together, and watch a sunset almost every night together.
Many of the boats are fabulous million dollar yachts but many others (mostly the sailboats) are of modest value.

 This is Mike and Peggys' 42 Krogen. It's set up for ocean travel.

 This is Gary's 50 foot (I think) Chris Craft built in the early 80's

 Steve and Pam's DeFever 42. It's the one with a full size washer dryer on board. It has every amenity. Note the small inflatable (dinghy) on top of the aft deck. It has its own crane to lift the dinghy from the roof to the water.

This is a nearby workboat. The crew sets crab (stone crabs) traps from this boat then retrieves the traps the following day. They tear one claw off of the crab and throw the crab back into the water. It will be able to feed itself with the remaining claw and will grow a new claw to replace the missing one. The crew cooks the harvested crab claw immediately on board, otherwise it will spoil.

This is Ed and Barb's center console boat that they use for fun and fishing. Their live-aboard boat is shown further below. Notice the workmanship in the finger pier. Instead of the easy way of cutting the wood straight across and trimming to fit the main pier, the craftsmen mitered the curve. The decking is a hardwood from Brazil called Ipe or Tabebuia. It's more dense than sea water so when the next storm surge comes along, the decking won't float off and away when the water recedes.

This hand built runabout was trailered down from Ohio.

Here is a portion of the Banana Bay boat people.

This Nautilimo is a real Lincoln Continental set over a power boat body. It's legal and inspected by the US Coast Guard. It resides in the harbor at Lorelie Restaurant at mile marker 82.

This is Ed and Barb's live-aboard boat. They race it off the Cape Fear coast in summer. That's my namesake, Maxsea, resting on the foredeck.

I hope to make a video of driving the seven mile bridge and post it soon.

A Visit to Jack and Beth

 Last Tuesday, January 4th, Mandy and I drove to Marco Island to visit our friends and Hidden Lake neighbors, Jack and Beth Huffner. Above is a photo of their building with lots of trees in the way.

We went to watch the OSU vs Arkansas game which didn't start until 8:30 pm. We took turns falling asleep in front of the TV.

The next morning Mandy made a phone call while looking over the view from J&B's patio.

Another view of their condo.

 J&B took us to see Horr's Island, where Captain Horr built this home. You'll notice shells of all kinds if you look closely at the concrete walls. The material, mixed from lime, shells, and water is called tabby. Beth is looking over the ruins of the home.

 Above shows a good example of tabby. Enlarge (click on) the photo below to read the historical marker.

 You can see more photos and history of Horr's Island at http://www.marconews.com/photos/galleries/2008/mar/25/visit-john-horrs-old-house/

On the way back to the keys, we drove through this agricultural area near Homestead called the Redlands. It was named for the color of the soil. Realtors are calling it the New Hamptons of South Florida because new residents are building multimillion dollar homes here. In order to preserve the Redlands as an agricultural area, the local government has dictated that every home built must sit on five acres.

 We took a drive to the Key Deer Sanctuary and saw this little deer. Full grown, they are about the size of a large dog.

 One downside of living in the keys is shown in this photo. If the buzzards like your roof, there is nothing you can do about it.

 Our New Years Celebration consisted of the ladies sporting glowing wrist bands. We all enjoyed a cocktail together at sunset then went back to our respective floating hidy-holes. We were asleep by 10:00pm.

Mickey missed Christmas. With Mandy's help he is just now exiting the port-a-potti.