Waterfront Walk

They named the islands as souvenirs, after a fashion, of the men who worked on bringing the railroad to Key West in 1912.

I ducked off the Overseas Highway and parked the Maxima (the "kennel") in the dirt:One is never far from salt water around here.

The southern half of Ohio Key was donated to the National Wildlife Refuge supposedly to allow the northern half to be developed. So far the trailer park is still there but this sign has sprouted on this side of the road:

Some strange person thought a leafless bush was a good place to put a sponge. Someone else came by and thought it a good idea to take a picture of it:From where I was one could look back at the causeway that is Highway One: That's the road heading north toward the Seven Mile Bridge: Artistic junque:
It looked rather lonely to be a bird on this particular stretch of beach:

Naturally Cheyenne found something disgusting.

Fishing floats as Christmas decorations:

We were not alone. I think this guy came under the bridge from the trailer park.

We said good morning like humans, they sniffed each other's butts like dogs (for that is what they were) and no permanent friendship was forged:

Happily Cheyenne found nothing of interest in the blue blobs washed up on the beach. We call them Portuguese Men O'War:

I am told these jellyfish are actually colonies of creatures traveling together inside the bubble, which acts like a sail.

The interior of the island is a pond of what I think is salt water owing to Cheyenne's lack of interest in it. She usually likes to drink fresh water especially if it is of dubious purity. I carry a bottle of clean drinking water for her which she will only drink lacking anything worse.The pond is surrounded by thick vegetation, just the thing for a busy dog to sprawl in:And here is another man of war (the blue thing, not the pink things, for those would be my feet):

The best time to walk the Keys' abbreviated beaches is at low tide. We hit a low, low tide. If you want long sandy beaches you need to go to Ft Myers Beach. Around here it's rocks and seaweed and shallow water.

Okay everybody: what is the blue thing?

In the background the old Flagler bridge foundations, as solid as ever and now used to support what is essentially a fishing pier:

These aren't proper beaches I know, not like those vast spacious stretches of sand on the mainland of Florida. But I like them just the same, these rocky island beaches.