We left Cheyenne at home after a very long walk. I figured she was better off napping than sitting out in the August heat, and Chuck noticed...and expressed disappointment. I don't blame him, she is a total babe.
It's a hopping place Geiger Key in the same vein as Hogfish on Stock Island which isn't surprising as it's owned by the same man. To get to Geiger Key turn south at the Circle Key/Shell on Big Coppitt (Mile Marker Ten) and wait for the yellow sign to appear. It's a long straight ride south at 30 miles per hour from Highway One.
I tripped over this Cuban chug decorating the parking lot. It's worth a look to see how far people will go to escape from Cuba. A wooden frame, polystyrene flotation panels and a hull covered in a plastic tarp. Very ingenious but what a craft to use to cross 90 miles of Gulf Stream and it's unpredictable conditions. Many don't make it and disappear and no one is any the wiser. Sometimes their chugs wash ashore empty and leave us to assume the worst.
We joined Chuck and Pauline dockside with a gorgeous view. 
We were under close observation. I'm guessing they are used to soft hearted tourists yielding to their charms.
My grilled mahi mahi on a fresh crisp salad was perfect and the conversation was intense enough I forgot to photograph it. I did ask Lindsay for a smile though and she obliged. Chuck made a comment about old age and pity but I decided to draw a veil across that.
It was an entirely splendid afternoon until these two Cuban refugees showed up to spoil the fun. 
As I watched them paddling in toward the marina I noted, out loud how odd is this new fad of paddling a surf board. I thought nothing more of it as we sipped our tea and enjoyed the afternoon peace. One big thing about this place is the blessed absence of canned outdoor tinny muzak.
As the Cuban couple paddled into the basin in front of the restaurant I had my attention elsewhere. Hey, they said, he's waving at you! Well bugger, how was I supposed to know it was Scott out paddling around? I walked over and Scott and Julie explained to me exactly how deluded I am to imagine that paddling a surf board is a complicated or difficult way to go. Julie explained that the view is much improved over that from the low seated position in a kayak, the board is more maneuverable and paddling is easier as you can put your lower body to work. She also insists the board is more stable than a kayak.So now I'm going to have to rent one I guess. And learn to keep my unfounded prejudices to myself.
Barbecue is on the menu after 4pm Sundays and I can't imagine standing over the pit in this heat. Never mind adding the hot sauce. 
And time to say goodbye.
Next time another dockside lunch, possib ly Stock Island.
Shark Channel, east of Geiger Key has seen an increase in anchor out boats, many of which I suspect are liveaboard homes. The waters around Key West are becoming more inhospitable as expensive beachside homes spread across slivers of formerly open land used to park dinghies. The result is an increase of anchor outs further up the Keys:
For Key West residents not used to the wilds of the Lower Keys this particular island is known for one thing, a bar of course, and a place that likes to rival Schooner Wharf as a slice of the "old keys way of life." There are no signposts to Geiger Key RV Park, Marina and restaurant but its there hidden away off a side road:
Alongside the working dock there is a sort of Tiki bar and a decent restaurant serving, of course, fresh fish. There is a certain sense of humor required to run a place like this, which styles itself the "backside of paradise," but success brings with it the usual crop of complaints. There are more homes scattered around Geiger Key than might at first appear and the arrival of live music and lots of patrons at the marina caused the usual rash of grumbling, which the business appears to have weathered:
And there is what passes for a small muddy park just beyond the marina where one could stand and contemplate the mangroves if one felt so inclined. Sitting isn't an option as the pea rock isn't that comfortable:
If one seeks a well-to-do tropical lifestyle such as is frequently touted around Key West, one doesn't seek it on Geiger Key. This is a rather more down at heel neighborhood, more like a comfortable old pair of bedroom slippers than a pair of name brand high heels. Homes around here are either double wide trailers or their newer replacements, homes, frequently modular, on stilts:
Either way their occupants get to enjoy waterfront living, decent sized yards (by Keys standards) and a certain level of privacy guaranteed by the absence of tourists or tourist related advertising. Canals were dug into the rock decades ago when such acts of environmental vandalism were not only permitted but encouraged in Florida's mosuqito infested swamps, and the happy result is easy access to boating in lots of places otherwise landlocked in the Keys. There are two types of canals prominent here:
This is a regular boating canal with direct access to Hawk Channel and the straits of Florida. A double wide for sale on one of these canals is advertised at $499,000 though I doubt the owner will get that sort of asking price at the moment. In 2005 people were lining up to buy these trailers at those prices, until Hurricane Wilma flooded them out. In the next photograph w see what's known as a swimming canal, a place where engines are not allowed and access to the canal is shallow enough that only a kayak could possibly might make it in and out. This particular canal emerges into the shallow back country of Boca Chica Key, the navy base west of Geiger Key:
These homes on canals are grouped into a small community known as Tamarac Park, not to be confused with the city of Tamarac on the mainland. Realtors advertise this area as "Key West" frequently because the zip code is the same as the city's (33040) but that's just because the post office in Key West delivers out here. This is unincorporated Monroe County, and as rural as one can get ten minutes from the city of Key West:
Supporters of urban chickens in Key West frequently make the claim that were the fowl removed from city streets insects and the dreaded scorpions would make life unbearable. Those claims notwithstanding there are wild birds, quieter and less invasive that quietly go about the same business. I prefer their gentle dignity myself, but tourists don't want to see egrets and herons and ibis gently pecking the public flowerbeds of Key West. They want chickens, until they settle in Key West and learn the pleasures of being kept awake at night by barnyard fowl. These guys are just minding their own silent business:
The other big disadvantage of Geiger Key is that it sits next door to Boca Chica Naval Air Station, a large military airport just across the water. Even since the island of Vieques, next to Puerto Rico was closed down as a military base, flight training has been moved to Boca Chica and the Florida panhandle. The result is frequent low passes by navy jets and concomitant noise. This of course produces complaints and counter complaints ("aircraft noise" versus "sound of freedom") with the Navy patiently pointing out they have been there longer than anyone else. Indeed every time a development is proposed in their neighborhood they protest for safety reasons and the county moves smoothly ahead supporting further civilian development which will lead to more noise complaints etc etc... 
Outside the rather limited developed areas Geiger Key is a swamp of mangroves and shrubs and these rather peculiar grasses. There are trails among the mangroves but because I am a law abiding sort I don't even try to slip behind the institutional green hurricane fences put up by the Navy and I limit myself to yearning from afar:
Of course I happen to think even mangroves are enhanced by the presence of a Triumph Bonneville:
Well worth a gallon of 89 octane even at $4:25, in my opinion.
