Went Boating

I was making my way home from my disappointing visit to a crowded Tarpon Belly Key so I stopped at this point just south of the Niles Channel Bridge on Ramrod Key. There wasn't much there to recommend it, just dirt and mangroves:Had I had the forethought to bring along my folding chair this would have been a fine spot to pause and check out passing boat traffic:Or pick up some trash, though why anyone thinks an empty box of bait improves the nature of the place, I don't know:So I tried to focus on the positive, and in my search I came across a stick, which juxtaposes the warped nihilism of nature with the geometric simplicity of the abandoned bait box. Then I saw the faintest trace of a trail through the bushes and I abandoned my artistic pursuits and got back to exploration.I was wearing rather inadequate rubber shoes,highly suitable for walking the boat through the shallows- useless as snake protection. The reptiles were, happily, all in my imagination and the trail soon broke out onto a mysterious dirt roadway:But then I saw a wooden board which had lost it's message but I'm ready to bet dollars to doughnuts it bore the classic Keys greeting: "No Trespassing!" so I withdrew, deciding as usual that discretion is the better part of valor.Especially as I'm almost certain the road leads to the home of one reclusive homeowner with a commercial fishing boat docked close to Highway One. He's probably armed too, and all I had was my good looks. Besides it was hot.

The water was looking good and on my way home I decided to stop for a swim. First I motored past the Spottswood's island which has a couple of houses on it as a weekend retreat. In the newspaper they claimed they are selling the exclusive pad owing to lack of use but they speed up and down our street every weekend in spite of the claim. This island and their parking lot on Ramrod Key where they keep their caretaker's boat would set you back $18.5 million if you paid the asking price:I would miss the Spottswoods, were they to leave. I doubt Keys Energy would reactivate the electricity on my street quite as promptly after a storm, if the Spottswoods weren't there to get the level of service they are entitled to. Noblesse oblige, I guess.

Picnic Island, a small spoil island in the middle of Newfound Harbor, is surrounded by shallow waters good for dog and child walking, and deeper waters for those of us that like to swim. It also has a real, if minuscule beach and a fire pit and a great deal of solitude usually early on a weekday, say before lunch. Otherwise it is party central:

There is usually a whole mass of boats hunkered around the beach and as far as I can tell from my more peaceful perch it's a well behaved spot, drinking yes, but not crazy, no fights and at worst gruesome loud music which quite drowns out the peace of the natural backdrop. Yet a short distance away, upwind and in deeper waters one can still find protection from the prevailing southeasterly winds and hardly be disturbed by the party. On less windy days there are lots of private places to drop the hook......put up the dive flag and let out some anchor line......and go for a swim with nothing on the horizon to break up the view (in one's imagination) of the mountains of Cuba to the south. And in the fullness of time one returns home, a final ten minute leg in the skiff to the outdoor shower and a nap in the recliner on the dock, shaded by the mangroves:There was a time I used to think I might like to try living in Alaska, but I'm too old and too tropical to put up with all that ruggedness. Besides I like to feel the evening air on my skin as I watch the setting sun across the salt flats, on those evenings when I'm not at work. This reminds me why I like to live well outside Key West itself, my own private Mallory Square:Suburban living as it should be lived, rumpled bed and all.

Long Key State Park

Were I to ask someone to name three state parks in the Florida Keys, I have an idea the answer might be, Bahia Honda, John Pennekamp (especially if they dive) and most likely Fort Zachary Taylor if they frequent Key West. I use the annual State Parks Pass to explore as many of the parks as often as I can as it allows free access. It costs something like $85 per calendar year for the pass while a day ticket for one person is $3.50 at the park entrance or $6 for a car. Ironically two people on two motorcycles thus cost more than four in a car!The Monroe County stamp on the pass is applied by parks in the county to allow free entry to the parks in the Keys because that stamp on the pass costs five extra dollars. If you have a parks card without the stamp you pay 50 cents to get into Monroe County parks. Aren't we special in the Fabulously Expensive Florida Keys!Long Key State Park is at or around Mile marker 67 just south of the City of Layton (see my essay of January 17th 2008, http://conchscooter.blogspot.com/search?q=layton), and it is in the pantheon of second class State Parks in the Keys just because they tend to be less well known. I like it a lot and on my first visit to the Keys in 1981 I stayed at a campsite on the beach, such as it is and used it as my base for exploring further. Probably one reason why Long Key suffers second class status is because it doesn't have a beach though it has a massively extended waterfront for a park a thousand acres in size.The park is long and thin like it's namesake key wedged between the Straits of Florida and the Overseas Highway. The park promotes birds as one its major attractions including "herons, egrets, willets, sandpipers, plovers, terns, and seagulls," which should be enough for anybody. Additionally there is canoeing on the Long Key Lake in the middle of the park and there is camping in the slice of parkland alongside the Overseas Highway next to the water:

The day use area has a small slice of sandy beach for people riding motorcycles or with picnics:Which was where I spotted a piece of artwork as I ate a granola bar and emptied a thermos of tea for lunch:For some people standing at the water's edge and admiring the view is an entirely satisfactory activity:For others the way to pass an afternoon is to stand thigh deep in salt water water to try to catch fish. This dude was quite a ways out proving that my little pocket camera has quite decent reach with the built-in telephoto, and also that the water shelves very gently along these islands:Some people enjoy cycling the roads inside the park, a way to enjoy pedaling and not get run down on the highway:For myself the plan was to take a walk as I haven't been out in the woods for a while, so I headed down the main road... ...to the boardwalk at the head of the main trail which heads towards the beach:I found a chair parked rather mysteriously in the shade as though someone enjoyed taking in nature's glories in comfort, so much so they dragged their own chair to that very spot:Along the way our thoughtful Park service puts up little notices describing flora, fauna and sights to left and right:There was also a sturdy observation platform built above the mangroves but the view was I have say, somewhat less than enthralling:My goal was the main circular trail through the back of the park on something they call the Golden Orb Trail which is named for a spider and is about a mile and a half long. The helpful signs suggest a leisurely hour long walk and even though I was wearing motorcycle boots and long pants I covered it in a little less than that.
The second half of the trail after I crossed the plank bridge shown above, is described as a hammock environment, which in South Florida means an area of raised dry land above the water level such that trees can grow in real dirt. Only thing was, this was the first sandy hammock I had seen. It reminded me of chaparral seen in western states:And I was not entirely alone. I met another walker, rather more suitably dressed than I, and we played trail leap frog, exchanging remarks while not willing to impinge on each other's privacy too much:She was a visitor to Florida and spent more time than I on the useful little signs along the way, though we exchanged a few comments as we passed each other.Closing in on the parking lot, where the Bonneville was parked in the shade, it being that warm, the trail started to get the mulching treatment a sit passed trough buttonwoods that look more like a "proper"hammock to my untutored eye.

Thence home, leaving unexplored the canoe launch and the Layton Trail, across the Overseas highway. The good thing about a parks pass is that it encourages return visits.

Sawyer Lane

I worked in Fast Buck Freddie's warehouse for a almost six months on William Street and never bothered to take a walk down Sawyer Lane, just across the street from me. The entrance to Sawyer off William is pretty enough in the usual Old Town sort of way. By day:

And by night:The house on the other side of the entrance is less fancy but equally Key West-ish:The porch has an emphasis on outdoor activity, required no doubt in a small house. The porch becomes an extra space, a place to store stuff or get stuff done, more than just sitting in a rocking chair and drinking lemonade.This house is also framed by some yellow plants which I cannot identify, but I am reliably informed are the tropical standard frangipani:What struck me about Sawyer Lane was the greenery and the flowers all over the place. The lane is but a block long and full of stuff sprouting:
I think the pink plants are hibiscus though I could be wrong though I should know if for no reason than that they were blooming in profusion:Sawyer Lane is a bit of a canyon as the homes seem very tall and they in turn are overshadowed by old growth trees:J Wills Burke in Streets of Key West says Sawyer Lane is named for one Benjamin Sawyer, mayor of the city from 1844 to 1846, which seems a short enough term to have accomplished much. Preferred candidates are General Abe Sawyer a famous dwarf who lived in the city and is now buried there. famous for what other than being short isn't specified. There are also two Sawyer bothers buried in the city cemetery, James and John who Wills Burke identifies as being the oldest residents therein. James' death occurring in 1829 and John in 1843. Who knew...

I did spot what I thought was an exceptionally tall eyebrow house, one of those constructions with large overhangs in front:I've mentioned it before but the idea behind the "eyebrow" was to allow windows to remain open out of the way of rain or sun but the overhang apparently traps hot air. It still looks pretty:White picket fences are frequently derided as suburban stereotypes but on Sawyer Lane the picket fence looks perfect, naturally also displaying a plant or two:This fence was unusual in that it was a double row of pickets, for what purpose, if any, I know not. Wills Burke notes that Sawyer Lane meets Roberts Lane at the end of the block, which in Google maps is shown as Roberto Lane. Mind you they also show Sawyer as Sawyers Lane so there is room for extra vowels and consonants in their mapping, good though it is. While I walked the two lanes I parked the Bonneville at their confluence:Roberts Lane comes off Caroline Street next to Key West Marine Hardware known to boaters locally as Cuban Joe's, with the store's long private driveway parallel to Roberts:Which ends in a gravel driveway to a large parking area, which, not to put too fine a point on it doesn't look like a public roadway:It always causes me to wonder how such a small crowded island has all these unused spaces. Long may they stay that way. A final view of Sawyer Lane at night:Dark, leafy indistinct, as it should be on a warm tropical night.