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.
I had no plans and the dog was following her nose so we went west into Bahama Village, a fearsome place where vacationers and snowbirds protect themselves with high fences and secret gate codes. 
This old codger was pressing buttons and I was ready to call my office and ask them for the code to let him in but he kept pushing away and failing to follow instructions:
Lori, the manager of the Tropic is a brave soul, she lives outside the confines of the gated community and rides her bike alone through the Village:
This elderly Chevrolet (year anyone?) lives in Off Street Parking across from Blue Heaven restaurant, a place visitors go to spend lots of money and have an authentic Key West experience:
And smoke cigarettes apparently. It seemed rather old fashioned to see this wrist drooping elegantly from the balcony: 
It may be weak of me to feel the cold so far above freezing temperatures, but I am not alone:
Cheyenne came away empty mouthed from her foray into the shrubbery of Baptist Lane. I was hoping she wasn't getting stoned in there.
Scooter color. I wonder why they don't think of getting around like this when they go home? High mileage low impact four stroke scooters. Their time has come even in Peoria, I'd like to think. 
Out with the old and in with the new. New housing starts may be abysmal across the nation but here on Fort Street there is construction underway:
Key West youngsters out slouching around on a Saturday afternoon. I remember being bored when I was their age. I am glad I am all grown up and entitled to make my own, if solitary, entertainment. I always found being a pack animal to be a bore.
I find Key West youngsters to be polite on the whole and I am always surprised when people disagree vehemently with me. I know nothing of children so when I see a father out with a dog and two offspring it looks quaint to my unfamiliar eyes:
I would like to remember to come by here on Angela Street when this papaya is turning orange to steal it, like some asshole who stole my sole pomegranate last year. 
But I shan't steal it, I shall just pretend I stole it when it eventually disappears. I am rather too bourgeois to steal toilet paper from work and other people's fruit from their trees.
This church got refurbished finally and now it looks magnificent. I hope God is happy with the work. It looked good from down here.
A pirate bicycle with a trunk labeled "Booty" in front of Key West Bank. I suppose when the joke has to be explained it is rather too labored.
My wife said she liked "Crazy Heart" but it wasn't worth an Oscar. I guess I did better by taking Cheyenne for a walk, though I do like Maggie Gyllenhall, a pinko commie babe.
Bacillus Thuringensis is supposed to control the pests by interrupting their breeding cycle or something. I first met BT when I was a reporter in California about 25 years (erk!) ago and fruit flies were causing problems. BT was viewed with deep scepticism by people who had fought to have DDT suppressed.
BT dispersed this way looks harmless enough as it floats on puddles of rainwater:
It was the first time I ever got up close to these things one day while I walked Cheyenne on Big Pine Key. She ignores human made noises and is as unmoved by a helicopter buzzing her as she is by a thunderstorm overhead. The pellets looked like some alien cereal to me. I half wanted to try them with some milk:
And this stuff, unlike chemicals is not harmful to a car's paint (I hope!): 
Then the manager of the district appointed a deputy and board members got all in a huff saying he didn't have the authority. Then somebody else suggested two members of the board had been discussing stuff improperly between themselves violating Florida's Sunshine Law which requires the business of the public to be carried out in public... and on and on and on.
Meanwhile I'm happy to see the business of suppressing mosquitoes and their abundant habitat goes on by the lower paid echelons of the district. All this standing freshwater produced by the abundant rains is excellent habitat for mosquitoes and were it not for the helicopters and trucks buzzing around life would be a living hell for any warm blooded mammal breathing carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes are attracted to CO2 so if you stop breathing they will reportedly loose interest. A better solution is to spray like hell and wait for the waters to recede...I hope the Bug Board gets their shit together after the upcoming election if not before so we can live to breathe another day.