Bahia Honda Bridge:
Seven Mile Bridge:
Long Key Bridge:
Matecumbe Key:
Indian Key:
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Sunday, February 19, 2012
Overseas Highway At Dawn
I took a drive with Cheyenne and the sky was such that the clouds, the sunlight, the impending rain perhaps, all conspired to make for some memorable seascapes. This is what you can expect to see riding the Overseas Highway on a morning pregnant with the promise of rain and sun in equal measures.
Bahia Honda Bridge:
Seven Mile Bridge:
Long Key Bridge:
Matecumbe Key:
Indian Key:
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Bahia Honda Bridge:
Seven Mile Bridge:
Long Key Bridge:
Matecumbe Key:
Indian Key:
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Simonton Street
Seventy three degrees didn't last long when the latest cold front got through ravaging us.
Temperatures dropped to the mid 50s a couple of nights after I took these pictures and daytime highs were in the mid 60s. I had got complacent and had just finished remarking to my wife how we had had a lovely mild winter, just how I like them.
Simonton Street named for one of the four Anglo founders of the town is a useful street to get from one side to the other without dealing with the cruising on neighboring Duval. It's also useful because the Bottle Cap Bar is on the corner of Catherine Street.
Not being a barfly myself this is not really my scene but the easy liquor to go window has a certain appeal.
And when you are done at the Bottle Cap you can put your used beer here in this conveniently located toilet strewn lovingly along the side of the street, part of the artful urban landscaping that occasionally overwhelms good taste.
Instead of filling in the hole they just chose to paint it. You Have Been Warned.
A fine accoutrement for any Key West bicycle.
I barely saw the banana until a thunderstruck passerby pointed it out.
Which led inevitably to this:
And there it was, at the end of my little walk, the real mural.
I rather liked the individual take on the usual coral reef scene strewn all around the walls of Key West. Underwater life reflected in a dive mask.
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Temperatures dropped to the mid 50s a couple of nights after I took these pictures and daytime highs were in the mid 60s. I had got complacent and had just finished remarking to my wife how we had had a lovely mild winter, just how I like them.
Simonton Street named for one of the four Anglo founders of the town is a useful street to get from one side to the other without dealing with the cruising on neighboring Duval. It's also useful because the Bottle Cap Bar is on the corner of Catherine Street.
Not being a barfly myself this is not really my scene but the easy liquor to go window has a certain appeal.
And when you are done at the Bottle Cap you can put your used beer here in this conveniently located toilet strewn lovingly along the side of the street, part of the artful urban landscaping that occasionally overwhelms good taste.
Instead of filling in the hole they just chose to paint it. You Have Been Warned.
A fine accoutrement for any Key West bicycle.
I barely saw the banana until a thunderstruck passerby pointed it out.
Which led inevitably to this:
And there it was, at the end of my little walk, the real mural.
I rather liked the individual take on the usual coral reef scene strewn all around the walls of Key West. Underwater life reflected in a dive mask.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, February 18, 2012
My Dog And Other Wildlife
I used this picture in this morning's essay on the park behind Baby's Coffee on Highway One. I like Cheyenne's pose, not least because she never sits smartly for me when I have a treat, like she did for this stranger, but also because it is classic Labrador.
Like I said she never sits obediently for me. She knows I'm a soft touch and all she has to do is look at me with her liquid brown eyes.
Wildlife on the other hand mistrusts me and prefers to step delicately away.
It's this delicacy of poise that attracts me to Florida's native waders over the rambunctious and messy and noisy imported chickens. Labradors are perfect anywhere.
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Like I said she never sits obediently for me. She knows I'm a soft touch and all she has to do is look at me with her liquid brown eyes.
Wildlife on the other hand mistrusts me and prefers to step delicately away.
It's this delicacy of poise that attracts me to Florida's native waders over the rambunctious and messy and noisy imported chickens. Labradors are perfect anywhere.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Baby's Coffee
I was ambling with Cheyenne when I saw this blob and I had to trot back to the car to get my camera. These things are everywhere and if you search Facebook for Key West Blob there is apparently an explanation.
Call me eccentric but I prefer not to know so I just note them in passing and keep on keeping on. My wife was inside Baby's Coffee buying us an afternoon pick-me-up so I had Cheyenne to myself for a few minutes.
The coffee shop is at Mile Marker 15, whence they moved after starting out life in downtown Key West at the KW Peppers building if I remember correctly.
Then they moved the roasting operation to the mainland to save money and took the retail store to Bay Point.
Which island has it turns out a nice chunk of Monroe County open space behind the coffee shop.
The Lower Keys Shuttle between Key West and Marathon has a stop here, seen above. Below, my dog decided this was where we would have our coffee:
In the company of some locals resting comfortably in the grass.
Soon enough my wife appeared with the coffee and we watched the clouds scud overhead while I listened to my wife's latest tale of woe from the horribly administered school district. I am hoping the idiot Superintendent gets his marching orders before he ruins local schools completely. He is under qualified, inexperienced and as a result has a very inflated ego and a total lack of self confidence. And he hates strong women which puts my wife at risk.
A passing dog walker very kindly offered Cheyenne a treat which made her the poor woman's best friend for life.
Jeez Cheyenne! It's just a cookie!
It's a fine spot behind Baby's. The best place to stop and enjoy coffee on a lovely Keys afternoon.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Call me eccentric but I prefer not to know so I just note them in passing and keep on keeping on. My wife was inside Baby's Coffee buying us an afternoon pick-me-up so I had Cheyenne to myself for a few minutes.
The coffee shop is at Mile Marker 15, whence they moved after starting out life in downtown Key West at the KW Peppers building if I remember correctly.
Then they moved the roasting operation to the mainland to save money and took the retail store to Bay Point.
Which island has it turns out a nice chunk of Monroe County open space behind the coffee shop.
The Lower Keys Shuttle between Key West and Marathon has a stop here, seen above. Below, my dog decided this was where we would have our coffee:
In the company of some locals resting comfortably in the grass.
Soon enough my wife appeared with the coffee and we watched the clouds scud overhead while I listened to my wife's latest tale of woe from the horribly administered school district. I am hoping the idiot Superintendent gets his marching orders before he ruins local schools completely. He is under qualified, inexperienced and as a result has a very inflated ego and a total lack of self confidence. And he hates strong women which puts my wife at risk.
A passing dog walker very kindly offered Cheyenne a treat which made her the poor woman's best friend for life.
Jeez Cheyenne! It's just a cookie!
It's a fine spot behind Baby's. The best place to stop and enjoy coffee on a lovely Keys afternoon.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, February 17, 2012
County Road 905
They say you can't travel anywhere except on Highway One when riding through the Keys. However there are a few places in the Upper Keys where you can parallel the highway on County Road 905.
The speed limit is lower but the weight of traffic especially in summer is light. You have to rejoin the main highway at the bridges between islands, Plantation Key, Windley and Islamorada, where it's sometimes called just "Old Highway" or State Road 4A.
Sometimes I'll turn off the main road and take the back road for a more relaxed ride and a few mild curves. Some people in spandex aren't necessarily relaxed when they ride this road.
It's worth checking out the little blue signs that mark County Road 905 when cruising the Upper Keys.
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The speed limit is lower but the weight of traffic especially in summer is light. You have to rejoin the main highway at the bridges between islands, Plantation Key, Windley and Islamorada, where it's sometimes called just "Old Highway" or State Road 4A.
Sometimes I'll turn off the main road and take the back road for a more relaxed ride and a few mild curves. Some people in spandex aren't necessarily relaxed when they ride this road.
It's worth checking out the little blue signs that mark County Road 905 when cruising the Upper Keys.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Mile Marker 82
This unprepossessing sign marks an oasis on a stretch of Highway One where the speed limit is slow and passing is forbidden. Better to pull over here and let the funeral cortège roll on without you.
There is a convenient parking lot suitable to feed a dog her breakfast, and take off walking with time enough to take a few pictures.
This part of the Keys is not terribly scenic owing in part to the shortage of water views...
...and the lack of urban planning.
They indulge in public drinking apparently as Cheyenne naturally found a discarded "to go" cup filled with delicious rainwater.
Lorelei the mermaid that seduces men to their doom was sitting outside an establishment named after her. As she is about twelve feet tall it's difficult to imagine who might picture themselves seducing her and being taken by surprise by her overwhelming...personality.
More prosaically the signs at the exit to the parking lot fuss over the poor dears in their cars. Seat belts will save your life but brow beating fools into wearing them seems like a waste of a good opportunity to cull the population.
Cheyenne wanted to pop into the few remaining old trailers in this glamorous community but I figured they probably didn't need to share their last crust with a ravenous Labrador.
The old Islander sign still stands overlooking the highway. My great regret is that I never took the time to drive underneath it when that was still possible. The advent of new landscaping saw the driveway redirected to one side of the sign.
It was a cloudy scenic day when I reached the turn around point and made my slow way back home.
That's quite a waterfront view for some lucky travelers camping illegally no doubt and apparently getting away with it as the sun was up and illegal camping now rated as legal parking.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
There is a convenient parking lot suitable to feed a dog her breakfast, and take off walking with time enough to take a few pictures.
This part of the Keys is not terribly scenic owing in part to the shortage of water views...
...and the lack of urban planning.
They indulge in public drinking apparently as Cheyenne naturally found a discarded "to go" cup filled with delicious rainwater.
Lorelei the mermaid that seduces men to their doom was sitting outside an establishment named after her. As she is about twelve feet tall it's difficult to imagine who might picture themselves seducing her and being taken by surprise by her overwhelming...personality.
More prosaically the signs at the exit to the parking lot fuss over the poor dears in their cars. Seat belts will save your life but brow beating fools into wearing them seems like a waste of a good opportunity to cull the population.
Cheyenne wanted to pop into the few remaining old trailers in this glamorous community but I figured they probably didn't need to share their last crust with a ravenous Labrador.
The old Islander sign still stands overlooking the highway. My great regret is that I never took the time to drive underneath it when that was still possible. The advent of new landscaping saw the driveway redirected to one side of the sign.
It was a cloudy scenic day when I reached the turn around point and made my slow way back home.
That's quite a waterfront view for some lucky travelers camping illegally no doubt and apparently getting away with it as the sun was up and illegal camping now rated as legal parking.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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