Oceanside Marina, Stock Island.

There was decidedly a plan to go large when Oceanside Marina was conceived.


The place is huge and solidly built with, as you can see, wide docks and berths for boats.


Even the parking lot is like an airfield with relatively new apartments built a few years ago on the south shore of the marina.


It was all part of the turn-of-the-century economic boom. Boat slips sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars to people who thought that living on a boat in this area could be as permanent and as sound an investment as buying a condo.


Of course living on a boat limits space and most people "need" more space than they have so life spills over onto the do k under the sun.


Not everyone lives here that has a boat here. Commercial and recreational fishing boats rent space.


And facilities intended to provide for aft boating recreation line the docks. The restaurant has not been open for as long as I can remember though the bath house fortunately has.


Not many people who live on their boats shower on them so living in a marina involves wandering around with a shower bag and towel. Not everyone's idea of condo living...


And the views in a marina built amidst the industrial life support system for the city of Key West can be rather...industrial.


Summer brings heat and humidity which involves running power lines, creating shade and living below decks to avoid the blanket of heat.


It's a big place is Oceanside, like an aircraft carrier or a tanker where bicycles are door-to-door transportation.


So many boats and so little movement under the torpid southern sun.


A sunset porch at the back of the boat.


There are services for boaters lining the marina, storage lockers, a self sufficient little community.


A gate to the rest of the world.


I went to talk to the outboard mechanic who was away on an apparently unscheduled lunch. I'll bring my business back later and try again. Thanks anyway, it was fun reminding myself why I no longer live on a boat.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cycle Shell

I've seen a few of these canvas erections around town.


This one was in the shade under an empty building at Oceanside Marina on Stock Island.


Cycle Shell Website


I like these contraptions and priced at between $400 & $500 delivered they come in three different sizes for bikes with or without windshields and saddlebags. They can also be pinned down though they will withstand a hurricane is a question! The cool thing is they can be folded flat and caries away easily...


In a town where covered parking is at a premium under the baking southern sun and corroding salt air...


...you'd think every motorcyclist would have one! I wish I'd bought one years ago to protect my hard working Bonneville.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New/Old Pocket Park

I keep thinking I've seen everything there is to see and then something comes into view to pop my hubris. Pride cometh before a fall etc...



Ambling along Flagler Avenue just about opposite Sixth Street I came across a stretch of hurricane fence equipped with, of all things, trash, recycling and doggy bags! Must be a park!



The unkempt grassy patch was separated from it's suburban neighbors by a sturdy wooden fence.



Cheyenne checked the fence line, found it secure and decided she'd seen enough.



Actually there wasn't much to see.



A project abandoned perhaps?



A project completed yet whose purpose is unclear:



My dog is a patient friend, and indulges my need to poke around looking at stuff not worth looking at.



Apparently the Key West Women's Club has forgotten it created this little open space in the name of a past president. That's what the worn out sign dangling up front said.



I wonder how Nancy Jameson might feel having this as a monument to her stewardship of the club for ladies who lunch but do not, apparently, do much gardening.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Linda Avenue

A quiet back street in New Town, a comfort zone for birds to hang out in the street and chat. Or bicker, I think. They weren't being quite so nice to each other as Cheyenne and I strolled past.



Linda lies just off Flagler Avenue and crosses the entrance to the Little Hamaca City Park next to the airport.



Here's a link to an essay I wrote on the park including a discussion of the Gambusia Fish ditches, Little Hamaca.



Above we see some lucky child's model SUV. While below we see the real thing. Bringing them up from an early age to appreciate large vehicles, I suppose.



Florida drivers rate a shady parking spot as a good place to leave their cars. Shade that produce edible fruit, like these sea grapes is a bonus in my opinion.



New Town was the undeveloped part of the island that became desirable in the mid 20th century as a place to build wide streets and mainland sized homes with all modern conveniences.



The ranchette bungalows may not look pretty compared to the ramshackle Old Town wooden homes but they get big yards, off street parking and lots of greenery, most of whose taxonomy is not known to me, as usual.



Palm shrub with dangly bits:



The biggest issue these homes had arose in 2005 when Hurricane Wilma drowned this side of the island and residents gained a fresh appreciation for the slightly higher elevation of some knobs of land in Old Town.



It was rather the same way for New Orleans where the French Quarter and The old Faubourg Marigny quarters didn't flood in Hurricane Katrina. The original settlers had reasons for building where they did.



In the picture above we see a steeply pitched roof more suitable for Alpine snows, you'd think. Yet here it is. And below we see a loo brush flower whose proper name...I can't recall.



And here's another blob celebrating dentistry apparently.



There is also a canal system around here buried in the mangroves, it runs behind Riviera Drive and across Flagler and under North Roosevelt and pops out near Overseas Market on the north shore of the island.



Flagler Avenue, a main street across the middle of town:



A street for another essay.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Flagler Avenue

With the best will in the world Flagler Avenue is not terribly scenic, especially when you consider how scenic parts of this little island can be.




Cement poles, scraggly untended trees in the median, acres of asphalt and lines of cars in a four lane expressway across town...none of it adds up to anything remotely approaching "quaint."




The architecture is Florida circa 1960, bungalows fronted by strips of lawn...




...with the inestimable benefit of off street parking. This is far from tourist country, far enough from the hub of downtown commercial activity to make a scooter an attribute.




For Cheyenne the heat reflected from the cement was offset by smells whose origins I hope emanated from other passing dogs.




As always in South Florida's suburbia the banality of the architecture is offset somewhat by nature's best efforts. Puffy clouds and palms look good out here.




But in every frame there is a car because as much as Old Town is good for walking this part of town isn't. Flagler is a useful cross town street, away from the scenic attractions of South Roosevelt and equally unaffected by the business centers which attract cars to North Roosevelt.




There are businesses the length of Flagler Avenue but this street is most useful for locals looking for a quick path across town.




And once again we find an empty pair of shoes lying around. It is a mystery to me why so many pairs of footwear get discarded around this town.




One notable business on Flagler is the urgent care clinic, the walk in "doc-in-a-box" that offers appointment-free medical visits. It also marks the entrance to Little Hamaca city park.




And across the street more vehicles languishing under the blazing sun.




The old VW project sits waiting for attention while the covered spot waits for the daily driver to return from work and spend the night under the shade of the tent.




Flagler Avenue is all about cars, parked and traveling.




From the Casa Marina Hotel to the entrance to the city Flagler is the vehicle artery across the middle of town, not scenic but eminently useful for those that know about it.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Boating In The Rain

The stormy weather led me to wander outdoors a little bit.


I saw these guys working to beat the rain a d get back on land.


They got the boat bout the weather got them.


Arm waving, waterproofs flapping, Amd they were soon on dry/wet land.


Getting wetter. I am not a fan of fishing but if I were I'd keep an eye on the weather and not go out in a storm.


Mind you they were equipped and competent and they got the job done.


It was a blusterous day in Spanish Main Channel.


I hope the fishing was worth it. That's a big reason people come to the Keys. The fishing not the beaches.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad