Hawk Missile Base

In the Cuban missile crisis this was the center of defense plans for the Florida Keys.


Then towers carried radar scanners to detect Cuban aircraft and the missiles were on mobile launchers parked in bays protected by berms of earth that still exist. They had to store ammunition somewhere, so where better than a human made cave?


I walk Cheyenne with a plastic bag in my pocket but it seems some people need to be reminded. One of the paradoxes of owning a dog is that you are first in line to step in other dogs' shit as your dog likes to follow along and sniff their passing. Which makes me rather fanatical about picking up.


The lines of trespass are happily not too clearly drawn around here. As far as I can tell the city doesn't want visitors to Little Hamaca getting tangled up in empty buildings which is a requirement easy enough to oblige.


I noticed some creosote glistening in the sun on a fallen pole. I wonder if they still use such antiquated stuff?


From the top of the berm I could see the apartment complexes that line the east end of South Roosevelt Boulevard.


And overhead an F-something practicing taking off and landing from aircraft carriers or whatever it is they do.


And a passenger airliner landing at the Key West 'International' Airport.


Little Hamaca is a park squeezed into New Town, said to be the last hump of slightly raised dirt above the mangroves around here and thus home to plants that live in dirt and not, like the mangroves, in salt water. I find it can be a surprisingly serene spot.


Cheyenne needed shade.


If it was trespassing it was not done with any ill intent.

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Harbor Life

I wandered the waterfront with no aim in mind.


I photographed what I saw, on and off the Boardwalk at Key West Bight.


It wasn't about bars or recording studios or any particular landmark.


I was missing the sights and sounds of a busy waterfront.


The draw of fish chasing advertised brightly.


The mis-spelled signs that make me smile.


The clutter of a sailing boat.


Not sailing.

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Wine By The Taste

My wife the social butterfly wanted to enjoy an evening out and a colleague of hers is she said, an accomplished pianist. So we made our way downtown to the Gardens Hotel.


They have an outside bar by the pool and a wine room inside with some newfangled dispensing system that has arrived in the Keys, in this very room. Take a glass and start tasting at will.


To pay, simply put money on a plastic card and with glass in hand you are free to wander and taste as the fancy takes you.


The instructions are pretty simple and they pop up on a screen.


Select your wine and press the appropriate amount.


Brilliant, huh?


The actual reason for our presence was Michael, formerly a professional entertainer and now happily employed as a very respected tutor in the school district.


The Gardens just a block off Duval Street on Angela is a million miles away from the rowdy bars of Lower Duval.


I showed this picture to Chuck and he demurred, "It looks rather gay," but that being the case nothing lost we agreed.


I hope this erection isn't gay, but whoever glued a million sea shells to whatever is underneath deserves a round of applause for patience if nothing else.


The Gardens is a good place for relaxation so we did just that.


Michael was joined by another Michael and the duets flowed as freely as the wine. The ability to get a spritz of wine in the glass means you can actually taste a wide range of wines one might not otherwise venture to try.


It was a warm and inviting evening.


Darkness was falling and we had dogs at home that needed attention. Chuck had Wayne too but we hoped the dog keeper knew how to look after himself for a few hours.


It's very pleasant to have one more civilized place to have a drink downtown.

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Fishing Bridge

The big white pipe leads to the South Florida Aquifer and the new pipe laid in 1982 runs alongside the new highway.


Joint by joint.


The old Flagler Bridge, with the old World War Two pipe runs underneath the old bridges.


This is some interesting stuff.


When they converted the old railroad bridges to a highway in 1938 they took the railroad tracks and turned them into crude railings.


I think the only reason Cheyenne leads me on the old fishing bridges is in search of bait fish. It isn't for the shade.

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South Roosevelt Roadwork

The repaving of Eaton Street has been widely praised for it's speed and efficiency but recent comments in the anonymous section the paper lead me to think they may have raised the bar when they repaved that street in just five days.


Already the work being carried out to fill in the former houseboat row with dirt (!) seems to be taking an age.


The idea according to the paper is to fill in the seawall in some manner and plant trees. It rather reminds me of the habit of sowing salt in the fields of the vanquished.


Houseboat Row was removed almost a decade ago to clear an eyesore from in front of the very expensive apartments planned for the area inland of the road.


Off they went and naught remained but a few posts and a fair number of memories.


After this lot is done perhaps we shall be able to sit in the shade of fruit trees and reminisce about the seawall that was.


I remember Houseboat Row as a collection of houseboats, mailboxes and potted plants, but for some people it was a way of life.


Things seem a little topsy turvey all round these days. Here we are in September and the road home was jammed and slow for mile upon mile.


At 35 miles per hour I had plenty of time to reflect how much like winter this felt, and not at all like the quietest month of the year.

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Labor Weekend Fun

Getting a ticket is no fun at all and from the brief trips I have taken up and down the highway I have seen a lot of enforcement out and about including quite a few unmarked cars I've never before noticed. Driving the Overseas Highway this long weekend will require all that attention people rarely give to the business of driving.


But there are quite a few people in the Keys this weekend busy enjoying what the Keys have to offer.


I enjoy the views and for all that the Keys are crowded to mark the official end of summer there are still lots of open spaces unencumbered with people.


I have said before that I am no angler so I know nothing about the sport but it takes quite a bit of gear from what I can see.


And peculiar physical exertions. "All hail the Lord of the Fish!"


The nice part about this official summer weekend is that it will look like this pretty much all winter long.


Boats running around doubtless hauling all the impedimenta of fish chasing, they will be here this winter in greater numbers than ever.


This is a family weekend so we will have to wait for Bike Week later this month to see the Overseas Highway crawling with loud v-twins.


But there are a few hardy solo souls loose on the road, looking good.


I am working this weekend, happy to be out of the ebb and flow of other people's busyness.


Let's hope they will be well behaved. Fat chance.

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