Bight Boats

The statue is supposed to represent the man who encouraged the commercialization of the fishing port called Key West Bight. I caught him looking longingly at a boat preparing to put to sea.


I would be no good as a charter fishing captain. I don't know how to chase fish but I am not too bad at sitting around waiting for something to happen.


This place is always busy with people out seeking controlled adventures on and under the water.


Unless they are at work, like Key West's finest patrolling the harbor.


Some visitors like to enjoy the tropical waters udder sail:


Some boaters look lime they live at anchor.


Others enjoy a special treat as graduation looms:


More workmanlike competence:


Some amateurish puzzlement:


And here they are again, circling and heading out this time, far from their class room.


Boating with a dog is hard work, I remember it well.


They look like they are having fun. Good for them.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Parrotdise Is Gone

The rumor mill is spreading like wildfire and saying this cheerful restaurant on Little Torch Key has been repossessed by the bank. Not so said an employee saying the restaurant was closed Tuesday night for a private party. I like the place and hope the rumors are crap, but that happy outcome seems less and less likely.

Parrotdise Essay

I was advised this evening that employees were only told Tuesday morning that the restaurant was done. No one seems to know, or isn't telling, what went wrong with this popular restaurant's accounts. Blame the workers as usual, I suppose, never management!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Snapper Creek Rest Area Florida's Turnpike

Every fifty miles or so they have these rest areas on the turnpike across the middle of the state.


Snapper Creek is at Mile 19 which is nineteen miles north of Florida City, the southern terminus of the pay route. Until now it had been a crappy place to stop and stretch your dog's legs.


But they have refurbished the place and, bless their hearts, they have included a fabulous little dog park.


It's securely fenced and nicely equipped:


Cheyenne approved.


Press the button and fresh cool water bubbles up. Nice!


They have other facilities here, besides reasonably priced gas and an inconvenience store.


I like the dog park.


It was hot and the freshly planted saplings threw very little shade but Cheyenne likes to smell where other dogs have been.


She rooted around for a while.


I marveled at the thoughtfulness of whoever decided to offer this space for the dogs in this narrow and most urban of rest areas.


I know that in rural areas some rest areas encompass acres with massive dog walk areas but for a place that used to offer nothing at all this is a massive improvement. Great stuff.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Meadows Of Dan

Heading back to Florida from Roanoke I determined to see the Meadows of Dan, a much admired destination for people taking a day trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The parkway is quite lovely in the Spring, green winding and easy on the eyes.

The parkway rises at Mile Zero in Virginia near the Shenandoah park and they mark the miles with discreet little cement markers.

At first sight the Meadows of Dan don't look like much:

And close up it's not exactly scenic. The name of this little wide spot sounds Biblical but in fact Dan is a river that runs through these meadows. During the Revolutionary war Continental soldiers retreating from the British skipped across the river and made good their escape near here, confirming General Nathaniel Greene's tactical brilliance. I have no doubt the river was named for the fifth son of Jacob founder of the tribe of the same name though I don't actually know that for sure but it seems likely as the Bible is a source for many rural American names.

There is a restaurant and a convenience store packed with stuff and overseen by a cheerful woman who treats y'all like we were family as we stood in line shuffling from foot to foot desperate to pay and get on the road.

Motorcycles rumble through here as the eatery has a reputation but I was just here for a couple of sodas and a tank of gas, a liquid far cheaper than anything I've seen in Florida.

Further along the parkway Cheyenne and I had packed a dinner and we found one of the rare picnic areas on the parkway at this attractively named location, Groundhog Hill:

I missed my Bonneville, though I love my furry traveling companion!

Better than pulling over and going in the bushes. Technically parking on grass is illegal along the parkway but the road is criss-crossed by accessible side streets if you do get taken short far from public restrooms.

The picnic table was isolated away from the road and we had a quiet half hour off the grid.




By the time the sun went down we were southbound on I 77 in the Carolinas.




Leaving behind these green fields...




...and farms and villages.




She settled in for the night...




...and soon the car filled with the rumble of her snores.




Next morning we found salt water.




And we were home and ready for a night at work back in the fabulous Florida Keys.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Blue Ridge Parkway

I spotted a trail at an overlook parking lot near Mile Marker 123, outside Roanoke. I determined it check it out with Cheyenne.



I figured she would enjoy a walk in the woods, several thousand feet up, a little cooler and full of smells.



I love the shade of green in these sunlit forests.



I am told these flowers are related to rhododendrons, though I am not a botanist of course and have no clue.



I was fascinated by the proposed thirty minute walk to the top of a "knob" as they call hills, but Cheyenne lost interest.



The trail was neat and graded and easy to stroll even though it went more uphill than you might think.

She said no thanks and it was back to infernal combustion for me.

The Parkway is a recreational tool nearly five hundred miles long from Front Royal in Northern Virginia to Cherokee in far western North Carolina. It is simply a strip of Federal roadway winding along the hill tops surrounded by private property:

People live alongside the parkway, use it as their driveway almost and as long as vehicles are non commercial they may use it, respecting 35 and 45 mph speed limits.

The views range from pleasant to stunning and the roadway is
lined with pull outs and overlooks and a few picnic areas with toilets.

I am not the first person to comment on it's loveliness though this section is bucolic where the sections I've driven in North Carolina tend to be more mountainous and rugged as the Appalachian Mountains there are newer and more jagged and steep to my eye than here in Virginia.

This is actually Mile Marker 149, from Front Royal.

The road itself, free of heavy trucks is smooth and winding and it does have passing places with dotted yellow lines where appropriate. Cell coverage is delightfully spotty so texting is problematic for drivers. Bonus!

Side roads, paved and unpaved crisscross cross the parkway. There are no tolls, no gates (except to close access in snowy icy conditions) and no hours of operation. There are no gas stations and billboards are prohibited.



Motorcyclists love it, despite the speed limits.



And locals amble along it.

Twenty years in California and I had never seen it, just heard of it. Now I've driven chunks of it in both states. Cool.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad