- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
Tuesday 14th August Lower Keys
Before I start todays report, a comment made by UKDEB on Day 2 has prompted me to tell the story of Co-Pilot.
On previous visits to Florida, we have used a TomTom app on Garys phone. However, this year, Gary had got hold of a copy of Co-Pilot for his Galaxy Tab and thought it might be more accurate and useful for the journeys we were planning. I am sure many of you are aware that you can get all sorts of famous voices to use on the various SatNavs and I had asked Gary if he could get something similar for Co-Pilot. That wasnt possible but we were sat one evening going through the various voice options available. Each new voice, when selected, would say the words Welcome to Co-Pilot until the one female voice, clearly programmed to pronounce everything phonetically, who announced Welcome to Coppilot. We thought it was absolutely hilarious. Debs comment about my mistyping of Co-Pilot as Copilot and the fact that she was reading it as coppalot reminded me of the story and made me laugh all over again. Simple things .
So, back to Day 3
I was shocked and stunned to discover it was 7.35 when I woke up this morning. I guess all this rest and relaxation is good for me
Today, we planned to explore the Lower Keys and had a few places in mind we wanted to visit. First stop, though, was breakfast at The Wooden Spoon, Marathon.
The Wooden Spoon
I wonder how this place got its name
We sat at the counter and everything was cooked fresh in front of us. It was fascinating to watch how the chef and servers juggled all the individual orders so each tables food was delivered together.
Daniel claimed he was starving which, apparently, was my fault since I denied him dessert the previous night. He proceeded to order the ham and cheddar omelette with breakfast potatoes and toast. To be fair, he ate all of the omelette and toast but didnt like the potatoes.
A big breakfast
I was tempted to try the pancakes but ended up with the standard fare of bacon and eggs. Sadly, I didnt like the potatoes as they were very oniony. The rest was good, though, and it came with a huge biscuit. Ive never liked biscuits, always expecting them to be sweet like scones and, despite it being very soft and flaky, I really didnt like this one either.
Yummy eggs and bacon, shame about the potatoes
Its not a biscuit, its a sugar-free scone
Gary, true to form, did order the pancakes. Unable to decide, he opted for one blueberry and one banana. They looked delicious. I couldnt tell you what they tasted like, though, since GARY DOESNT SHARE FOOD!
Theyre MY pancakes
We paid the check ($31 inc tip). Would we return? Maybe, but our breakfast the next day would top this one (and all of the breakfasts we had in the Keys). Back on the Overseas Highway, we headed south to Big Pine Key. I will spare you more pictures of the road and sea, however I will post one picture of my favourite key.
Pigeon Key
I loved how there was only one way in and one way out and only on foot, by bicycle or by boat. Had it not been so unbearably hot, I would have loved to have walked to it. I can imagine it must be a bit of a pain living there though.
We stopped at the Key Deer Visitors Centre, where we used the restrooms and picked up some leaflets. The staff were very friendly and helpful, telling us the best places to spot deer and other wildlife. They gave us a list of the animals, birds and other wildlife to be found in the area, with a key to indicate how common they were. Daniel was very excited to see an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake featured on the list and marked as Common. Gary and I not so much
We made a donation to the Key Deer Refuge fund and set off for Blue Hole with our maps and leaflets.
The Blue Hole is an abandoned limestone quarry. The rock material removed from the quarry was used to build many of the roads on Big Pine Key, as well as some of Henry Flaglers overseas railroad. It is now a beautiful little area, home to a variety of wildlife. We arrived at Blue Hole and there was only one other car in the parking lot so it looked like it would be fairly quiet. As it was, the other people there were just leaving so we had the place to ourselves. It was eerily quiet, with very little traffic noise and just the chirping of birds and the occasional noise from the water.
General Blue Hole Pictures
We wandered around the path to the left of the Blue Hole and all of a sudden Daniel said he could see a deer. I didnt quite believe him but, lo and behold, a deer came wandering through the bushes towards us. It was so surreal. It got closer and closer until it was standing just a few feet in front of us.
Is that a deer?
Yes, yes it is
Then, just as suddenly as it arrived, it wandered off into the bushes again.
Sayonara
We wandered back and spotted a bird sitting by the waters edge, which looked a bit like a kingfisher, although we still havent been able to identify it.
Unidentified bird
There are resident alligators at Blue Hole too, however the only sign we saw was a couple of pairs of eyes toward the centre of the sinkhole. That was good enough for me.
We got back into the car and drove over to No Name Key, stopping at the famous No Name Pub for a drink and snack.
The pub with no name
The pub is famous for its pizza, which looked and smelled great but, after the big breakfast wed eaten, we just werent that hungry. We took seats at the bar and ordered a portion of cheese fries and diet cokes all round.
Ooey, gooey cheesy fries
The No Name Pub was very atmospheric, with $1 bills pinned literally to every available space of wall and ceiling. It was pretty dark inside but that just added to the atmosphere. The check came to $10.74 ($13 with tip).
Oh, what an atmosphere
Back in the car, we drove to the end of No Name Key. Just as we were turning around to drive back, another deer walked right past the car and down to the water. It didnt seem at all disturbed or bothered by our presence and, as we sat watching, it actually wandered closer to the car.
Fancy seeing you here
We saw a couple more deer on the way back through No Name Key, then we drove back up to the end of Big Pine Key to the two walking trails. One of the guys working at the Key Deer Centre had advised us that the trails had been badly damaged by forest fires a little while ago and so they didnt look quite the same as they normally would. We chose to do the Jack C Watson trail, the longer of the two, at just under a mile. We were the only ones there and, again, it was slightly surreal. There was very little noise at all. It was a lovely walk, although very hot, as the outside temperature was well into the 90s.
Jack C Watson Trail
All alone
Well, not quite
Continued in the next post
Before I start todays report, a comment made by UKDEB on Day 2 has prompted me to tell the story of Co-Pilot.
On previous visits to Florida, we have used a TomTom app on Garys phone. However, this year, Gary had got hold of a copy of Co-Pilot for his Galaxy Tab and thought it might be more accurate and useful for the journeys we were planning. I am sure many of you are aware that you can get all sorts of famous voices to use on the various SatNavs and I had asked Gary if he could get something similar for Co-Pilot. That wasnt possible but we were sat one evening going through the various voice options available. Each new voice, when selected, would say the words Welcome to Co-Pilot until the one female voice, clearly programmed to pronounce everything phonetically, who announced Welcome to Coppilot. We thought it was absolutely hilarious. Debs comment about my mistyping of Co-Pilot as Copilot and the fact that she was reading it as coppalot reminded me of the story and made me laugh all over again. Simple things .
So, back to Day 3
I was shocked and stunned to discover it was 7.35 when I woke up this morning. I guess all this rest and relaxation is good for me
Today, we planned to explore the Lower Keys and had a few places in mind we wanted to visit. First stop, though, was breakfast at The Wooden Spoon, Marathon.The Wooden Spoon
I wonder how this place got its name
We sat at the counter and everything was cooked fresh in front of us. It was fascinating to watch how the chef and servers juggled all the individual orders so each tables food was delivered together.
Daniel claimed he was starving which, apparently, was my fault since I denied him dessert the previous night. He proceeded to order the ham and cheddar omelette with breakfast potatoes and toast. To be fair, he ate all of the omelette and toast but didnt like the potatoes.
A big breakfast
I was tempted to try the pancakes but ended up with the standard fare of bacon and eggs. Sadly, I didnt like the potatoes as they were very oniony. The rest was good, though, and it came with a huge biscuit. Ive never liked biscuits, always expecting them to be sweet like scones and, despite it being very soft and flaky, I really didnt like this one either.
Yummy eggs and bacon, shame about the potatoes
Its not a biscuit, its a sugar-free scone
Gary, true to form, did order the pancakes. Unable to decide, he opted for one blueberry and one banana. They looked delicious. I couldnt tell you what they tasted like, though, since GARY DOESNT SHARE FOOD!
Theyre MY pancakes
We paid the check ($31 inc tip). Would we return? Maybe, but our breakfast the next day would top this one (and all of the breakfasts we had in the Keys). Back on the Overseas Highway, we headed south to Big Pine Key. I will spare you more pictures of the road and sea, however I will post one picture of my favourite key.
Pigeon Key
I loved how there was only one way in and one way out and only on foot, by bicycle or by boat. Had it not been so unbearably hot, I would have loved to have walked to it. I can imagine it must be a bit of a pain living there though.
We stopped at the Key Deer Visitors Centre, where we used the restrooms and picked up some leaflets. The staff were very friendly and helpful, telling us the best places to spot deer and other wildlife. They gave us a list of the animals, birds and other wildlife to be found in the area, with a key to indicate how common they were. Daniel was very excited to see an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake featured on the list and marked as Common. Gary and I not so much
We made a donation to the Key Deer Refuge fund and set off for Blue Hole with our maps and leaflets.The Blue Hole is an abandoned limestone quarry. The rock material removed from the quarry was used to build many of the roads on Big Pine Key, as well as some of Henry Flaglers overseas railroad. It is now a beautiful little area, home to a variety of wildlife. We arrived at Blue Hole and there was only one other car in the parking lot so it looked like it would be fairly quiet. As it was, the other people there were just leaving so we had the place to ourselves. It was eerily quiet, with very little traffic noise and just the chirping of birds and the occasional noise from the water.
General Blue Hole Pictures
We wandered around the path to the left of the Blue Hole and all of a sudden Daniel said he could see a deer. I didnt quite believe him but, lo and behold, a deer came wandering through the bushes towards us. It was so surreal. It got closer and closer until it was standing just a few feet in front of us.
Is that a deer?
Yes, yes it is
Then, just as suddenly as it arrived, it wandered off into the bushes again.
Sayonara
We wandered back and spotted a bird sitting by the waters edge, which looked a bit like a kingfisher, although we still havent been able to identify it.
Unidentified bird
There are resident alligators at Blue Hole too, however the only sign we saw was a couple of pairs of eyes toward the centre of the sinkhole. That was good enough for me.
We got back into the car and drove over to No Name Key, stopping at the famous No Name Pub for a drink and snack.
The pub with no name
The pub is famous for its pizza, which looked and smelled great but, after the big breakfast wed eaten, we just werent that hungry. We took seats at the bar and ordered a portion of cheese fries and diet cokes all round.
Ooey, gooey cheesy fries
The No Name Pub was very atmospheric, with $1 bills pinned literally to every available space of wall and ceiling. It was pretty dark inside but that just added to the atmosphere. The check came to $10.74 ($13 with tip).
Oh, what an atmosphere
Back in the car, we drove to the end of No Name Key. Just as we were turning around to drive back, another deer walked right past the car and down to the water. It didnt seem at all disturbed or bothered by our presence and, as we sat watching, it actually wandered closer to the car.
Fancy seeing you here
We saw a couple more deer on the way back through No Name Key, then we drove back up to the end of Big Pine Key to the two walking trails. One of the guys working at the Key Deer Centre had advised us that the trails had been badly damaged by forest fires a little while ago and so they didnt look quite the same as they normally would. We chose to do the Jack C Watson trail, the longer of the two, at just under a mile. We were the only ones there and, again, it was slightly surreal. There was very little noise at all. It was a lovely walk, although very hot, as the outside temperature was well into the 90s.
Jack C Watson Trail
All alone
Well, not quite
Continued in the next post
I see daniel was playing the triangle game from Cracker Barrell again, has he mastered it yet?
can't wait for the next post.
Another brilliant day, and another fine, detailed trippie! And I'm now hungry for some reason!!!
