Turtles, New Friends, & Sunsets

February has flown by.  It is our last night in the Middle Keys. 

We rarely go out to dinner on Valentine’s Day as it is usually a zoo, but since we haven’t done it in many moons; we decided to dive right into the fray.  Getting a good meal with decent service has been a challenge here, so we plunged in with some trepidation.  We selected Lazy Days South for our Valentine dining experience.  It is situated on the water near the 7-mile bridge and boasts a magnificent sunset setting on the ocean side of Key Vaca as well as excellent food.  Without belaboring it, we had a great evening.  The food was as good as advertised and we weren’t rushed (some of these places really like to churn the tables on special occasions like Valentine’s Day).  The lack of a sunset wasn’t the restaurant’s fault.  The weather turned out to be cloudy—one of only a very few the last two months—so we were disappointed.  It didn’t put a damper on our evening however.  We drank a lot of wine, had great food, and enjoyed one another’s company.

D

St. Valentine's Day @ Lazy Days

Sunset @ Lazy Days--Such as it was.

 Just so you don’t think we have been slugs and have spent all of our free time laying around in the shade all day, we want to point out that we have a pretty regular regimen of cycling, yoga, and water aerobics to help stave off the winter spread.  Not that we have been completely successful at that—there are just too many meals eaten out to maintain complete control—but we are holding our own.  We are excited to get back home as our fitness center has been remodeled and now has all new state-of-the-art exercise equipment and weight machines.  Burn, baby, burn.

A visit to the Turtle Hospital is an interesting way to take a break from reading and relaxing on the patio.  It is a non-profit (How could anyone make a profit fixing up broken turtles?…They don’t even have insurance…) organization that specializes in rescuing and repairing a half-dozen different kinds of sea turtles that are found regionally.  They have about 29 in residence now, 13 of whom will never be released into the wild because they are too damaged.  However, whenever possible, the hospital’s goal is to get their charges re-released into their natural habitat.  The organization has an excellent educational program and we now know more about sea turtles that we ever thought possible, and certainly more than you care to learn about here.  Suffice it to say that for $13 apiece, we received an excellent education in damaged sea turtle care.  One last note: Unlike dolphins, sea turtles don’t perform tricks for their visitors—they just wallow around doing whatever it is that sea turtles do.

Turtle Bus

Green Sea Turtle

Say Cheese!

Oooh, tummy rub!

Turtle Aerobics.

What a Pretty Shell!

One of the joys of RVing is meeting new and interesting people.  This winter has brought a dearth of those opportunities for some inexplicable reason.  However, we have hit the jackpot, so to speak, in Grassy Key.  We have met two different couples at different times this month with whom we have clicked amazingly well.  We’ve shared many sunset cocktail hours and memorable dinners with these folks, much to our unending delight.  Both couples have now left the park for destinations up the road, as we will tomorrow.  That, too, is one of the joys of RVing.  Who knows when we will meet again?  When we do (and the odds are that we will) we will take up just where we left off in February 2013.

Sunset on the Point

Sunset @ Grasssy Key

We Never Tire of Them

As we wrap up our winter stay in the Florida Keys, a cold front has moved in and the drop in temperatures threatens to acclimatize us to northern climes.  We note, not without some trepidation, that the weather in the areas we are headed for in the next two weeks still boasts winter temperatures.  We hope that we can gradually get used to cooler weather, as this past week has, once again, has been unusually warm even for the Keys.

Adios, Grassy Key

Dolphins , Dead Bodies, & Where Have All The Birds Gone?

We are spending the month of February on Grassy Key.  We’ve not been in the Middle Keys previously, so all we do will be new. Our RV park is small and recently built.  It has the usual amenities (pool, laundry room, and club-house) and includes a marina and a sunset point with a tiki hut and lounge chairs.   We’ve already enjoyed many 5:00 cocktails on the point, talking with fellow guests.

Sunset at Grassy Key RV Park

The group of islands/keys where Grassy Key is located is called Marathon, although Vaca Key is actually Marathon.  Confused?  So were we.  But a quick review of the history of the area clears it up:  The original native peoples gathered in the Middle Keys for reasons that are largely lost to us, but one reason certainly had to do with the abundance of manatees--their gastronomical mainstay.  When the Spanish finally found the Middle Keys in the early 1500s, they found the place awash with manatees, which they called sea cows.  Spanish for cow is vaca; hence, the name Cayo Vaca or Vaca Key, as it is known today.  Marathon got its other name when, in 1912 as the Overseas Railroad was being constructed, a worker suggested that the pace of construction being set was a regular marathon.  See how easy that was?  In any event, the Middle Keys have only a few things to offer the casual tourist because the only through road is the Overseas Highway, a very long strip mall of small shops and marine services establishments.  It is, as we have learned, primarily a boating/fishing region.  Since we do neither, the pickings are slim.  However, not to be deterred, we have found a few things to take us out of the shade of our patio or out of the pool.

Underneath Seven Mile Bridge Connecting Middle Keys to Lower Keys 

Seven Mile Bridge & Old 1912 Railroad Bridge

Crane Point Natural Museum and Reserve is named for the family who owned these 63 acres of pristine hardwood hammock on Vaca Key.   Historically, the US government stopped Bahamians from wrecking (salvaging wrecked ships) in the Keys around 1840; after that time, many Bahamians moved to the Middle Keys to live.  They became residents and could, therefore, deal with wrecks once again.  Wrecking was sporadic as an occupation, although it paid well when available.  On Crane Point, several Bahamians set up a small village and made a consistent living sponging, among other things.  They eked out an existence in a very hostile environment.  One of the houses from this village dating back to 1890 has been preserved and is available for visitor access on the Reserve.

Old 1890s Bahamian House on Crane Point

Crane Point has been set aside to protect it from the encroachment of modern life.  Except for the bayside, the area is completely surrounded by development, so it was a good idea that it was protected or it would probably be condos and shopping centers.  The museum was pretty run down, as were all of the constructed facilities.  The Crane’s 1950s home was closed for renovations and based on the exterior, was in dire need.  Our mile and a half walk through the hardwood hammock was interesting, but had the sameness that all such overly vegetated plots have.  The most interesting thing on the property was a wild bird hospital.  There were lots of pelicans and other shore birds as well as several types of raptors.  It is sad to see magnificent creatures penned up, but in this case they are being protected.

On The Trail at Crane Point

Red Tail Hawk At Bird Hospital at Crane Point

Pelicans & Other Shore Birds in Rehab

Peregrine Falcons Can Fly at 250 MPH in a Dive; This
One Has Had Her Wing Removed it Was so Damaged

The critter highlight of our Florida wintering has got to be the Dolphin Research Center right here on Grassy Key.  They have 22 resident dolphins and three harbor seals.  None of these creatures will ever be released into the wild.  Some of them are rescue animals and others were born at DRC.  The oldest dolphin is a female who is about 57 years old (keep in mind that dolphins live to about 25 in the wild and slightly older in human care) and the youngest is a two-month old calf.  A visit to DRC is an all-day affair and can be very enjoyable event just watching the various training/feeding activities.  One can also pay many dollars (up to $650) to be a trainer for a day.  Of course, for the money you spend, you get to get into the water with the dolphins.  We did general admission and had a ball watching all of the goings-on for many hours.  Several of the trainers took the time to stop and chat with us, giving us an opportunity to learn about their charges.  Did you know, for example, that a dolphin sleeps with only half of its brain at a time?  Dolphin respiration is voluntary (as opposed to involuntary), so if they fell fully asleep, they would stop breathing.

Looks Like Flipper Doing Tricks

Hula Hoops Anyone?

The Next 6 Photos Show the Same Dolphin Performing a Jump

Wow, Wasn't That Fun?

We have traversed this land of ours for years and have been fortunate enough not to encounter serious accidents or other things that might lead to a person’s demise.  However, last week a body floated into our marina.  Egad!  That certainly created a lot of excitement among our park’s denizens.  It turns out that while the police have identified this chap from Homestead, when, how, where and by what circumstances he wound up in the Gulf of Mexico remains a mystery.  Sad but true.

--Sorry, No DB Photos--

Have you ever had a Lobster Reuben sandwich?  Neither had we.  However, there is a place here in Marathon called Keys Fisheries that takes fish, crabs, and lobster right off their boats and offers them for sale.  They have a great walk-up restaurant with picnic-bench seating around the marina.  One of the specialties of the house is a lobster Reuben sandwich.  Amazing.  Who would have thought that those combinations of flavors would work so well?  Fifteen bucks for a sandwich is kinda steep, but that’s also par for the course here in the Keys.

I'll Drink to That!

Keys Fisheries--Home to Lobster Reubens

We have mentioned before the dearth of wild birds this winter.  Of course, this may not be new to Floridians, but it is new to us because eight years ago when we were in the Keys there were lots of birds.  The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission recently reported that their research shows that nesting pairs of ospreys have fallen some 56% from 1980 to 2007.  By the same token, the number of roseate spoonbill nests has fallen from 1,200 at their peak, to 550 in 2005, and this year the number is down to 87 nests.  They FWC is working on ideas to better protect imperiled species via a management plan that will hopefully address the commonalities of what’s necessary to conserve all the wildlife represented in the plan.  We can only hope that it is not too little too late.

Roseate Spoonbills-Photo Taken on Sanibel Island 2003
In 2012 We Saw None.