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Published: January 24th 2010
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my brother, Herb
blowing out the candles on his delicious cake. He looks confused as to why there were only 9 candles. Whew, I'm almost a week behind... We got back to my mother's house in Miami Springs on Saturday and got caught up on laundry and other things, including my brother's 54th birthday. Kerry lucked into finding 2 nights available back down in the Keys at Curry Hammock, just north of Marathon and grabbed the reservations. So Wednesday morning, with my mother in tow, we headed back down to the Keys. Curry Hammock is a small state park at mile marker 56.2, with only 25 campsites, but it is right on the Atlantic Ocean. That first evening we got a beautiful sunset, not over the water, but reflected in the water.
The next morning we headed first to Conch Key, which is a little north of Curry Hammock, to see if Mom could recognize any of the houses there. My grandparents had a place on Conch Key in the 1940's, but sold it in the early 50's. Conch Key is a pretty small island, but Mom couldn't pick out the old place. It possibly was blown away in a hurricane, was torn down and another built in its place, or just had some added to it and it looked different.
My mother
at the campground at Curry Hammock SP We then headed back south down US 1, passing Bahia Honda, where we'd love to camp someday and going as far down as mile marker 30, Big Pine Key (I think.) We crossed over the Seven Mile Bridge and enjoyed the colors of the water. When we got back to Curry Hammock, there were a couple of people trying to learn to kite surf, but they looked exhausted. Don't know how long they'd been at it, but they weren't nearly as adept as the guys we saw earlier in the day. Then we enjoyed another beautiful sunset.
Friday morning everything was wet. We thought it had rained in the night, but it was just heavy dew and the humidity was choking. We got back to Mom's in the early afternoon. She's now a veteran camper having survived 2 nights in a pop-up. She did great, was just a little thrown by the vault/composting toilets which were in the second story of the bath house. The proverbial 2 story outhouse.
Saturday morning we drove west again on Tamiami Trail (US 41) stopping at Shark Valley visitor center to settle an argument (I won.) Then on to Ft. Myers, where
sunset
at Curry Hammock SP we set up camp in a commercial campground, then headed to Sanibel Island. I had heard of Sanibel and its beaches and seashells since I was a child, but had never been. We were both a bit disappointed. The beaches were nice, but hard to get to as everywhere were condos, hotels, beach rentals and tennis clubs. There were a lot of shells on the beach and I did get to see a real Lion's Paw shell in the visitor center. "The Lion's Paw" was my favorite book as a kid.
I'll try to post more often, and I'm sorry to post so many pictures again, but Oh well.
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Martha and John
non-member comment
Sanibel
You are hurting our hearts. Sanibel is one of our favorite places! Yes, it is crowded and the beach is not easily accessible but wonderful shelling. I always bring home another bag of shells! If you get acquainted, you will find lots to do on Sanibel. There is a market by the name of Jerrys I think on Periwinkle that has some of the best cinnamon raison bread (made daily) I have ever tasted. Also, there is a little Schoolhouse Theatre with plays with local artists and lots of fun. Looks like you are having a great time! Enjoy!