Florida Keys

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On Friday 29th of January, I drove through the Florida Everglades to get to the #1 Highway that would take me down to the Keys, and Key Largo. They call that strip of road Alligator Alley but I didn’t see any alligators. In fact I haven’t seen an alligator or manatee yet.
Living in the Florida Keys is very expensive and the park I had reserved for two weeks has the highest rates I have ever paid but I really wanted to enjoy the Florida experience so here goes! The population of Key Largo is a little over 11,000 although I don’t know whether that is winter or summer residents. It has been pretty warm since I got here so it must get pretty hot and humid in the summer months even with the coastal breeze, you would have to be pretty hardy to stay throughout the summer.
Calusa RV Resort is beautiful and is right on Florida Bay. Although I don’t have a waterside site I only have to walk 100 yards to be able to sit on the water’s edge which is lovely with lots of pelicans and egrets frequenting the water front. There are a lot of permanent sites here which people have developed to use as weekend homes, or in some cases seasonal homes for winter Floridians. They buy an oversized lot (about the size of three regular RV sites) then bring in a single wide mobile/modular home and build a screened porch on the side-which easily doubles the size of the home. Some of the porches are super fancy with ceramic tiled or highly polished stencilled concrete floors and all sorts of nautical knick-knacks around. Some park their boats next to their home but some of the boats are so big that there are three large boat parking lots available. If the owner has a waterside home he may choose to moor his boat on the water usually raised by hydraulic lifts.
You can feel the strong sense of community here; I think most of the weekenders come down from the Miami area and would say that 90% of them are Cuban, Costa Rican or Puerto Rican so the place hums with Spanish all weekend which makes me wish I had learned to speak Spanish. Most speak English quite willingly even if it is with a struggle whereas the kids all seem to flip from Spanish to English and back again unconsciously.

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Photos

Travelling Companion
Ike is a good little traveller -- not too much company though as you can see

Calusa Resort
This is the view of Florida Bay

Rosie and Mario
This couple live here permanently. Their place is just beautiful.

Stacey's Place
This is just a weekend place for Stacey and her family.

Noddy Car
These electric golf carts are everywhere in the resort. Some have licensed them so they can take them to the grocery store etc. The back looks live a face and reminds me of Noddy's car

Coconuts
The palm trees that I have seen all over Southern Florida have these coconuts growing under the leaves. Apparently they are not edible, which is a shame--they sure would give you a bump on the head though!

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
A lot of visitors go snorkelling or scuba diving in the park. Needless to say, as well as I can swim, I did neither. The park is very pretty, a couple of nice beaches and a beautiful boardwalk through a mangrove swamp

Clear water
The water around the park was so clear and clean. I found it to be a little cool but there were folks swimming -- mostly Canadians though!

Pretty Beaches
There are three pretty beaches in the State Park

African Queen
We all remember Key Largo because of the Humphrey Bogart movie. I didn't remember the African Queen having any Key Largo connection. But here it is -- and why is it flying the Union Jack?

African Queen
I knew the African Queen wasn't big but was surprised by how very small it was. You can actually take a cruise on it for a fee of course.

Comments

[Gill Chrystal]

Lovely photos, looks like you had a great time.