Key Biscayne

Another Day off…another Day Trip! Today we go to Key Biscayne and the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. The Key is located just across the bay from downtown Miami. Cross the bridge and you are in a different world. The southern end of the island is all Florida State Park. Lots of natural habitat with plush trees and bushes and a very nice beach. Clean and well kept… this is the place to visit. Lots of places for planned group activities or just to enjoy a quiet walk along the trails or enjoying a nice bike ride. The beach is quite unusual in that being right on the ocean, I would have expected more than the normal wave activity along the beach. The reef (or coral shelf) extends out well beyond the shore… 400-500 yards or so… and the water between the edge of the reef and the shore is basically very shallow. The waves break out over the reef than just ripple to shore over the sea grass beds. When the waves finally reach the shore there’s only a soft ripple in the water as it reaches the sand. The water is clear and there are no shells, due to the sea grass.

The island has an historical Lighthouse that was originally built in 1825… enlarged around 1850… and restored in the 1990’s to its original new condition. It stands 95 foot tall and still functions as a lighthouse for those at sea. The lighthouse keepers house is near it’s base and has 1800’s furnishings and historical notations about it’s history. The Key was discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513 which he named the “Cape of Florida”. Natures beauty, a bit of history… a nice beach… something for everyone. They say… it’s a great place to see over 50 butterfly species and 170 different species of birds on the island… depending on the time of season… must be sometime other than today! You can actually go into the lighthouse and walk the stairs to the top. I jumped at the chance… Shelly was somewhat less excited and would have taken the elevator… if only lighthouses had them. The climb to the top was a bit more harder than the trip down…. but the view was great. Looking out over the ocean, back across the island, and across the bay to Miami. Sometimes seems strange to be at an historical site, very old and surrounded by nature… just like it was over a hundred years ago… and look back to see the modern high rise city buildings of Miami. Sometimes I think I’d would have liked to try the simple life back then. I’m not sure how far you can really see out into the ocean… but I think I could almost see the Bahamas…. and I think I saw Jimmy’s plane! It’s five o’clock somewhere… and that’s was here… right then. The setting sun gave everything a warm golden hue and made the shoreline all the more beautiful. Sometimes it’s like a dream… it’s winter and I’m at the beach using sunscreen getting sand between my toes. See… this is how I loose friends… at least until spring. But you still Gotta love it! Next trip… where ever the wind blows us! Two day trip to Key West coming up soon!