Wednesday, April 05, 2006
A Condo in Key Largo
Traveling to Key Largo by Wally Dobelis
Whether you are an owner or renter in the Keys makes a load of difference. Renters drive, because they bring clothes and tools and books, sometimes a winter’s supply. Owners fly because they keep the gear locked in their closets all year round.
The East Coat driver comes down I-95, some 1350 miles from New York City. The trip can be divided easily into three 450 mile segments with stopovers in Rocky Mount, NC and Kingsland/St. Mary’s in GA on the Florida borderline. Both towns have lots of hotels, Best Westerns, Day’s Inns and such, with discount coupon books available in the states preceding – thus, you will find NC coupons for I-95 at roadside food stops and gas stations in VA, and they will be honored if you do not delay your checking to after nightfall, since budget rooms are limited. Animals are accepted at $10 or so extra per, but these designated rooms are somewhat less clean – but do not smuggle, you can be fined.
Flying is easier, Miami Airport is 50 miles away, and car rentals are a snap. Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) is 20 miles further north, but the fares are cheaper on Spirit, and the car rental specials are better. If you are staying for the winter, say two months, try to ask for a short-term or mini-lease. Don’t be surprised if Avis or Hertz at times offer better numbers than Alamo and other second-line vendors. If you are planning to bicycle while in the Keys or are depending on friends’ transportation, take the Keys Limo service, at $70/person, or better yet, rent an Enterprise car, to be dropped off at the destination rental station. They will deliver you to your condo colony.
Return to FLL via the Turnpike is easy, we pay four $1 tolls at exits 11, 23, 36 and 49, then take Exit 54 into 595, and follow exit signs to the FLL airport. Normally, the 20 miles across the bridge and the 54 miles to the Turnpike exit take 1 ½ hrs, and the balance of the trip and return of the rental car (now mostly in the airport annex), a short bus ride away another ½ hr.
Coming from FLL airport, take 595 and watch for the exit to the Florida Turnpike, the tolls as shown above, or else you will end on the busy I-95, then the even busier and slower US 1with frequent traffic lights. The MIA exit 4.will pot you on 836, the Dolphin Expressway, busy but easy to follow, leading to the Turnpike South at its exit 17.
Returning to MIA, take exit 17 into 874 the Don Shula Expressway (Miamians take their Dolphins leadership seriously). It leads into 824,Palmetto Expressway, then turn right into 836 the busy Dolphin Expressway, and watch for the left turn into the Airport access, Lejeune Rd., and car return.???
There are interesting cruises leading out of Ft. Lauderdale. Park?
If your cruise of Panama Canal, Honduras, Guatemala or Belize requires a flight out of MIA, store your car at the airport – Dolphin or Flamingo long-term parking; whichever is closer to your airline terminal, for $12/day.
The Turnpike will end and drop you on US 1 just before the Florida City traffic light with a white cross, marking, to the right, entry to the 993x, access to the Everglades national Park, Here is Roberts, the legendary fruit stand, and Krome Avenue, doorway to Homestead, all importsnt places, to be discussed later. Drive right through towards the Keys, unless you want to stop at the Tourist Information center a 100 yards down, for maps and guides and hotel reservations. Stay on the right, unless you are going to the rich Ocean Reef condos.
Now, the famous 18-mile causeway, or bridge, to the Keys. It is a road through the Everglades-like prairie sites on Florida Bay, pink clouds and a sunset if you are arriving in the afternoon, then some open water , blue on the ocean, green on the bay side, a boat basin on the ocean side at MM , In January the initial bridge posting highlighted 18 deaths this year, intended to scare us. It worked. The one-track each way road presents a clean, double yellow stripe, broken when passing is permitted) all the way, and four –deep raised caution bricks across them, to warn the dozing driver that he is crossing into opposite traffic.
For the legitimately nervous drivers who re worried about being pushed by other beyond the 55MPH limit, there are two passing zones where you can let the fast movers pass you. Once past the Jewfish Creek draw bridge and into Key Largo, the road turns two lane each way, with a wide median, planted with palms and orange-blossoming Geiger trees. Access paths widen to many points to crossing lanes, permitting you to slide in at high speed, without impeding traffic. Exits from condo colonies and most restaurants and the tiny malls along the way have short access lanes, to wait for lulls in the ever-present traffic, so that you can pick up speed and slip into the stream. Stop signs are rare, you are expected to be cautious and safe. Even the most cautious drivers have enough space and time to wait until they feel absolutely certain of their safety. The notorious Florida slow driving old-timers are not part of the Keys scene.
The two-lane roads are only in the main towns, Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon and Key west, otherwise it is single track, through some of the most beautiful seascapes, picturesque settlements with white two story verandahs, egrets on the roadside and boats in the distance – not too many of those, since Wilma. Traffic moves fast, unless you are stuck behind an orange school bus making pickup or discharge stops. Most people going to Key West for the day will choose their travel hours with care.
More about The Seven Mile Bridge tk
A Condo in the Keys, or My Boat Is In My Closet and Other Simple Pleasures of Life in Key Largo by Wally Dobelis. Copyright M. C. Dobelis
Whether you are an owner or renter in the Keys makes a load of difference. Renters drive, because they bring clothes and tools and books, sometimes a winter’s supply. Owners fly because they keep the gear locked in their closets all year round.
The East Coat driver comes down I-95, some 1350 miles from New York City. The trip can be divided easily into three 450 mile segments with stopovers in Rocky Mount, NC and Kingsland/St. Mary’s in GA on the Florida borderline. Both towns have lots of hotels, Best Westerns, Day’s Inns and such, with discount coupon books available in the states preceding – thus, you will find NC coupons for I-95 at roadside food stops and gas stations in VA, and they will be honored if you do not delay your checking to after nightfall, since budget rooms are limited. Animals are accepted at $10 or so extra per, but these designated rooms are somewhat less clean – but do not smuggle, you can be fined.
Flying is easier, Miami Airport is 50 miles away, and car rentals are a snap. Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) is 20 miles further north, but the fares are cheaper on Spirit, and the car rental specials are better. If you are staying for the winter, say two months, try to ask for a short-term or mini-lease. Don’t be surprised if Avis or Hertz at times offer better numbers than Alamo and other second-line vendors. If you are planning to bicycle while in the Keys or are depending on friends’ transportation, take the Keys Limo service, at $70/person, or better yet, rent an Enterprise car, to be dropped off at the destination rental station. They will deliver you to your condo colony.
Return to FLL via the Turnpike is easy, we pay four $1 tolls at exits 11, 23, 36 and 49, then take Exit 54 into 595, and follow exit signs to the FLL airport. Normally, the 20 miles across the bridge and the 54 miles to the Turnpike exit take 1 ½ hrs, and the balance of the trip and return of the rental car (now mostly in the airport annex), a short bus ride away another ½ hr.
Coming from FLL airport, take 595 and watch for the exit to the Florida Turnpike, the tolls as shown above, or else you will end on the busy I-95, then the even busier and slower US 1with frequent traffic lights. The MIA exit 4.will pot you on 836, the Dolphin Expressway, busy but easy to follow, leading to the Turnpike South at its exit 17.
Returning to MIA, take exit 17 into 874 the Don Shula Expressway (Miamians take their Dolphins leadership seriously). It leads into 824,Palmetto Expressway, then turn right into 836 the busy Dolphin Expressway, and watch for the left turn into the Airport access, Lejeune Rd., and car return.???
There are interesting cruises leading out of Ft. Lauderdale. Park?
If your cruise of Panama Canal, Honduras, Guatemala or Belize requires a flight out of MIA, store your car at the airport – Dolphin or Flamingo long-term parking; whichever is closer to your airline terminal, for $12/day.
The Turnpike will end and drop you on US 1 just before the Florida City traffic light with a white cross, marking, to the right, entry to the 993x, access to the Everglades national Park, Here is Roberts, the legendary fruit stand, and Krome Avenue, doorway to Homestead, all importsnt places, to be discussed later. Drive right through towards the Keys, unless you want to stop at the Tourist Information center a 100 yards down, for maps and guides and hotel reservations. Stay on the right, unless you are going to the rich Ocean Reef condos.
Now, the famous 18-mile causeway, or bridge, to the Keys. It is a road through the Everglades-like prairie sites on Florida Bay, pink clouds and a sunset if you are arriving in the afternoon, then some open water , blue on the ocean, green on the bay side, a boat basin on the ocean side at MM , In January the initial bridge posting highlighted 18 deaths this year, intended to scare us. It worked. The one-track each way road presents a clean, double yellow stripe, broken when passing is permitted) all the way, and four –deep raised caution bricks across them, to warn the dozing driver that he is crossing into opposite traffic.
For the legitimately nervous drivers who re worried about being pushed by other beyond the 55MPH limit, there are two passing zones where you can let the fast movers pass you. Once past the Jewfish Creek draw bridge and into Key Largo, the road turns two lane each way, with a wide median, planted with palms and orange-blossoming Geiger trees. Access paths widen to many points to crossing lanes, permitting you to slide in at high speed, without impeding traffic. Exits from condo colonies and most restaurants and the tiny malls along the way have short access lanes, to wait for lulls in the ever-present traffic, so that you can pick up speed and slip into the stream. Stop signs are rare, you are expected to be cautious and safe. Even the most cautious drivers have enough space and time to wait until they feel absolutely certain of their safety. The notorious Florida slow driving old-timers are not part of the Keys scene.
The two-lane roads are only in the main towns, Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon and Key west, otherwise it is single track, through some of the most beautiful seascapes, picturesque settlements with white two story verandahs, egrets on the roadside and boats in the distance – not too many of those, since Wilma. Traffic moves fast, unless you are stuck behind an orange school bus making pickup or discharge stops. Most people going to Key West for the day will choose their travel hours with care.
More about The Seven Mile Bridge tk
A Condo in the Keys, or My Boat Is In My Closet and Other Simple Pleasures of Life in Key Largo by Wally Dobelis. Copyright M. C. Dobelis
Saturday, April 01, 2006
A Condo In The Keys, or My Boat Livess In My Closet, and Other Pleasures Of The Simple Life in Key Largo
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis, excerpt from a forthcoming book with the above title
The Florida Keys are rocky outcroppings in the Atlantic Ocean, not very sandy. For beach life in Key Largo we depend on the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park's small sandy halfmoon at MM 102, the Harry Harris State Park near MM 92.5 and, particularly, the beautiful Sombrero Beach in Marathon, turn left at the traffic light at MM 50. Most of the time we swim in the bay, right off the marina pier, ignoring the tarpons who live under it.
Most pleasant swimming companions are the manatees, who come to the pier in search of sweet water, and the kids, squealing with joy, lower the water hose right into their open mouths.
Swimming with the manatees is another pleasure, touching their rough and cold skin. A friend and real esstate broker, whose father has a house on a canal where th manatees come frequently, in search of discarded wilted cabbagess and other enticements, often sjumps in the water to scrub their backs, freeing them of barnacles and other adhesions. All of the above activities involving the protected gentle giant sea cows are illegal, but manatee lovers just cannot desist.
The big water activity in the Keys is boating, whether you fish, trap crabs, catch lobster, snorkel or scuba dive. Snowbirds often arrive with boat trailers, bringing their cabin cruisers along, some of them quite large. My friends have 16-footers, good for the bay and also the ocean, on easy days. The canal at MM 104 connects the two.
Boats are a pleasure and a care. Having a dock site is great but you also have to store your trailer (a seasonal rental fee), and find a winted docing space, unless you are willing to pull them up and down the North American continent every season I say continent because some of my fellow condo people are from Quebec. Professional three-story boat storages can be found all along US 1 , a scary sight when one thinks of the high wind seeason. During Wilma they survived. People who want to save money, find storage with locals who have back yards, the same people who will store your trailer during the season, a source of small but steady income.
Some years ago, wanting the pleasure of boating upon demand but not willing to have the trouble of boat care, this family invested in a 10 1/2 ft. Zodiac, a chambered inflatable and rebuilt one closet in the 2nd bedroom, to accomodate it, as well as an 8 HP outboard engine.
Evry season we drag it out, inflate it with a foot pedal, drag it in the water, down the condo's boat ramp, attach the engine and hold our breaths while pulling the cord to start the works. Since the tank gets thoroughly drained in an environmentally sound way (the Hobo boatyard people accept our leftover oil and gasoline), we have had no trouble. The license is renewed by the Monroe county tax people by mail every year, we attach the sticker and hang out the boot number, on a board, toss in our life jackets and paddles. The engine has enough power to plane, skimming the bay's surface, and we cross the Blackwater Sound towards the Duesenberry Gap, an alley leading through the mangrove islands, with many narrow channels, where you can slowly troll, nearly soundlessly, observing the fish and the birds at leisure. The only other mankind are the rare fellow boaters, although a dereligt boat was anchored for years in one of the channels, housing some homeless people who would not respond to being hailed, we were told. We respected their solitude.
Homelessness in the Keys is present, in Key West, while sippig tea at the Pier Hotel's deck you can observe some similad derelict boats, desk covered with worn household items, people living on whatever income comess their way, perhaps by doing juggling or telling stories on the Mallory Pier at sunset. In Key Largo the homeless are invisible, the town park does not have such residents, and only once on an early walking visit, have I seen an unkempt youth furtive ly slide into the immaculate bathrooms, for morning washup.
Back to boating the canals and meeting crocs and aalligators -to be continued
A Condo In The Keys, or My Boat Lives in My Closet, And Other Pleasures Of The Simple Life in Key Largo, by Wally Dobelis. Copyright M. C. Dobelis, 2006.
The Florida Keys are rocky outcroppings in the Atlantic Ocean, not very sandy. For beach life in Key Largo we depend on the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park's small sandy halfmoon at MM 102, the Harry Harris State Park near MM 92.5 and, particularly, the beautiful Sombrero Beach in Marathon, turn left at the traffic light at MM 50. Most of the time we swim in the bay, right off the marina pier, ignoring the tarpons who live under it.
Most pleasant swimming companions are the manatees, who come to the pier in search of sweet water, and the kids, squealing with joy, lower the water hose right into their open mouths.
Swimming with the manatees is another pleasure, touching their rough and cold skin. A friend and real esstate broker, whose father has a house on a canal where th manatees come frequently, in search of discarded wilted cabbagess and other enticements, often sjumps in the water to scrub their backs, freeing them of barnacles and other adhesions. All of the above activities involving the protected gentle giant sea cows are illegal, but manatee lovers just cannot desist.
The big water activity in the Keys is boating, whether you fish, trap crabs, catch lobster, snorkel or scuba dive. Snowbirds often arrive with boat trailers, bringing their cabin cruisers along, some of them quite large. My friends have 16-footers, good for the bay and also the ocean, on easy days. The canal at MM 104 connects the two.
Boats are a pleasure and a care. Having a dock site is great but you also have to store your trailer (a seasonal rental fee), and find a winted docing space, unless you are willing to pull them up and down the North American continent every season I say continent because some of my fellow condo people are from Quebec. Professional three-story boat storages can be found all along US 1 , a scary sight when one thinks of the high wind seeason. During Wilma they survived. People who want to save money, find storage with locals who have back yards, the same people who will store your trailer during the season, a source of small but steady income.
Some years ago, wanting the pleasure of boating upon demand but not willing to have the trouble of boat care, this family invested in a 10 1/2 ft. Zodiac, a chambered inflatable and rebuilt one closet in the 2nd bedroom, to accomodate it, as well as an 8 HP outboard engine.
Evry season we drag it out, inflate it with a foot pedal, drag it in the water, down the condo's boat ramp, attach the engine and hold our breaths while pulling the cord to start the works. Since the tank gets thoroughly drained in an environmentally sound way (the Hobo boatyard people accept our leftover oil and gasoline), we have had no trouble. The license is renewed by the Monroe county tax people by mail every year, we attach the sticker and hang out the boot number, on a board, toss in our life jackets and paddles. The engine has enough power to plane, skimming the bay's surface, and we cross the Blackwater Sound towards the Duesenberry Gap, an alley leading through the mangrove islands, with many narrow channels, where you can slowly troll, nearly soundlessly, observing the fish and the birds at leisure. The only other mankind are the rare fellow boaters, although a dereligt boat was anchored for years in one of the channels, housing some homeless people who would not respond to being hailed, we were told. We respected their solitude.
Homelessness in the Keys is present, in Key West, while sippig tea at the Pier Hotel's deck you can observe some similad derelict boats, desk covered with worn household items, people living on whatever income comess their way, perhaps by doing juggling or telling stories on the Mallory Pier at sunset. In Key Largo the homeless are invisible, the town park does not have such residents, and only once on an early walking visit, have I seen an unkempt youth furtive ly slide into the immaculate bathrooms, for morning washup.
Back to boating the canals and meeting crocs and aalligators -to be continued
A Condo In The Keys, or My Boat Lives in My Closet, And Other Pleasures Of The Simple Life in Key Largo, by Wally Dobelis. Copyright M. C. Dobelis, 2006.
