A Condo in the Florida Keys

A Condo In The Keys by Wally Dobelis
From the Road –Part 2 – Condos planned, and Trip Advice For Travels to and From MIA and FLL Airports

SEVERAL CONDOMINIUM PLANS FOR THE KEYS ARE ON THE RETREAT.
Developers have been buying up campgrounds and existing restaurants in a mad rush to build &1M and pricier condos, cashing in on the eal estate boom. With the Keys’ total new construction limited to 200 units, these plans are based on scooping up existing single- and double-wides and replacing them with luxury housing, within thye existing building limitations. As of March 2007 these projects are largely collapsing or being put on hold. At MM105 Boca Developers acquired Rowel’s Marina , to build a gated communityat a spot that the county would have made into a park.This was being negotiated outside the Monroe land use regulations, and the CountyCommission blocked the plan At MM104-300 the Hobo’s Marina, Kelly’s and xx motels were razed by Coconut Grove based New Urban Places , to build a 33-unit hotel-condo.

In april 2006 Cortex Resort Living closed the AOC (American Outdoors Campground), making space for a 92-unit condo aimed at the $1.7 market, called Playa Cristal. With sales lagging, early in 2007 they starte refunding buyers’ deposits. They are replanning the site, with smaller units.
Meanwhile, at MM98 Ciudad Mar, 18 high-end home development, is under construction, not without problems.

In Islamorada, Holiday Isle (owner Ceebrand-Signal)went under contract in 2005 for a similar project., Oceanos, and they are moving ahead withy marketing.

Also in 2005 Cay Clubs bought four Upper Keys properties, with no plans submitted for its Bayside Resort and Pilot House MM100

Meanwhile a win for the buiders, US District Court has overturned the Islamorada chain-store ban, permitting Glenn Saiger of the beautiful Island Spice and Silver department store to sell thepropertyto Walgreens for $3.65M, with a $600k fine plus attorney fees.

Thaqnks to Free Press and Robert Silk.3/7/07

In November 2006 452 new listings came on market, total for preceding month being 3057 actives, avg list price 1,040K, av sold price $700K, both up from the same month (10% and 5%) ayear ago. Current inventory is 66 months worth. Islamorada /KL sales for the month were 22, at $815 avg, 215 days on the market.

Traveling to Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
To FLL Mapquest recommends using partly on the FloridaTurnpike, then on I-95, 83 mi
From MM100 take US1 for 28 mi to FL Turnkipe
Travel on the Turnpikefor 17 miles, then
Take Exit 17 into FL-874 (Dan Shula Expressway ) 7 mi
It becomesFL826(Palmetto Expy), 3.5 mi
Turn right in FL-836 (Dolphin Expwy) 7.6 mi
into I-95 North for 21 mi
take exit 24 into I-595 E for 2.3 mi,
then take exit 12A, follow signs appx 1mi

The conventional route to Fort Lauderdale Hollywood Intl Airport, via FL turnpike, is complex and badly markedHere's the ttrue route, not available om Mapquest:

Take US1 for 28miles, then the Turnpike.There wil be four $1 tolls .
Side notes: exit 11 leads to Cutler Ridge shopping area note Southland Shopping Center ,with Penny’s and Macys,
exit 17 leads into Don Shula shortcut to Mi Int Airpt
ex 25 leads into US41 (Tamiami Trail) to Shark Valley Vis Cent, allig
toll 2 near Ex 24
Ex 26 leads into US836 (Dolphin)to Mia Int Ap nad the alt route via I-95
Toll 3 at apx ex 34
Ex 39 leads to I-75 (alligator Alley) and Naples, Ft Myers & Sarasota
Toll 4 appx ex 49

Take Exit 54 into I-595 East, follow signs closely. Most important, at the point of choosing between exits 10A and 10B (bad sign), take 10B, it will lead you directly into Exit 12A and the airport.
If you get off by error at exit 10A, follow signs to I-95 N, take exit 24 into I-595 2.3 mi,
Then take exit 12A .
At the FLL airport,there are four terminals, A-D. If you miss or are waiting, you can circle, always bearing left(good signs). If you are dropping off the rental car, after dropping your family and luggage at the terminal, circle, this time taking the leftmost "REturn Rental Cars" exit, You'll gfet back by taking the shutle bus foe B, C, D (walk to A)
Returning from FLL to Keys
Follow I-595 West into Florida Turnpike
If you miss and end up un I-95 North, take exit 20 into Hollywood Blvd and follow signs to Fl Turnpike South - easy

To Miami International Airport (MIA)
From MM100 traffic light, takeUS1 27 mi into Fl Tpke
On Turnpike , after 17 miles, (past MM11 and 12- Kendall and Caribbean, leading to shopping centers), take exit 17 into Dan Shula expressway (FL874), 7 mi
It becomesFL826, Palmetto expw?3.5 mi
Turn right in FL-826 (Dolphin Expwy) 3.5 mi
My preference is to turn right onto US953, LeJeune and follow signs into the airport, very construction-filled and cumbersome but safe . There are terminals a-H and you can circle bearing left, but watch for a hairpin turn.
Mapquest suggests that you go further on US836, and turn into NW42nd Ave, then NW21st St & follow signs abt 2.5 mi, presumably to avoid the construction.

yes it is faster (as of 1/2009)
FT Orlando/Mia Intl Airport/Airport 26.3 mi to exit 26,
onto SR836 7.7 mi
Take Lejeune Rd/Airport 1.1 mi
onto NW 42nd Av (853 N)
Ramp to Airport, go to yr terminal.
There are Concourses A-H, to find the right one, google Mia Air Port map, look up flight, or call airline.

If you are leaving the Keys for a few days, call SleepInn (see Internet) and reserve a room at US36, near the airport. For $168 (Jan 2007) you get 14 days free parking at the Inn,

Miami International has Terminals a through H. If you miss yours, circle, hugging the left. You will have a hairpin turn, for return, but persevere.

When returning from MIA to the Keys, signs will direct you to five terminals and associated exits, depending on direction. The exit for Lejeune West and FL836 is good for the Keys, although you may not be able to get off FL 836 into Fl 826, and may have to continue to the I-41 related exit onto the Turnpike.

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From the road - Driving through the Florida Keys by Wally Dobelis

A Condo In The Keys - From the Road Part 1 – Florida City to Key Largo

Coming in from Miami on US1, after the Cutler Ridge and Homestead Shopping Malls on your left, you will also see an Office Depot, a Home Depot and a Wall-Mart, last chance to stop and shop before the Keys, which only have three K-Marts, and a Home Depot in Marathon .

Next significant point is the traffic light with a great white cross, directing you to the Keys, straigtht , and to the National Parks, the Everglages to the right, or Biscayne, left.

The Everglades side thrip is the best. Go up Route 9336, a mile or so , turning left at “Robert is here,” the fruit stand everyone knows (at the age of seven his father let him hawk bananas at roadside,, a fit startup for an entrepreneur). Follow the signs, and turn right into Florida City, past the huge Redlands fields of tomatoes and beans, Floridas vegetable basket, with Haitian and Dominical field workers out there in the heat, wearing island garb. After 10 miles you come to the stone gateway for the Everglades National Park. On your left you will see the park office building (Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, interesting exhibits), on the left the entrance gate. You have to pay, unless you decide to buy a Golden Age Passport to all national parks (used to be $10).

If time is limited, skip the Center and shoot straight forward abouit 5 miles,, then left, to the Royal Palm Center. You are passing through the Everglades , a 40 mile wide sawgrass prairie, actually a slowly moving grass river, with islands of clumps of trees, called hammocks.

At Royal Palm walk the less than one -mile Anhinga Trail, the best excursion in the Everglades, to view alligators and anhingas, - the diving birds sharing the same ponds and rivulets with the big guys, on their hunt for fish – also cormorants, egrets, herons and the rare wood storks. During the nesting season all the world-famous nature photographers visit, their spouses lugging carts of heavy equipment.. Next to the anhingas, the Gumbo-Limbo Trail will give you a short course in tropical tree recognition.

After visting Royal Palm, back on 9336,, the 36-mile road leads west and south, through the hammock prairie, with side excursions to special bird and plant sites, to Flamingo, the jumping off point for boat trips into the Everglades. It was a small settlement, built with a motel, shops and restaurants, nearly all disabled by hurricanes Wilma and Katrina, in two 5-ft surges covering the area with mud, coming a week apart, in the Fall of 2005. Currently a marina canteen serves sandwiches and meals, there is a camping site (also at Long Pine Key near the Royal Palm), and two-hour back-country boat rides are available at 10, 1, and 3;30. The next best Everglades site, Echo Pond, with huge trees in the center, where the birds of the area come to roost, protected from foxes, has been partially restored.

Incidentally, the 3rd best Everglades Park site is Shark Valley, is about 17 miles north, on the northern boundary of the Everglades, on Route 41 out of Miami. It is located on the Mickosukee reservation territory (a gambling casino,airboat rides and Indian restaurants) in a real alligator country, where you travel around in a trolley, listening to Everglades stories told by well-informed and interesting guides (about $20).

Returning back toward the cross-marked traffic sign on US1 - on 9336, a minute or two before you reach US1 there is the Krome Avenue crossing. If you turn to the north, it will lead you though the quant town of Homestead, with decorated brick street crossings and a long avenue of tall royal palms, leading through miles of palm and flower nurseries. At the Baptist church shortly past the palms, a strawberry farm offers pick-your-own facilities, and vegetable markets will sell you tomatoes by the bushel. A sidetrip eastward on 22301 SW 162 Avenue (that means drive on Krome to 223 Street, turn East until you reach 162 Ave) leads to the Castellow Hammock Park, 112 acres of nature, with a tree favored by hummingbirds, right in front of the small visitors center – you are assured to see them.

Krome Ave and its continuations also offer the shortest way to US 41 and Shark Valley.

The left turn at the cross-shaped traffic sign on US1 will take you into the Biscayne National Park and its beach areas, nature walks, boat rides and snorkeling (not to be confused with Key Biscayneoff the Rickenbacker Cuaseway up in Miami, a rich area with beaches)

If you resist temptation to visit the Everglades and stay on US1 at the cross and continue towards the Keys, do not skip the Information Center on the right , just after the traffic sign. Ask questions, get local knowledge and reservations, if needed.

Drivng directly to the 18-mile bridge, first you have the turnoff on the left to Card Sound Road, a $1 toll bridge leading to the very private Ocean Reef Club, accessible by a members’ authorization. However right after the toll a couple of miles south is Alabama Jack’s , world famous joint for fishermen and bikers, , crabcakes (mediocre) and oysters. Get the $12.95 everything plater for lunch and watch the crabmen take their boats out.

Staying on the right, you will be on your way to the Keys, American tropics, aka Paradise., by way of the famous one-track each way 18 mile bridge, a double yellow line in the middle, with warners on both sides. Note the fatality counter at the beginning, a warning to stay awake. This is the beginning of some 126 miles of roadway to Key West, crossing x real bridges b etween islands.

About 10 miles south of the MM127 entry point, you will see dirt and stones piling on the left, You have now entered the area of a $450+M projerct to expand the road by a single-ltrsck escape lane, for evacuation of the 80K Keysians and whatever tourists are present, in case of a major disaster. .The Keys have not had a major disaster since 1935, when the Flagler railroad was destroyed, and was replaced by the present US1 or Overseas Highway, utilizing most of the old right-of-way. Addresses in the Keys are stated by the milemarker (MM), starting at Key West, ialso idebntified as bay or ocean-side.

Three miles down you will see an actual paved stretch in use, then a series of three-pillared supports for an elevated highway leading to a yet to be built bridge over Jewfish Creek, the connection beteeen Atlantic Ocean and the Florida Bay, currently served by a low drawbridge that disrupts traffic whenever a big sailboat comes through the Inland Waterway, On the other , Keys side, similar three pillar forks, much less advanced. Projected finish date is 2012.. The traffic suffers. Worse, the dug-up mangroves and other material rotting in the water have given a spurt to the development of destructive algae that extend into the Blackwater Soud, lake of Surprise and Florida Bay. There is a potential that the project may be abandoned

To describe your passage, you will have a partly open viewp through an Everglades-like prairie on the right, broken by hammocks, islands of trees. By MM118 the Project rises on your left – the four phase utility third track, being built through the Oceanside, destroying hundreds of acres of mangroves. Here you will see thre the beginnings of clearance, expanding to MM115, site of the Manatee Bay marina and a small village. Around MM114 the tight highway expands, with north-bount traffic moved to the newly created Oceanside track for two or so miles . Further south the new trail is elevated on three column supported elevated roadway – the track is slowly being filled in between the columnar trident supports. It ends abruptly at the north side of Jewfish Creek. To resume on the south side. Eventually a high bridge span will be built there, replacing the current draw bridge.The high road is fairly well progressing on the north side, while on the south it is slow. You know you are near the end when Gilbert’s sign greets you on the bayside, also a tall hotel and a Mexican-American restaurant.
Pass that and follow the right-turning road, once nore opening to two lanes width, and you are in Key Largo. Note that right there, a left turn will bring you to RT 905 the road to the millionaires’ paradise, Ocean Reef Club, of which more anon.
But stay put, on the road, to whichever hostelry nightfall will bring you. to, the Visitors Center on bayside can help.There is souvenir empire, a store that will sell you seashells, bathing suits, carvings and hostess gifts, but the essantials are bathing suits. A boat equipment place next door may be of interest. After that, diving and snorkeling shops, and a great supermarket Winn-Dixie. Get a roasted chicken, if your future at nightfall is insecure, at least you’ll survive, and a bottle of wine. They also have microwave dinners, good for the older retirees, the dieters and anyone else, and many kinds of soft drinks, including the Cubal Iron Colas, Nicaraguan and island concoctions..

Behind the Winn-Dixie store, is a road to the gardeners’ wish list, Stillwater Point North, leading past lovingly cared homes to the point, from which you can catch the sunset. You may be on private property, though, Eddir Rickenbacker’s estate. Consider leaving the car at the Winn-Dixie and walk rather than drive,.

Moving right along on US1, a church on the right, past a few residential condos, boat rentals and a few small but important divers’ resorts, you find the Caribbean Club. It is of inrerest for Humphrey Bogart fans, a few scenes of the movie that gave Key Largo its name were shot there (the town was Rock Harbor before that). Grey haired 1968 refugees with ponytails and stretch Harleys gather there for Happy Hour, a big karaoke location.

For some more mundane pleasures, on the bayside MM103.9, Sundowners (also Senor Frijoles and xx xx) where they serve not only worthy fish sandwiches (ask for baked potato rater than fries) and solid dinners, and margaritas! You may catch a Jimmy Buffet soundalike at sunset.

Next, the Key Largo Marriott, a class hostelry, with Gus’s Grill, named for the late Gus Boulis , a Greek/Canadian developer who also populated the area with Miami Sub and Gusto restaquraqnts, suspected to be financed by the you know what, and in 19xx was killed in Fort Lauderdale, by people who bought his SunCruz offshore gambling ship empire. The lobbyist Abramoff was involved. In other words, a legend, worth visiting, but don’t ask too many questions..The hotel and its spa are clean.

Moving along, the Pink Plaza,with ba Walgreen’s drugstore and liquor store and a book seller, with a local mystery rack. Not only novel s by Carl Hyassen, also Jim Dorseys and Tom Corcoran, the madcap creators of improbable characters, In the next plaza, Mack’s White Rhino antique shop can supply you with beaucoup furniture discarded by the Ocean Reef nabobs and others., reasonable

Moving along – on the left, look out for Hideout Restaurant, off Transsylvania Ave, best breakfasts, and all-you-can-eat fish-fries on Fridays , $9.99, and house boats for rent. Also, Jules Underwater Hotel next door. Further south on the left, entrance to the John Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park , (entrance fee)- but you know all about that..

Continuing on US1 - Ganim’s restaurants are reasonable – we come to Dolphin Cove Research and Education Center is on the right, no medical facilities (for dolphin cure you must go to Dolphin Plus, turn left at the red light around MM100, 451-1993), the tours provided include a boatride and swimming with dolphins (fees).

Around MM 102, is the Fish House, one of the Keys’ oldest , and Encore, its extension. Further south, also on the ocean side, sort of concealed, past the yellow bait shop, is one of the treasures, Hobo’s Restaurant, great fish, cottage fries, with Mom and Cathy her daughter, out of Great Britain, who, with their helpers, hug and you the returnee snowbird. Barbecue specials on Tuesdays. It is a welcome home, year after year, their new location notwithstanding.


Next traffic light is at the Tradevinds Shopping Center about which I have written a paean, the Publix supermarker, th public library/ Internet café, the Kmart for plants, cheap clothes, also providers of exercice, coins, boat registry at the sheriffs. But let us move along, past the Largo karaoke places, Key Largo Cafe with its keysian concerts , Jimmy Buffett inspired Note Salvatiaon Army’s thriftshop, On the right is Wheaton’s Automobile Service – good place to remember,

Continuing south, next to the Pizza Tower are animal care centers – a pet store and vet’s office. Further down, a medical office group has a good rehab clinic. And the USPS, Key Largo 33037 post office, which I had heard called the PO with the four blondes, has last mail pickup at 4:30 PM.

On the ocean side nearing MM100, is the sign of Holiday Inn, a worthy stopover, with its harbor full of day fishing boats and huge yachts Walking down the harborside, see the African Queen, the1912 river boat that carried Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn down the Ulanga-Bora, to blow up the German Navy, in the 1951 John Huston epic. Reastored in 1982 by hotelier James Hendricks, the licensed 15-seater it has since participated in a WWII Dunkirk evacuation reenactment, and may be on hand to take you around for a slight fee. The harbor is filled with sleek deep sea rental fishing boats (champagne included), working diver boats, and you will find a tender to take you to the outside US limits anchored SunCruz gambling ship, a nice sunset cruise to the slot machines .If you have a free ticket, the cruise costs $3, price of the tax. That’s the Upper Keys’ sin city, unless you include the naughty video emporium at MM102. If you add nightlife, there are 15 restaurants and bars that feature Jimmy Buffet-like singers and groups nightly, the musicians moving around within the entire circuit

Along the harborside, on Marina del Mar, is Coconuts, where eating a half-dozen of oysters at the railing of its upstairs bar overlooking the boat harbor is de rigeur. Further into the harbor, a good breakfast place is The Galley,, above Sharkey’s, a diver’s joint Diving and snorkeling marinas abound all along US1.

Turning left past the Holiday Inn, before the Waldorf shopping center, is the road leading to Key Largo Municipal Park, a well kept walking venue (two circles equal a mile), with free tennis, a huge YMCA-run swimming pool and a superb free skateboard park, if that’s your game. On weekends local familoies gather for sports and picnics...

Passing through the MM100 traffic light, doing south (decent Burger King and Wendy’s alongside), the roadside eating places are Key Largo Café (Italian) and, in back, Bayside Grille upstairs, Snooks the beachfront barefoot restaurant, and at MM99.5, Mrs Mac’s , an oldtime much beloved diner with a huge menu , the walls of the rooms covered with old license plates, vanity and otherwise. If you had turned left at the light, a hew hundred yards down Ocean Bay Drive will take you past some decent restaurants (Pilot House, Calypso) to the KL Fish Market, good for fresh local grouper and crab as well as Bay of Mexico mahi-mahi,

Driving down US1, .here the bay-side road is has one motel after the other, many requiring a minimum two- or three-day stay. On the median, to your left are such local standbys as the Ballyhoo on the median and Mandalay , MM97.5, on ocean side , both restaurants well ensconced in local lore

Around MM98 the bayside motels thin out, and US1S becomes a thicket of thick green bushes and small trees, broken by interesting narrow roads . It is a real thick jungle. Do not hesitate to explore them – not the private drives – and you may run into charming communities such as Sunset Cove. The Rock Harbor sign , around MM97, introduces you to the old name of the island, before it was changed to Key Largo, cashing in on the popularity of the movie. Also, note the Key Largo Grand, former Sheraton hotel that has a public nature walk, good for learning the names of trees. Around MM95 is the Florida Bird Center, a sanctuary for wounded pelicans, egrets and roseate spoonbills. Drop some money in the collection bucket and visit the birds, and the mangrove island with a clear view of the bay. AtMM94.5 turn oceanside to Snapper’s a waterfront eating place of renown..

By MM93 the road becomes more commercial, we are in Taverner. , with the Fishermen’s Hospital (good emergency room) and Taverner Towne, a huge shopping center with a Winn-Dixie and a five-screen movie house, the only one for many miles.. Take Burton Drive to the left and visit Henry Harris park, with its natural sand beach, good swimming.

Cross Taverner Creek with attractive marinas on the right – one of them has a snack shack, and you can sit on the dock and admire the scenery. You are now on Plantation Key, start of Islamorada.. Continuing on, at Coral Shores High School (ggod for concerts and performances), the road narrows to single track each way, with a wide center frack for turns . Further South on the bay side is the Plantation Key Government Center, for building permits and tax problems. There, Marker 88 is a restaurant reviewed by Gourmet, with a major wine list..

Near MM86 the comfortable Islamorada Founders Park has a sandy shallow beach, an Olympic swimming pool and other facilities, some costing money, the locale of such events as the Annual Marine Flea Market, in March. Next to it is Rain Barrel, an artists’ village, has shops and a kiln in a pleasant jungly environment, a nice cool walk. On the ocean side, Treasure Village has changed into a Montessori school.

Crossing into Windly Key, past MM85, look for an immediate left downhill, and park at Island Grill, a pleasant boat friendly café, wher you sit on the deck and watch small fishig boats pass. It has island music nightly 6-10PM (a guitar regular is Micah, very non-PC, with a sometime harmonica companion Dean), as do 15 different bars in the KL-Islamorada stretch, a major industry. The next entertainment , Theatre of the Sea with a waterfall has also dolphins. Past it Holiday Isle, a destination by itself, has yacht harbors, restaurants, bars, hotels, and now also a condo development, Ocanos. Unless you want to visit it, the best way to view it is from across the Whale Harbor canal, from the upstairs deck of Wahoo, the snack bar/café of Whale Harbor Resort. The café is for views and easy eating, the WH restaurant is for major buffet eaters with thick wallets, the Mariina is for fishing trips .

Here we now cross into Upper Matecumbe Island, the main Islamorada ceter, chock full of pastel colored charming shops. Chain stores were barred, until a
In March 2007 a 2007 US District Court decision. The Oceanside Island Spice and Silver, a Bermuda-style upscale department store, (like Triminghams and Brown’s) is now going to make way for a Walgreens. Bayside Anthony’s is good for swimsuits. Further bayside Morada Bay restaurant has a sandy beach with tables, and celebrates full moon with a bonfire. Music, music, of course. Tall Bass Worldwide sells gear and has a tank with tarpons an other ocean creatures, some homilies to Hemingway and such. It abuts the great Islamorada Fish factory, aor Market, best known for its bayside open air dech, selling baskets of gtouper , conch and yellowtail with two kinds of fries, expect waiting time, both lunch and dinner. Further south Green Turtle Inn at Oceanside, with you know what on the menu..

Getting towards MM98, Outback at the XX Hotel, with a beach, freely used by customers, Next, Lazy Days, the Keys major favorite, reservations needed, sometimes a day in advance. Best time is late, late lunch, before the Happy Hour, then you have the deck to tourself, with a major ocean view, and the beach, with rattan chairs from the restaursnt.

Crossing the Turntable Channels (two miles), the road leads into the nearly three-mile long Indian Reef a, partly landfill, to reach Lower Matecumbe Key. At the north tip, MM78 you can take a ferry from Robbie’s Marina to the Standalone Indian Key Historic State Park ($15 round trip), see some prehistoric material, or to Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park ($20).. At MM73.5 oceanside is the pretty Anne’s Public Beach, with secluder coves, swimming and picnic areas.

Three miles down the bridge/land coneection, is Fiesta Key, with a KOA campgrpund, not accessible for casual visiting. Next, Long Key with Layton as the residential center,and oceanside. Long Key State Recreational Park, with swimming , fishing and snorkeling. Admission fee charged (MM67.5). Check out also the Anglers Cove, but save your money, for Sombrero (free) or Bahia Honda (fee) beaches further south.

At MM67, start a five-mile bridge trip, very serene. At MM 62 pass the Conch Key, private, and at MM61 on Oceanside is the round and totally built up Duck Key, occupied by the Hawk’s Key Resort. Drive in and cruise through, there are restaurant and coffee shop facilities. Try the marina for a quick bite, while enjoying the view.
Grassy Key begins your Marathon experience, with Curry Hammock State Park, MM56.
Dolphin Research Center?? Note the Island Fish Co., at MM54, a substantial restaurant with beautiful dockside eating. Yoy will pass through the commercial areas, including furniture stores, good eateries and the Marathon Airport, wth many executive jets, single engine Pipers and such parked on the taramac, and a car parking lot. Executives fly in for the weekend, and on Monday go back to mainland, leaving their cars there. Good life.
At MM50, (K-Mart and Publix) turn left and follow FL931, the road that takes you , past nice residences, to the Sombrero Beach, where you can park and enjoy ocean swimming and snorkeling . Great value.

AtMM47 you enter the long Seven-Mile Bridge hop, with open water on both sides. The old bridge is on your right, open for bikes, walking and fishing If you are just riding around from your mainland or Upper Keys base, this lap is worthy, for the opportunity to bask at the Bahia Honda beaches, a world-class destination. There are two miles of ocean-side beaches, some rocky, with camping sites along the way. People cross knee-deep water to reach the extended sandbar, good for long walks. At the southern end is a spur of the 19xx railroad bridge, destroyed by the hurricane of 1935 The nearly solid span is cut to permit boat passage, and you can admide the solid work that cost many lives during its construction. On the bay side is a half-moon beach, sandy