In one of our Institute classes I mentioned the Florida Keys being on my Bucket List. When Spring Break came around, one of our YSA, who lives in Key Largo, and his parents invited us down. We had to get permission from President Lee who also has to clear with our area seventy because it is out of mission boundaries. We were grateful to be able to go.
Florida is full of turnpikes and toll roads, but the traffic moves through fast - although we have not ever been on one when it is really crowded. You used to need dollars and quarters, but now they all take credit cards.
The toll roads have "Plaza's" with a gas station (all are Shell), fast food places and rest areas where you can take a break. They are always located on the left and are easy off and on. These Florida Highway Patrol officers were at one of those plaza's when we stopped. They might not be as friendly if they were stopping us for a violation, but they were fun to talk to.
Joel Sol, us, Kyle Sol at the end of a boardwalk by their home. The little "island" is a mangrove swamp. It is interesting but too long to go into here - Google is full of information.
The view from their frontroom double doors that go out on to a small patio, peaceful and beautiful.
We've talked about Florida's trees - this one is toward where they park.
Their home is on the right - many are built with car storage space below, but high enough to keep them safe in a hurricane or storm. The buildings are concrete. The Sol's moved here from the Phillipines about twelve years ago because, although he had a very good job there (Sister Sol said they had a cook, a maid and a nanny for Kyle) Brother Sol had to be away from his family a lot, so when they had a chance to move here and work for his brother-in-law, they came. Their home has a truly welcoming spirit - a place where you feel the love they have for each other and the gospel.
It is interesting that when you go to a new place it opens another chapter to fill full of fun memories plus gives us a view of some of the places our YSA kids talk about. The map on the left is from Gainesville to Key Largo - the one below is from Key Largo down to Key West . We went down on the blue road - the Florida Turnpike, and came back up the green road which cuts across by the Everglades, then up through farm and fruit tree country - beautiful drive
Kyle's dad took the day off and took us from Key Largo all the way down to Key West - about two hours plus the full day there. We had just one day and he filled it full. It is a 113-mile chain of coral and limestone islands connected by 42 bridges, one of them seven miles long, although Brother Sol said is actually 6.8 miles, close enough. You can see in the pictures below why the old bridge is closed. They have taken out sections at each end and a couple throughout the span - to discourage those who want to cross it. (per Ned Mikkelson's request -- lots of pictures)
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In the 1993 movie, True Lies, there is "an action-packed confrontation between Arnold Schwarzenegger and a pack of dastardly villains and missile strikes blow up the Florida Keys' Old Seven Mile Bridge." Actually they built a fake section that fit into the break below and in those scenes, that is what is being blown up. We've not seen the movie but everyone says the bridge scene is spectacular, of course.
(Arial photo, obviously not ours) The old bridge is on the right - both construction marvels.
And more churches
This restaurant is famous for lobster - to eat and to take a picture with. We stuck to taking a picture.
We stopped on the way for Brother Sol to feed the tarpon. He bought a bucket of bait fish and then held one for bait until the tarpon jumped up to get it. They are big fish, can grow to 8 feet but these were closer to 3 and 4 ft. It is pretty safe except for occasional bloody knuckles. There are a lot of pelicans that try to grab the fish out of the hands of the ones trying to feed the fish, which is pretty funny to watch, and very annoying to those trying to feed the fish.
Joel feeding the tarpon .. it was so fun to watch him anyway and more fun because he enjoyed it.
It is like that old wind-up clown game where you turn the handle until it pops up, and everyone jumps. When the tarpon jumps to get the fish - you can't stop yourself from being startled.
This tarpon was HUGE!!
You can see the fish in the tarpons mouth
The drive down was very interesting, I didn't even sleep. The Atlantic Ocean is on the left, and the Gulf of Mexico on the right
Some places there is only the road and maybe 100 feet on each side. Other places there will be a beach business or a rest stop.
There are a few areas where you can still see the destruction from the hurricanes. There was one large motor home over on its side, washed out with weed and branches sticking out of it. Some clever person had added a "For Rent" sign, but we passed it too fast to take a picture. Below is another place you can tell hasn't been taken care of yet. The cleanup continues.
Just a cool old railroad car .. the gulf is just past the trees. Hardly seems real that you are traveling so close between the ocean and the gulf.
They are building a bridge to replace the one we were driving on .. you can see how tall the big pillars are at the end -- those in the front have been pounded in until they hit bedrock. They they cut them off even. No wonder it takes so long to get the bridges here done.
He took us to the southernmost point of Florida - so the southernmost point of the United States. They say on a clear day you can see Cuba. It was pretty clear but not enough to see.
This was through the fence - it is an Naval Air Station facility but nobody was sure what it was. They said that it is the Navy's "premier training facility for transient tactical aviation squadrons, "whatever that is. They have great weather and lots of air space.
Fun sign
Very small homes at very large prices.
The beginning and the ending of our highway system -
Above statue is from the famous Life magazine cover photo after WW II.
The big luxury cruise liners come in every day so people can wander around Key West. This is the biggest one we had ever seen - the people on the top deck look tiny. We think it makes us less interested in taking a cruise.
Large beautiful church - sorry we weren't close enough to get the name
Joel said this car was typical of ones who take tourists around.
We went to a Cuban restaurant that many of our children/grandchildren - especially Aaron and Taylor would have enjoyed. We have learned not to try anything too crazy.
The famous Duval Street, lots of stores and shops and not the usual crowd of tourists. Good for us. There is an annual Fantasy Fest in October that is extra liberal - the missionaries are actually pulled out of this area for that ten days.
A place called Shipwreck had salvage and museum items. When there would be a shipwreck - usually every couple of days, the whole town would gather as the contents were sold off - the money earned given to the ship owner after commission to the sellers. It was a big part of their economy at the time. Joel is lifting a 65 pound solid silver bar. They aren't too trusting - you can see the bars across it that keep someone from carrying it off.
Our final stop back in Key Largo with the family - their favorite seafood restaurant and key lime pie. Most of the seating is outdoor under a big straw covered area. There is a large pool by the side that is well stocked with Florida fish - not used in the restaurant.
Kyle's uncle restores old cars - pretty amazing - completely rebuilt and in pristine condition. He said it takes 3-4 years to do it because he can't work at it full time.
Kyle's parents recommended we take the western and middle route back, so we crossed over close to the Everglades, and stopped at one lookout point - you have to get boats and tours to get the Everglades pictures you are used to seeing, like the first two which we didn't see.
and I'm not sorry .. too much reptile for me. This is just so the kids can see what can be seen by those willing to travel into the deeper parts. Neither of us are really interested in visiting an alligator farm.
This was our view of the edges of the Everglades. If you look close you can see the ground is swampy - they tell you that any water in this area probably has alligators. We didn't put our feet in.
Yes, that is an alligator
beautiful birds we don't know the name of
and another alligator - not very big
As we headed up the west coast we stopped at a place called Robert is Here, a fruit/vegetable/everything stand known all over the country. It was started by Robert's father when Robert was 9. They would pick the produce and leave him there to sell it. But nobody stopped. The next day his dad wrote a big sign that said Robert is Here .. it grew from there. It has been operating for 59 years. Robert eventually took it over, bought more land, added more things. They have regular fruits and vegetables, and exotic ones, sandwiches, ice cream and a little petting zoo.
She is even tallying up our bill on a brown paper bag with a pencil - they do have machines, but apparently that is the way she still likes to do it. We did check the adding as she was doing it.
Robert and his son
and some old tractors
Lots of fields and orchard as we came up further - reminded me of Mesa/Phoenix way back when.
We are not sure if they are watering or spraying something to help or protect the trees. It was good to see all the green
This for Grandma and Carol and all those we know in the post offices now. We saw the US smallest Post Office in Ochopee, Florida, located at the edge of the Everglades, population, 11. It is 7 x 8 and used to be an irrigation pipe shed for a tomato farm. When the General Store burned in 1953 they began using this. One clerk keeps it open from 8-10 and 1-4. The person who brings mail has a daily route of 132 miles that crosses three counties. Tourists come to take pictures and to mail something so it will have the Ochopee postmark.
When Stephen returned from his mission to the Canary Islands he said that when he first got his call and we looked it up on the map, the Canary Islands seemed very small, but after being there and spending time in different areas and meeting the people, the islands became large and full of memories. This is Florida for us.
We'll close this with a quote from Elder Bednar that Sister Armstrong illustrated in her notes. This looks like something Krishelle would do.
They were official "stampers" - as the kids came in and paid their hands were stamped. When we first walked up to the volunteer check-in booth, the ladies there gave a cheer -- "We love the Mormons. You come every year..."
