Sunday, February 23, 2014

Money Key

 

Florida Keys,   (high 81, low 71)

 

The cold front has passed and with the high humidity, it feels warmer than it is.  The best place to be is out on the water, so that’s exactly where we’ve spent most days.

I am happy to say that the new boat motor is running beautifully and starts on the very first turn of the key. 

We either launch here at Sunshine Key, or right up the road at Bahia Honda State Park. When it’s windy out, we prefer Sunshine Key because there are a few little islands nearby where we can get out of the wind and waves.

Yesterday, the weather report called for light winds and calm seas.  A perfect boating day, so we got an early start.

Since we started coming to the Keys a few years ago, we had always noticed, this beautiful little island right offshore by the 7 Mile Bridge.  It was a little far to kayak unless you had some flat calm seas, and our old boat motor was a 1986 model, and had a little hiccup when you started it, so I never felt comfortable going too far.  

Yesterday was the day to visit this little island, which when we approached it, our marine GPS told us it was called Money Key.

The water here is actually more green/blue, but the picture made it look dark.

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There are a lot of little mangrove islands all along the Overseas Highway, but this one was a little different, with  beautiful palm trees growing on it.  I’m guessing they were planted and not naturally growing.

Isn’t it beautiful?

As we approached, we could see the shore was rocky, so we had to be careful and approach carefully.

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The water was shallow, and we had to watch the limestone rocks, but we managed to anchor close enough not to have to swim in.

Money Key

Money Key

There were several  little mangrove trees, which will eventually make their own little islands.

Money Key

We walked around the island looking for any no trespassing  signs.  We saw none, but did see signs of a few old campfires and of course some trash.  Why people have to leave their trash on a beautiful place like that, is beyond me.

We did our part and picked up some trash.

Money Key

My pictures really didn’t show the beauty of this little island.  I’ll have to go back and see if I can improve!

This is the lower part of the 7 Mile Bridge that you can see (and hear) from Money Key.   We are on the Atlantic side.  The other side of the bridge is the bay side.   Surprisingly, there is some differences in these waters.

Money Key

Next time, we’ll bring some chairs and sit under the shade of the mangroves and enjoy the cool breezes and warm waters.

I Googled  “Money Key”  this morning and the only thing I found was that the reason for its name was because pirate loot had been found on it in the past.   While there yesterday, I actually did a little treasure hunting, and I found some old rusty pieces of something.  Metal hinges from treasure chests?  My imagination ran wild with the possibility of finding gold, rubies, emeralds or silver.  :)    Here in the Keys is where Mel Fischer found the wreck of the Atocha in 1985.   We actually met him in person a year afterwards.  The Atocha was a Spanish galleon that sunk in 1622 with some 450 million in gold, silver, and jewels.  Mel Fischer became a very rich man that day.

 

After exploring the island, we went back to the boat, ate our lunch and lounged by Money Key for a few hours before we decided to cruise over to Bahia Honda State Park to see if we could find Pam and Vic.  They were going to be kayaking there.

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We never found Pam and Vic, although it turns out they must have been paddling around the island at the same time we were driving around it.  Pam said if they would have seen us, they would have asked for a tow back in.  :)

 

We did see this Florida spiney lobster?  Can you see his antenna?

lobster

The night before, we had met up with Pam and Vic for a few hours at our favorite place, the Sunset Grill.   We sat downstairs by the pool and enjoyed catching up with them.  We  first met them back in the Tampa area a while back, and have been trying to get together ever since.

I had my camera with me, but neglected to take the first picture. We just couldn’t stop talking long enough to think about pictures.  Actually, Pam had someone take a picture of us all, so I’m waiting to steal hers when she posts it to the blog!   If you haven’t already, check out Pam’s latest blog post about their ride over to Pigeon Key.  She has some beautiful pictures.

Pam and Vic are going to the Dry Tortugas National Park on Monday.  It’s about 70 miles west of Key West.  They will be coming back into Key West just in time for the sunset celebration on Mallory Square, so we’ve made plans to meet them there.    I’ll have to see if I can have a margarita without spilling it all over my lap.   And that is all I have to say about that!

 

We haven’t done much other than boating, but a few nights ago, we did go see the Blues Brothers, who put on a fun show for us here at Sunshine Key. Tina Turner was supposed to play, but she was injured in a car accident, so Jake and Elwood stepped in and took her place.

We had a good time, and even stayed out until 10 pm!

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We thought we might go back out in the boat today, but we Al wasn’t feeling well, so we went to the flea market for some produce and then to our new favorite store, West Marine.   

 

Nothing much else for now, so I’ll just post a few more pictures.

How about this action shot of al throwing the anchor.

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and the pretty clear water.

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Money Key

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13 comments:

  1. That water is truly beautiful. And a little island you can almost call your own. How fun.

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  2. What gorgeous photos of the island. What fun to explore an island with no people living on it.

    Al should be the The End photo...lol

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  3. I think even I could enjoy a ride out to that nifty island. ;)

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  4. Mel Fisher didn't give you any pieces of eight as souvenirs from the Atocha? Some friend he was.

    Glad your new motor is working perfectly now. Hopefully in your island explorations, you'll find some real pirate treasure to help pay for that motor. :c)

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  5. We have never been to the keys but would like to go. How much in advance do we need to book a site and where for first timers should we stay... love the pics

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  6. Glad you are getting some good time on the water.

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  7. What beautiful water! Would have been cool to find some buried treasure out there, aaarrrghh :-)

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  8. What a beautiful place. Definitely a return to with chairs spot. Really great pictures of the water and the island. Glad you are able to take advantage of your boat.

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  9. Love that last photo!

    With all that treasure possibly buried on the island I'd be tempted to go back with a shovel.

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  10. What a pretty place you found! It sure looks nice and warm. Enjoy the sunset margarita's.

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  11. Such a beautiful place, like being shipwrecked on a deserted island. Life is good for you there.

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  12. Thanks for the shout out, Karen. Sorry Al wasn't feeling well enough to join us for sunset at Mallory Square.

    I love the Money Island story. Every time we cross the Seven Mile Bridge I have wondered about the story of that island. Thanks for filling us in. My imagination is swept away by stories of buried treasure. There must still be some valuable wrecks out there in all that big blue water.

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