Amy's Rear View Mirror

Big Pine Key, FL ...
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Big Pine Key, FL

Sunshine Key Fun Resort is a wonderful campground. It takes up the entire island of Ohio Key at MM39. There's plenty of activities for those who want to participate. The swimming pier is in good condition, but no longer used as a swimming area so Lady took advantage of it and took a dip. She had a great time jumping off the pier, swimming to the ladder, climbing back up, and then doing it again and again. I didn't exactly enjoy the bath she needed when she was done ... her fur was full of sand!! But she had a great time!

I went to the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key and walked the trails with Lady. We didn't see any wildlife on this walk. But I did see the alligator at Blue Hole. Blue Hole is an old rock quarry now filled with fresh water and is the only fresh water pond in all the Keys. The shoulder height of the Key Deer is between 24-28 inches. No records exist documenting the origin of the deer in the Keys. It is believed the deer migrated to the Keys from the mainland many thousands of years ago, across a long land bridge. As the Wisconsin Glacier melted, the sea rose dividing the land bridge into small islands now known as the Florida Keys and the deer became trapped on several islands.

Henry Flagler wanted to extend the Florida East Coast Railway from St. Augustine to Key West, a city of almost 20,000 inhabitants located 128 miles beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. Flagler became particularly interested in linking Key West to the mainland after the United States announced in 1905 the construction of the Panama Canal. Key West, the United State's closest deep-water port to the Canal, could not only take advantage of Cuban and Latin America trade, but the opening of the Canal would allow significant trade possibilities with the west. The final link of the Florida East Coast Railway was completed in 1912, the year before Flagler's death. Later the railroad was converted into a road bed which, by today's standards, was very narrow. Since that time, US-1 has had new wider bridges built next to the original narrow bridges. The old bridges are still standing and are now used as fishing bridges. Lady & I took several walks along these bridges watching the water and wildlife.

Michael & Elita Stamp arrived on January 15th for their month long stay. So we had 2 weeks together before my month was up. They introduced me to Bob & Rosalee ... friends they met through Ted & Judy. Bob & Rosalee spend the winter in Big Pine Key.

We went to Blue Hole so Michael & Elita could see the alligator. This time we saw lots of turtles which I didn't see before. Then we took a drive through the neighborhood behind Blue Hole and saw several deer wandering around.

Elita & I took a walk on the fishing bridge where we saw a stingray swim past us. She got a picture of it, but my camera took too long to start up. Back at the campground, we went to the weekly basket class with Rosalee where we each made a small basket. That was much harder work than I had anticipated ... Longaberger gets my money from now on!

We learned to play Phase 10. It's a type of Rummy card game and a lot of fun. We played several evenings after supper. Michael also taught me how to play Pente. And I taught them how to play Chickenfoot.

Bob & Shirline Snyder were in the FamCamp in Key West for a few days. We met them down in Key West on Duvall Street to hang out. We took the Conch Train Tour, ate supper at Billie's, and then we went to Mallory Square. Mallory Square is on the shore of the west side of Key West and has a daily happening called 'Sunset Celebration'. There's all sorts of street vendors, jugglers, acrobats, dog trick acts, you name it ... a small town vaudeville which opens on the bricked square every day just before the sunset. After watching a few of the acts we walked over to the waters edge and I took a few pictures ... Key West is said to have the most beautiful sunsets in the USA. And rumor has it that if you listen very carefully, just as the sun hits the water, you can hear the hiss of the steam.

The day before Bob & Shirline were to leave the FL Keys, they drove up to Big Pine Key to have lunch with us at Pizzaworks - great New York style Pizza - and then we showed them Blue Hole.

Other than going out to eat Seafood and Chinese, we spent the rest of the time sitting around visiting.

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