We got up at daybreak to head south to Lignumvitae Key. There was one sailboat on a mooring ball and we snagged the second of the four balls. We dinghied to the State Park dock and met the state park director's wife who lives on the island. The ranger greeted us and we were lucky to be the only participants in the house tour and the hike on the botanical hiking trails. You are only allowed on the island escorted by a park ranger. After our two hours of exploring, we ate our picnic lunch on a bench in the shade. After lunch, we circled the island in the dinghy and found a sailboat and a trawler on the two other moorings. We had anticipated tour boats coming over from Robbie's so we were glad that we could enjoy the space ourselves.
 |
| Rebuilt dock after Hurricane Irma |
 |
| Controlled access to the island |
 |
| Ornamental cannons from a sunken wreck |
 |
| Original house built for a party place |
 |
| Underneath is a cool workspace with a trapdoor to the first level |
 |
| A slice of the heavy naturally polished lignumvitae tree |
 |
| The original gas lantern that lowered above the table |
 |
| Kitchen with fresh and saltwater pumps |
 |
| Comfortable bedroom |
 |
| Their sea bean collection |
 |
| Flowering cactus |
 |
| Mysterious remnant of a wall |
 |
| Building equipment brought in by boat and left |
 |
| Beautiful blooms |
 |
| Old chicken coop |
 |
| Hurricane shelter |
 |
| Gumbo limbo labeled "tourist tree" for sunburnt peeling bark |
 |
| Equipment to mine the rocks for building the house |
 |
| Endangered white-crowned dove ranger spotted for us |
 |
| Box turtle rustling in the leaves |
 |
| Beautiful stone wall stretching down to the water |
 |
| Amazing structure without mortar |
 |
| Hike took us across the island to spot our boat |
 |
| Our tour guide was an ex-state trooper soon to be a retired park ranger |
 |
| Labeled natural Lignumvitae tree |
 |
| Three planted lignumvitae trees twenty years ago |
 |
| Excellent dock at the park entrance |
 |
| Spooked roosting birds |
 |
| In-flight |
 |
| Turquoise water with a sandy bottom |
 |
| Restricted access |
 |
| On a free mooring ball |
On Saturday morning we got up at daybreak to see the sunrise and dinghy over to Robbie's Hungry Tarpon Restaurant for breakfast. The big attraction is getting a bucket of bait to feed the tarpon off the end of the dock and of course, the pelicans are eating it up as well. We then went under the bridge to find the channel around the grass flats to the kayak landing on Indian Key Historic State Park. We downloaded the history audio tour that directed us around the ghost town. It was great fun seeing the ruins and learning about the past. We spotted the ranger that gave us the tour yesterday as his boat was moored by the kayak landing. Our boat neighbors on the mooring with the Ranger Tug stopped by to chat as they have done the great loop twice and are doing the Florida mini loop now. Another beautiful sunny day surrounded by turquoise water.
 |
| Sunrise over Lignumvitae Key |
 |
| Old Florida waterfront dining with dollar bills on the walls |
 |
| Pelicans getting their share with tourists feeding the tarpon fish |
 |
| Airstream "food truck" |
 |
| Plenty of shady bar seating |
 |
| Typical dive bar |
 |
| Leaving the dock we spotted the tarpon |
 |
| There was a fee to go out on the dock but we squeaked by |
 |
| The view from heading to the bridge |
 |
| Kayak landing on Indian Key as Hurricane Irma took out the dock |
 |
| We downloaded the audio walking tour |
 |
| Indian Key Historic State Park |
 |
| View of Alligator Point Lighthouse from the island |
 |
| Rocky coral shoreline |
 |
| Old cisterns |
 |
| Observation deck damaged by Hurricane Irma |
 |
| Street signs for the ghost town |
 |
| Beautiful walking trails to tour the town |
 |
| Shady spots to listen to the audio tour |
 |
| Tamarind tree pods |
 |
| Delicate blooms |
 |
| Old warehouse ruins |
 |
| Century plant |
 |
| Old grave marker and information sign |
 |
| Calm day on Atlantic Ocean side leaving Indian Key |
No comments:
Post a Comment