Under the Sea- Biscayne Bay

We spent today in Biscayne Bay National Park which is 95% water. Shari took a 3.5 hour tour (not a 3 hour tour on the SS. Minnow!) that went to Stiltsville and Boca Chita. Stiltsville is a crazy site out in the ocean where the water is only 3 - 4 feet deep. Back in the 1930s, there were about 30 homes built on stilts in the water in what is now the national park. The homes were built to capitalize on the shipping traffic, selling bait, beer, and chowder. They were also used for some not as legal purposes. One was a gentleman’s club where the men paid $1 dues and if a woman came in a bikini she could drink for free. The water was so shallow, you could walk from one to the next. They have been passed down to family members over the years. Only seven of the original houses are still standing. The current owners are considered stewards and maintain the homes. When the homes are occupied, they fly the American flag, two were occupied today and one appeared to be having a party as there were four boats there.

Boca Chita is one of the islands in the keys. It was purchased by Mark Honeywell in the 1930s. He built a lighthouse on the island along with a golf course and a barn for his elephant. The lighthouse has never been lit, because it is on the wrong side and would confuse the boaters. The elephant supposedly was taught to take pictures and be a caddy at the golf course. Mr. Honeywell would have parties on the island for all of his rich friends. After his wife fell on the island and later died, he sold it. It is now part of Biscayne National Park.

Maddy and Amy took a different boat tour that visited Stiltsville and Boca Chita but also stopped to snorkel. We stopped at Sands Key first and snorkeled about an hour. The water was only a few feet deep so we were so close to all of the animals. The bottom was mostly grass or sandy. There were so many fish! We saw a yellow spotted stingray, a rainbow parrot fish (reminded me of the Rainbow Fish book!), a flounder, lobsters, schools consisting of about 100 very small fish, and many others. On the edge of Sands Key were mangrove trees. It was really neat to see all of the fish that were hiding between the roots of the mangrove trees. Next we stopped at Coon Key and snorkeled another 45 minutes or so. Here we saw a puffer fish and an eel. The edges of Coon Key were rocks. We saw a lot of fish hiding in the various rocks also. We started an hour after Shari and got back several hours later. Both our tours were really great and we learned a lot more of the history of the national park and the surrounding areas.

Rather than drive back to Palmetto Bay where we are staying (traffic still looked pretty bad), we went to the Bill Baggs Cape Florida state park which was a little bit north, closer to Miami. The park was right on the water and had a nice lighthouse. After walking around the lighthouse and beach we went to a bar right on the ocean called The Cleat Mia, it was all outside and had an amazing view of the harbor. They didn’t have much food so we went to the Boater’s Grill for dinner where we tried fried yuca with a cilantro sauce and tostones (twice fried plantains) along with a caesar salad. We finished dinner just before the sunset and walked back to the Cleat to see it. There were some clouds, but it was beautiful and we saw a dolphin swimming in the No Name Harbor on our way back to the car.

It was an amazing last full day in southern Florida.Meer informatie