Crane Poiint

 This is a marvelously preserved bit of nature surrounded by development.  If some generous folks hadn't seized the opportunity to purchase this space it would have been condoized like so much of the rest of Florida.  It is a place we are glad to visit and support.  The oldest house outside of Key West is here and well preserved.  The foundation also has a bird rescue operation that is vital to rehabilitation and education on the bird life in the Keys.  You can spend hours walking the paths and visiting the museum and exhibits and still not see it all.

This is at the entrance to the park.  You can see on the map and 

list of amenities that it is quite extensive .

This railroad car has had many lives.  It was once a car in active

service on the overseas railroad.  When we first started coming to Marathon

it was the welcome center and gift shop for Pigeon Key and now it is outside

Crane Point.  I'm glad to see it repurposed and preserved.

What a great collection of orchids, Florida's flower.

This is the Adderly House.  It was built by an immigrant from the Bahamas.

He was a preacher and supported himself and his family by sponging

and making charcoal.  There were only a few families on Vaca Key at the time

and he shrewdly negotiated a train stop here.  The name of the town became

Marathon because the project to build the 7-mile bridge was going to be a marathon.

The bird hospital.  You can look in the window and see them working.

Sadly, there were so many injured birds that can never be 

returned to the wild.  It's great that they have a place to belong.

Couldn't resist this one  It was in the butterfly garden.

I'm a sucker for Banyan Trees.  

So many of the paths had a covering canopy.  It was

in the 80s the day we visited.  I'm sure it is a welcome bit of

shade in the summertime.

This is a preserved dogtrot or "cracker" house.

The original owners of this acreage were a family from Massachusetts.

They fell in love with the keys and bought the land and built their winter

home.  It is classic 60s modern architecture.  The house is now used

as the headquarters for the foundation.

An ancient indian dugout canoe.

A highlight if the visit is the fish pedicure.  The minnows come up and

nibble away and rough skin.  My feet were a goldmine for the little guys.

The Florida Bay.

Florida was once covered by water for thousands of years.

There are so many fossils in the rocks.  This nautilus was a doorstop.

This just seemed like a perfect piece to enter the palm hammock,

a high spot of 6 feet.

This is a unique spot.  So many of the species are not endangered

due to development that doesn't consider habitats.

One of the many miles of pathway.

This is a little puppet theater used for special children's events.

When the path crosses wetlands, they raise the walkway.

These are two male tortoises.  They always start out

being fed from separate dishes.

But guys being guys, it's always a competition.

EAA Museum

 We love planes and made a visit to the local air museum operated by the  local Experimental Aircraft Association chapter.  It was full of old memorabilia and a few planes and a fire truck.  The highlight for us was a plane that is now produced in Sulphur Springs, TX.  A big part of my family's history and where David and I lived for a few years while completing college and where our first daughter was born.  We talked for a long time with the owner and took a walk down those memory paths.  

The museum is small on the inside but packed with 

all kinds of displays of items donated over the years.

This seem incongruous but was still cool to walk around

This is the airplane built in Sulphur Springs.

Being a mechanic, David checked out the engine displays.

This is an experimental aircraft.

An old radial engine with a beautiful prop.

A German Fokker 

An old DC3

Flying

 We were able to check an item off our bucket lists.  There is a local who owns a biplane and gives rides to the public.  We have wanted to go up for years but either scheduling or cheapness kept us from doing it.  This year we gladly forked over the money and took a marvelous trip over some of the middle keys.  We are both licensed private pilots but haven't flown since we sold our plane in 1987.  We both miss the feeling but finances just don't stretch far enough to fly across the water and the skies.  No regrets but it was fun to be so close once again.

The pilot, Phil, was a great pilot and a great guy.  He flew a few

times over the harbor to give us a chance to fine our boat.  We also took 

this shot of what is pretty much the main part of the city of Marathon.

Sombrero Reef lighthouse.

The reef.  All the dark spots are coral.

Not sure if it's natural but definitely these mangrove clusters

look hedged.

Happy people

I included this one just because it was cool how it caught the prop.

One of the many canal neighborhoods.

Still happy but better view of the plane.

Zoom in on this one.  All those white stripes are where boat have 

cut through the grass flats.  We saw so many turtles and fish even from

the air.  Sad to think their habitat is being destroyed by speedboats.

We had old aviator's helmets with headsets so we could talk to each other.

Boot Key harbor.

This is Boot Key.  An unoccupied island but great for exploring

the mangroves through Whiskey Creek.

Blue Moon is the boat at the middle bottom.

The next key up.

The well cared for Waco.

This sign has lured us for years.

The old and new  bridges stretching away from Pigeon Key.

Merry Christmas

 It has been over a month since my last post.  It has been very eventful and mostly fun.  The highlight was seeing our daughter, Angela and her family in Oregon.  Our daughter from Australia, Mary was there as well.  Almost perfect but Mary's family wasn't able to be there so we missed those grandkids and our son-in-law Eric.  Also, our youngest daughter Martha and her family stayed home in Pittsburgh. Our youngest granddaughter, Gloria is only 6 months old so cross country traveling would be rough on them all and expose a not yet fully vaccinated baby to who knows what.  But, we still had a great time spending time in person with those we could and video chatting with the rest.  It was a truly wonderful time. These pictures are out of sequence but trying to fix them just made me frustrated so here they are!

This was a tremendous gift from our friends Robin and Bob.  It's an interactive

Advent Calendar that allowed the receiver to open a new activity every day.  The grandkids and I had 

hours of fun decorating trees, wreaths, cookies, houses and so much more.  Each day was another gift..

We spent our first day on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.  There were

so many of us that two vehicles were required.  Dylan carried all the implements

and Angela carried people and  the all important refreshments.

Mary and Angela were going to the coast a day before the rest of the crew 

and were snowbound about half way over the pass.  They  apparently

made the best of the situation at a local inn.

Reading and snuggles were some of my favorite activities.

Our beautiful first born.

Martha, Dylan and Gloria couldn't join us but they were a part via

pictures.  You can see 6-month old Glo wasn't sure what was going on!

Papa and Alder bring the saw.

Alder loved to be wherever the action was in the house.

If there was a crowd in the workout room he was do a great

job on the elliptical.  I was impressed with how well he did.

Christmas morning!

We found the perfect tree and hiked the long trek

out of the woods. Those toddies back in the truck were highly appreciated.

Sometimes girls just need hugs.

More reading.

We're playing with the Advent Calendar.

More advent calendar.  You might notice we all have the

gnome Christmas PJs courtesy of Angela and Dylan

The mighty female tree cutters.

Let the exercising begin!.  They worked out to a

subscription service that leads you through the moves.

It was a long walk through the woods and an even

longer walk back out with the tree.

Guess who is supposed to be sleeping.

It was a great tree and lots of fun.

You can never get enough grandkid time!