The Backcountry

 I finally have the sweet combination of time to blog and power to run the Starlink and computer so getting caught up on what we've been up to on Blue Moon.  Years ago when we sailed up the East Coast, we went up Florida Bay from Marathon to Miami.  We always wanted to explore more of the area and this was the trip we made it happen.  We went to Lignumvitae State Park.  This is a unique island covered with all the hard wood trees that used to cover the keys before some were logged almost to extinction.   The park can only be reached by water and there are many restrictions to keep it protected.  Despite this, it was worth the visit.  The park has several mooring balls for staying overnight and we took advantage of the hospitality.  After visiting the park, we went farther north and visited a  restaurant we had been to years ago by road and made it back by boat.  Lorelei's is mainly a tourist spot during the season but still fun.

The park had several stands of cactus.  We saw new blooms just

in the few hours we were visiting.

The caretakers cottage from 1919.  It has withstood many hurricanes.

No source of fresh water so all water was stored in this

cistern for the inhabitants and the animals.  Those are drain pipes leading 

from the massive rain gutters on the eaves of the house.

A Gumbo Limbo tree.  So pretty with its distinctive

red bark.  There is another red barked tree called

Poison Wood.  We're careful to know the difference!

This is a hurricane shelter.  It was dank and dark

inside but looked safe.

The vast front lawn.

The leaves of the Lignum Vitae tree.  It is a very

slow growing but has extremely hard wood.  It

was a favorite of sailors for making the wooden blocks

and other fittings.

An old saw.

Just in case you didn't recognize the tree,

they kindly labeled it.

The park has no idea what or who these ruins 

belonged to or when.  There have been teams of

archeologists over the decades trying to determine just

who made them but nothing definitive, yet.

A really old pickup truck.  Salt air has not been kind.

The anchorage off of Islamorada.

The entrance from the road to the restaurant.

And Lorelei herself.

This sunset was just unreal.  There were fires burning

in Miami and the particulates made the sky a very eerie

hue.  The sun seemed as if from another planet.

Just cats and dogs pictures here.  This is the

old bridge to Boot Key.  It once was a drawbridge

but the span was taken away years ago and so was

the cable the sign warns about.

A sunrise I was up to see.

Showoff David just had to climb this tree.

Sadly, his good shorts were ruined by the sap

from the tree.  Oh well, he had fun and it is a good picture.