Yesterday, Christmas Eve, we drove to nearby Bahia Honda State Park, home to the only natural sand beach in the Keys. It was really gorgeous, and the weather was a perfect beach day. (Though I will say that Southern California's long, wide beaches kind of spoil a person.)
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| Bahia Honda State Park from the old bridge. |
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| The beach, though narrow, was absolutely beautiful! Water had to be at least 78 degrees. And, yes, it really IS this color. |
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| The Bahia Honda wildlife was beautiful, too. |
As Stacy has written, the Keys are just a lot of small islands connected by a series of bridges. Back in 1905, entrepreneur Henry Flagler decided to extend his railroad all the way to Key West - no small feat given the geographic remoteness and technology of the time. Flagler evidently felt Key West could become a major shipping port to and from South America. So, in a seven-year-long project, he laid the tracks to make it possible.
Today, most of Flagler's original rail bridges are still there, right alongside today's modern "overseas highway". Years after completion, they actually built a highway for cars on TOP of the old rail bridge on the stretch at Bahia Honda. You can actually walk a half mile or so out the old bridge, which affords an unequalled arial view.
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| The new bridge from the old bridge |
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| From the end of the accessible portion of the old bridge, this view shows the roadway built atop the railroad bridge...all of it in a serious state of decay. (Also note the pipe used to take fresh water out to the Lower Keys.) |
Last night, we got all dressed up (which here means clean shorts) and went to a lovely Christmas Eve church service.
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