Drive from Key West

I slept well last night by avoiding the noseeums and mosquitoes. I took my time making breakfast and breaking down the campsite. I spent a few hours hanging out at the pavilion by the pool doing some things online. It was a beautiful morning with a warm breeze blowing through the campground. I wanted to stay longer, but I had already spent four days here. It was time to move north to Biscayne National Park.

I made it to the park around 3:30 pm. It was too late to do anything in the park. Biscayne National Park is a place I could spend a week, snorkeling, Kayaking, and exploring the various islands. Alas, I had given myself one day.

After talking to the staff at the Biscayne National Park Institute, I booked a 3.5 hour boat tour to Boca Chita Key. The guide provided a lot of history about the bay, the people that lived in the area, and details about some of the notable figures that played into shaping the early history.

I walked around the visitors center which is a great starting point for gaining some basic insight into the park. The visitors center features exhibits that provide information on the natural and cultural history of the park, including the coral reefs, mangrove forests, and other habitats that are found in the area. Visitors can learn about the park's diverse wildlife, including the fish, birds, and sea turtles that call the park home. I didn’t spend much time with the interactive exhibits which provide an overview of the park's ecosystems, geology, and history. There were some upcoming educational programs and ranger-led activities, including guided tours, bird watching walks, and snorkeling trips. These all required a little more planning than I had done.

As I left the park, I noticed the power lines and the bright orange colors the sun was cast on the lines. I got out and took some photos, trying to capture all the patterns and colors.

There was a guy pulling a cart with several fishing poles, buckets of bait and other gear. He stopped at a bridge over the North Channel and cast his line. In the distance I could see a blue heron fishing in the same waters. It looked as though the blue heron was having more success. I stopped to ask him what he was fishing for. He didn’t speak much English. He shrugged his shoulders, smiled and said, “fish”. I wished him good luck.

I was walking back to the car and noticed the gate to the park started moving on its own. On the access road to the marina I noticed a steady stream of cars and trucks leaving the park. I made it back to my car and found the closest Starbuck, 15 minutes away.

I setup at Starbucks and worked on some photographs. I decided to have pizza and found Portofino Coal Fired Pizza nearby. Google said it was open until 10:00 pm. I arrived close to 9:00 pm. They gave me a seat at the bar and I noticed they were turning the chairs over in the main dinning area. They told me they closed at 9:00 but they would make me a pizza. I ordered a beer and waited for my pizza.

There were two woman sitting two seats down at the bar. One of them was doing most of the talking and most sentences contained a stream of profanity. I gathered from the monologue that she wasn’t happy with her sister and even less happy with her sister’s boyfriend. Apparently, there were some children involved from some other relationships. The talked then switched to someone they knew that had just been shot and killed. It sounded like it happened the day before. Both woman knew the guy. The woman that was doing the talking said that he deserved everything he got and then she said, “You know I would have shot him as well.” I asked the bar tender to move me to a table in the dinning room. The food was good but there was an edge to the clientele.

I didn’t have a campsite. I was having trouble finding campgrounds that had campsites. I decided to stay at the Cracker Barrel in Homestead, FL. It was about 20 minutes away and I had to drive through some seedy neighborhoods. A went to turn onto the street to go to Cracker Barrel and there was a car sitting in front of me. I moved to the left and an officer came from behind the car. He asked me where I was going and I said Cracker Barrel. He said you’re good and pointed in the direction of Cracker Barrel. I then noticed two large army troop carriers to my left, two ambulances, a firetruck, and probably 10 police cars with officers standing outside wearing bullet proof vests. I thought to myself, this Cracker Barrel is either very dangerous or very safe.

I got to the parking lot and there weren’t many other cars. I found a spot with very little light and got the car ready. As I was shifting things around, I noticed there was barbed-wire fence all around the perimeter. For the next 90 minutes I could hear police cars and ambulances buzzing around the Homestead neighborhoods.