Bahia Honda State Park

I found out later that Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys, approx 35 miles northeast of Key West, is where my parents used to spend weeks on end when they were first married...before my sister and I were born.  

My dad has fond memories of fishing off of this bridge (Old US 1 bridge, closed in 1972, built atop the railroad bridge) which is now dilapidated and closed to traffic.  He remembers catching an enormous red snapper from this spot.  Bahia Honda has several beaches, 3 campground areas, a marina, a nature center, and other park concessions.

Key West became a destination only after the construction of Henry Flagler's Key West Extension ("Overseas Railroad") of the Florida East Coast Railway.  It was not until this trip to Florida and studying a bit of it's history that I learned what a fundamental role Henry Flagler played in the development of the entirety of Florida and it's tourism we know today, by running a railroad down the entire east coast of Florida ultimately all the way to Key West.  Everyone knows the name Rockefeller associated with Standard Oil, but Henry Flagler was the initial financier of the enterprise before Rockefeller had any money, and is largely credited as the brains behind the success.  By the early 1900's he had turned his interests to real estate and development in the still very remote and rural Florida.  Bahia Honda Key is unique in that it is linked on both ends by bridges built exclusively for the overseas railway, including the famous Seven Mile Bridge, which was a remarkable engineering feat for it's time. The original railroad bridge below ultimately had the old Route US 1 constructed atop the railroad deck; this is a main historical attraction at Bahia Honda State Park.

You can walk up a restored section of the old bridge and view the rest of the old one, however fishing is not allowed off of the bridge.

George caught a Beechcraft V35 Bonanza flying southwest just offshore, most likely headed to the Key West for the weekend.

After walking around the park a bit and visiting both the Gulf side and the Atlantic side, we decided to spend the day on the Atlantic side.  The Gulf side was very crowded and the breeze was better on the Atlantic side that day.  Bahia Honda has repeatedly been voted the best beach in the entire Florida Keys, easily beating out Key West beaches, which are surprisingly not that wonderful.

We went for a walk along the beach and George found this coconut.

I retrieved our ax and worked on cracking that coconut.

It took a little work but I finally got it.

We left Bahia Honda and headed north, bound for South Beach!