Goodbye Islamorada, Hello Key Biscayne

Our month stay @ Plantation Yacht Harbor in Isla morada has come to an end.  We have enjoyed our time there, but have been looking forward to getting back on the water. This will officially start our loop North and eventually to our home port of Vermilion in October.  We left Thursday around 9:30 and arrived @  "No Name Harbor" in Key Biscayne at 4:33.  It was a pleasant day on the water, we took our time and enjoyed the sights. There were five dolphins that swam along side us for various stretches. 

 "No Name Harbor" is an anchorage located in Bill Baggs Cape Florida state park.  We will stay here for two nights.  The park offers one of the top 10 rated beaches in the U.S. a lighthouse that was completed in 1825, and plenty of hiking, biking and fishing.

Here are two of the five dolphin that were

traveling with us.                       

Some miscellaneous pictures along the way are below.

It's a good idea to stay in the marked channel









This is U.S. 1 above the cut called Jewfish Creek

This is the Cape Florida lighthouse, located in Bill Baggs state park. It was completed in 1825, and repaired in 1846 after it was damaged during the Second Seminole War.  This island served as a secret meeting place for runaway slaves and black Seminoles waiting for a passage to safety in the British Bahamas.  Although the lighthouse was built to save lives and ships, its unflinching light brought an end to this avenue of escape.  In September 2004, Cape Florida was designated a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site. 

*Information Courtesy of Florida State Parks.

These photos were taken from the top of the lighthouse 95 feet up.

Cape Florida beach is rated as one of the top ten beaches in the U.S.

Houses that hover above the water  Stiltsville got its start in the 1930's when "Crawfish" Eddie Walker set up his bait shop on the bay. The area takes its name from the houses built on stilts above the water. By the 1950's and 60's, it was a popular gathering place for fisherman, boaters, club-goers, and well known citizens, such as former governor of Florida, LeRoy Collins. Today, the National Park Service owns the land on which Stiltsville stands, and is part of Biscayne National Park.

Houses that hover above the water