Category: Florida

Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters in Marathon

11/12/2012

Dive into an up-close experience with rays, fish, and sharks at Aquarium Encounters, in Marathon, Florida.

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Last night when we were planning what to do, we knew it was supposed to rain so we looked for things to do inside. I checked things to do in Marathon and Aquarium Encounters came up.

Everything is under HUGE Cabana buildings. We stayed totally dry.

It offers a lot of different sea creatures to see and touch. A few areas offered the opportunity to touch sting rays, starfish, shrimp, conch, etc. You can also see sharks, turtles, grouper, tarpon, manta rays, etc.

Although, it was a beautiful place, well maintained and clean, but I must say that we were a bit disappointed. It’s a smaller aquarium and some of the exhibits were empty. Perhaps it’s because it is fairly new establishment.

Also, it’s a bit pricey, even with the Florida discount, for such a small property. The encounters are astronomical.

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Crane Point Museum and Nature Center

11/12/2012

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Crane Point’s 63-acre property provides visitors with numerous trails, hardwood hammock, and dramatic exhibits featuring artifacts and objects of cultural interest.

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It’s raining today so we thought we would do something indoors. Our first stop was Aquarium Encounters. Then we went to Burdines Waterfront Restaurant for lunch.

By the afternoon, it had stopped raining, so we went to the Crane Point Museum and Nature Center in Marathon. Crane Point, the best preserved tropical hardwood hammock in the middle keys, offers several miles of self-guided trails where visitors can learn about some of the 160 species of native plants in the hammock from interpretive signage.

We noticed that they closed at 5 p.m. Since it was already 2:30 p.m., we asked how long it usually took to “do” the museum. The man told us “that depends, you could be here all day but the minimum to do the trail and museum is 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on how fast you walk.” Perfect, we have enough time.

We decided to do the trails first and then the museum. Once we stepped beneath the thick canopy, hardwoods and thatch palms border the narrow leaf-carpeted trails that traversed the hammock.

As we are walking, lizards and geckos cross in front of us. Gary warns me to be aware of snakes. Snakes! Eeek! Just kidding! I’m used to it by now. We have a black snake in our neighborhood that always crosses in front of me while I’m on my walks.

Hardwood hammock gradually changed to thatch palm hammock, which in turn led to mangrove forest, tidal lagoons, and ponds.

Adderley House

George and Olivia Adderley came to Florida from the Bahamas in the 1890’s. They purchased the 32 acres and constructed a classic Bahamian home of Tabby, a concrete like material made of burned conch and other shells. The Adderley’s lived on the site from 1902 until 1949. They sold turtles they caught, sponges they harvested, and charcoal they made from abundant buttonwood. For food they grew root vegetables, pigeon peas, and fruit trees.

Their home, which George built, is made of Tabby construction, a concrete-like material made of burned conch and other shells. The Adderley House is a classic Bahamian-style and is the oldest house in the Keys outside Key West.

In later years the Adderley’s sold a right of way to the Overseas Railway, and Vaca Station was created. After living off the land for almost 50 years, George Adderley sold his property to Francis and Mary Crane following his wife’s death.

The Cranes built a modern house at water’s edge on the property’s most remote point. As conservationists and horticulturists, they worked tirelessly to preserve the hammock until they sold it in 1970. Before long the site was threatened by the developer’s bulldozer; a complex of private homes and a shopping mall were proposed for the 63 acres. Thankfully, the Florida Keys Land Trust stepped in to rescue the site.

Crane Point Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $14.95; Seniors (65+) is $12.95; Children (5-13) is $9.95 and children 4 and under are free.

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Bahia Honda State Park

11/10/2012

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Today, we’re exploring the infamous Bahia Honda State Park at mile marker 37 of US1/Overseas Highwayay. Sitting between the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico is this 524-acre beach park with some of the finest stretches of sand in the Florida Keys.

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The park is open daily from 8:00 a.m. until sunset. We arrived at Bahia Honda around 10:00 a.m. (we are on vacation after all and we don’t do mornings all that well) and paid the $8 per vehicle fee plus the 50 cents per person fee.

Bahia Honda contains three separate beaches, Caloosa Beach, Loggerhead Beach, and Sandspur. Each one is completely different from the others.

We parked near to Caloosa Beach, tucked into a gentle cove at the foot of the old Overseas Railway trestle at the southern end of the park. This is probably the most popular place to park because there are restrooms, a snack bar and ample parking all located adjacent to the crescent.

After parking, we walked to the beach off of the Butterfly Garden Trail. This beach was stunning with views of the Old Bahia Honda Bridge.

Then we walked the Butterfly Garden Trail to get a closer look at the Old Bahia Honda Bridge. A portion of the old bridge has been maintained as an elevated walkway that offers spectacular views of the beach and inlet.

Then we got back in the car and drove to Loggerhead Beach which is located in the center of the park. A submerged sandbar emerges at low tide.

Sandspur Beach is located at the northern end of the park. Sandspur has pure white sand which reminds me of the powdered sugar sand of Siesta Key.

This beach had a lot of sea oats and grasses atop low dunes. I’ve heard that this is supposed to be the favorite beach of a lot of people. But when we visited, there was lots of seaweed in the water and on the beach so I thought it was a little less pretty than the other two.

For more information and to plan your visit to Bahia Honda State Park check our their website

Stay tuned for our adventure in Key West tomorrow!

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Guy Harvey Beachside Bar & Grill

11/3/2012

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**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links which help to keep this blog running.**

I love Guy Harvey’s artwork. I have a couple of his t-shirts and mugs (from Tervis). So when I was doing my research before we went to the Keys and saw that there was a Guy Harvey Outpost Islander Resort in Islamorada we were staying in Islamorada), I put it on the list of places to visit.

Guy’s Beachside Bar & Grill is outdoors. I bet is is beautiful sitting out gazing at the ocean, but the day we went, it was cold and raining so I was happy when they had the heaters on.

They didn’t have a gluten free menu but I was able to order the fish tacos and they substituted the flour tortillas for white rice. It was pretty good … although I wish they had corn tortillas so I could get the full effect of the fish tacos.

Gary ordered the Lobster Mac & Cheese. He said that it was good but he wished that there was a bit more lobster. He is spoiled by how much lobster I put in my Gluten Free Lobster Mac & Cheese.

More Places to Eat in the Keys

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Grouper Matacumbe at The Fish House

5/28/2012

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While visiting The Keys, we did a day trip to Key Largo to visit John Pennycamp Coral Reef State Park. After we finished our day at Pennycamp, my husband asked the Ranger at the entrance gate for a recommendation of where to eat. She recommended the Fish House, which was just down the street

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The decor was definitely very eclectic with Christmas lights, fish nets and beach paraphaneilla. The place was full, but we were able to be seated right away.

Both Gary and I ordered the Matecumbe sauce on the Grouper. The matecumbe is the House Specialty and has been featured on Food Nation with Bobby Flay.

The fish was excellent. It was so fresh … probably the best I’ve ever had. And the sauce … delicious … very tantalizing to the tongue.

I’m definitely going to try to duplicate this one at home. I’ve made a note of the ingredients (fresh tomatoes, shallots, capers, fresh basil, olive oil and lemon juice) and I already make a sauce similar to it. I’ll let you know how it goes.