We left Key West, Florida today and travelled over 250 miles. We ended up in a Comfort Inn in Naples, Florida. I learned several things about Key West and the Florida Keys. Before this trip, I don't think I even thought about the word "KEYS".
Some of my background information comes
from searching on line or from
tourist information sheets.
The word "Keys" is derived from the Spanish Cayo, meaning Small Island.
The Florida Keys begin at the southern tip of the Florida peninsula about 15 miles south of Miami and extends in a arc south-southwest and then western to Key West. The islands lie along the Florida Straits dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the West and defining one edge of Florida Bay. There are forty-two (42) bridges over the sea and that includes the famous "Seven Mile Bridge."
The main sections of the Florida Keys area are: Key Largo, Islamarado, Marathon, Lower Keys & Key West. Some of the names we passed were: No Name Key, Sunshine Key, Duck Key, Big Pine Key & Pigeon Key. There were so many more Keys.
In order to get to Naples, we had to cross Alligator Alley, also know as the Everglades Parkway. It is a section of interstate 75 & state road 84 and is 84 miles long. It connects the lower east & West Coasts of Florida. It was given the name by the American Automobile Association during planning: they believed it would be useless to cars, merely an "alley for alligators" Cars started using it in 1973 and it was widened to four lanes between 1986 & 1992. We rode along and saw the swampland in the Everglades. There were alligator fences along the sides. We did not see any gators, Jim looked.
We are now at the Pensacola Beach still in Florida. Today, Saturday, July 21, 2012 we are leaving Florida and heading to New Orleans.
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