Sue and I were very fortunate to be able to reserve a campsite for two weeks at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo. Established in 1963, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was the first undersea park in the United States. The park was named for the late John D. Pennekamp, a Miami newspaper editor, whose efforts contributed to the establishments of the Everglades National Park and the preservation of the Key Largo Coral Reef.
The Park covers approximately 70 nautical square miles of coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps. The park extends 3 miles into the Atlantic Ocean and is approximately 25 miles in length. These areas were established to protect and preserve a portion of the only living coral reef in the continental United States.
The park contains a wide variety of tropical vegetation, shore birds and marine life. While the mangrove swamps and tropical hammocks offer visitors a unique and interesting experience, it is the coral formations and associated marine life that most park visitors come to enjoy. The coral reef at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park are among the most beautiful and diverse of all living communities.
Sue, Cassie, and I spent a lot of time just walking around the complex experiencing the tropical vegetation and birds. Cassie was especially intrigued by the lizards. We enjoyed sitting by the water with some great view. But the coral formations and associated marine life is what most visitors come here to enjoy. So Sue and I decided to take the two and half hour glass bottom boat tour out to the reefs.
For this stay in the Keys we decided to take a short drive to Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park. Windley Key was homesteaded by the Russel family in the mid-1800’s and establish a small farming and fishing community. Formed of Key Largo limestone this land was sold to the Florida East Coast Railway in 1908 and was used to build Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railroad to Key West. Quarries were dug and used to supply thousands of tons of limestone fill for the railroad bed and the bridge approaches. The railroad was completed in 1912.
After the railroad was built, the quarry was used until the 1960’s. Cuts of the Key Largo Limestone revealed fossil corrals and other ancient marine life formed nearly 125,000 years ago. The limestone was used to produce exquisite pieces of decorative building stone called Key Stone.
While staying in the Florida Keys, Sue and I wanted to visit two other State Parks that are popular and offer camping. We climbed in our rental car with Cassie and headed down U.S. 1 with stops at Bahia Honda State Park and Curry Hammock State Park. Along with its iconic Florida Keys scenery, Bahia Honda has sandy beaches, clear waters, and magnificent sunsets. Curry Hammock is striking in its seclusion and is the largest undeveloped parcel of land between Key Largo and Big Pine Key.
Driving this southern most portion of U.S. 1 (also know as the overseas highway) has to be one of the most beautiful drives in the U.S. A modern wonder, the 113 miles of roadway from Key Largo to Key West incorporates 42 bridges leap frogging from key to key. Parallel to U.S. 1 you can see remnants of Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railroad for much of this drive.
Bahia Honda encompasses 524 acres with extensive sandy beaches, and many marine plants and animal species of Caribbean origin. This remote island became a tropical destination for tourists when Henry Flagler’s overseas railroad to Key West was completed in the early 1900’s. Sue, Cassie and I spent most of our time exploring the area around Calusa Beach and Loggerhead Beach, as well as the campground. We not only saw the Old Flagler Railroad Bridge, but we also hiked up it for some great views of the park, channel and the ocean.
Our stop at Curry Hammock State Park was a brief one. We primarily stopped there to see the campground to consider a future stay. We found a very secluded park just north of the City of Marathon. It was beautiful in its own right as the park protects large areas of mangrove swamp, rockland hammocks and seagrass beds.
We had a great two weeks in the Florida Keys and will be back again as snowbirds. Our next stop is up to the Gulf Coast and to one of our favorite areas in Florida - Siesta Key.
Thank you to the artists from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!) providing the music for this video including the following:
uppbeat.io/t/ra/beach-house License code: YOFHFFDRH2H5BKEU uppbeat.io/t/ra/renewed License code: U3PHJCOFOGTYND0I
uppbeat.io/t/hey-pluto/night-... License code: S3LPQENE5DHLWH36
uppbeat.io/t/aylex/sea License code: YNZG5ZUAMUVFQMSG
Thank you to the artist contributing to the GoPro Music Library for the following music for this video:
- Artist: Antony Raijekov with song When Waves Trying to Catch a Marvel