Day 2 Marathon Key

    The second day, Darlene and I planned to visit Marathon Key. We slept a tad late and then drove 16 miles south from our hotel on The Overseas Highway. Coming into the town of Marathon we stopped at Georgie’s, a small local coffee shop. We got coffees and pastries. We had reserved some time and purchased tickets to Crane Point Hammock back in April. This little excursion was well worth the $17.50 each. We timed it perfectly and got there just as the free trolley was about to leave. This property is 63 acres with trails throughout the the park. Tim, the driver and guide, was very friendly and knowledgeable. We may have managed the 1.4 mile loop trail, but even reading everything, we would never have gotten the full experience of the entertaining and interesting facts, stories and folklore we heard on this tour.

   The boarding area for the trolley, (really just a big golf cart) was behind the gift shop and museum. They have a couple of giant tortoises that came out of their houses. While we were loading in the cart, a raccoon poked his head in the front floorboard looking for food. You could tell he had robbed food from there before. The cart began rolling over the gravel trail and we had not gone very far before we learned of the Poinsonwood Tree. This is found throughout south Florida and needs to be avoided at all cost.

Touching this tree or getting the oil from it on you causes skin rashes, irritations, and dysentery. We also learned the Indians use to dip their arrows into the oil of the Poinsonwood tree. However, as is true with most of God’s creations, there is a cure growing close by. The Gumbo Limbo Tree.

My best guess is if you ever touched the Poinsonwood Tree once, you would not forget what they look like.

   Continuing on along the trail we came to The Crane House. The house was partially designed by a protegee of Frank Lloyd Wright. My wife was very familiar with his name and works. The house overlooks Florida Bay and still has an overseer living on the grounds. Mary and Francis Crane had the house built in 1954 and lived here. They did not have any children, but had Great Pyrenees.

The inside is well preserved and interststing to see the 1950’s decor.

Leaving the Crane House we looked around the gardens and grounds at some very pretty flowers and trees.

   The next stop was a tide pool or a big pond. It is touted as a ” fish pedicure.” The pond is full of Gambusia Fish. Interesting fact is theses little fellas can eat up to 8 times their weight in mosquito larvae a day. We were told Disney and other parks use these fish as a part of their mosquito control. So these little fish nibble at your feet, taking the dead skin from your feet. Darlene kept giggling, wiggling her feet, and laughing saying it tickled. Tim said some of his passengers had described it as “tickle torture.”

   Moving on from here we fed some fish in the Florida Bay. You throw the food Tim gives you from a small bridge. They attack it. We then came to the Adderly House. This is where George Addlery and his wife lived. It is the oldest house in The Florida Keys outside of Key West.  We immediately noticed how small the doorways were even though George and his wife, Eliza were over 6 feet tall. The house was know as “tabby” construction. George was a black Bahamian that settled in Marathon Key. He negotiated a deal with railroad magnate, Henry Flagler. In exchange for allowing the railroad to cross his property, George got to use it for free. He could carry his goods to market in Key West instead of taking them by mule and wagon.

The next stop was the “Cracker House,” The name has nothing to do with race slang, being from Georgia, or anything other than being good for cracking a whip. These shacks were where the cowboys lived that worked on the property. The name ” cracker” was their ability to control cattle just by cracking a whip above their head or to the side.

   The Crane Point Hammock tour ended at the Wild Bird hospital and rehabilitation center. They take in injured birds and nurse them back to health before releasing them.

   We both throughly enjoyed this place and time here. We highly recommend spending a few hours at Crane Point Hammock.

   The rest of the afternoon was spent stopping at an Oceanside Tiki Hut and looking around a couple of shops in Marathon Key. We headed to Sombrero Beach for a couple of hours. We had checked and made sure they had public charging rooms. They did so we changed and went into the warm ocean water. There are more rocks than sand but worth stopping at for a short while. We left the beach and on the way to dinner, we took a turn into Duck Key just to look around. This is an upscale neighborhood on the Atlantic side of the highway. If you enjoy seeing large homes and larger boats, then take the short drive and have a look.

   Next stop up was dinner. We had chosen Castaways because we knew it was a Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives recommendation. It is usually hard to go wrong with that choice. Sure enough, it did not disappoint. Darlene got the Lobster Enchiladas. I opted for the Hogfish stuffed with shrimp and scallops. The wife’s choice was good, but Florida Lobster is not as good as cold water lobster. My choice was absolutely outstanding.  Parking is limited, but worth walking a bit to get there. We left and there in the canal was a Manatee and her baby.

   Remember the restaurant’s name, Castaways. Highly recommend. We then took the short drive back to the hotel. Please check back here at this blog in a couple of days. Darlene and I head to The Conch Republic, known as Key West.