February 17, 2024 - Bohia Honda State Park, Florida Keys

 Saturday

Kip got up around 5:30 a.m. and I didn't get up until around 8:00 a.m.  He made us pancakes, sausage, and eggs for breakfast.  We hiked a short distance to the old railroad bridge where a small part of the bridge has been updated so people can walk on it safely.  

                                        

The left side of the bridge is the overlook.  The right side is closed due to disrepair.

We took the trail to the bottom part of the bridge to see how the railroad (bottom) side looked.  There is a water system on the right, and you can see the disrepair of the rest of it.  This bridge is on the National Historic Registry, but pieces of it are falling off and the metal is deteriorating, so not sure how much will be left in the coming years.

On our way back to the boat, we stopped at the marina and got our two free drinks and a bag of ice.  We also looked at the schedule for snorkeling at Looe Key.  The weather is going to be rainy until the middle of next week, so we will plan to go then.

We got back to the boat and Kip grabbed the cooler to empty the water from yesterday's ice so he could put the new ice in.  He took it to the edge of the dock and opened the valve, and within a minute the manatee was underneath the fresh water having a wonderful drink of water.  How cool is that!!!!!  As soon as the water was out of the color the manatee went underneath our boat, probably waiting for us to give him more water.  

We changed and made our way back to the beach (that doesn't have a stinger warning flag) and sat there under our umbrella for a number of hours.  It was very busy, and there was a group of kids that could not talk to each other --- they had to SCREAM AT EACH OTHER!  Noisy but cute.  

We also saw a man run across the rocky point between the ocean and the swimming area because his jet ski was heading out across the ocean by itself.  Yep, he either didn't tie it or the line came loose.  A center counsel boat went out and one of their people jumped on it and brought it back to the docks.  It was the same jet ski that unloaded in the marina and proceeded to go as fast as he could, upsetting a bunch of people who were anchored.

We stopped at the marina for ice cream.  They also have key lime pie products that we might have to try.  We rode our bikes to the showers (the bikes are in rough shape from the salt water)!  My bike shifts gears on its own.  Nice!

We took a short walk on the Atlantic Coast beach, where there was quite a bit of sea grass.  There was also a purple flag flying, which meant that there were stingers in the water (jellyfish, man of wars, etc.)  We saw several, and Kip snapped a picture of one for you to see.

We stayed outside until the no see ums came out, and then went in to make supper.  We had pork chops, corn, salad, and apple sauce.  

Wanting to see the sunset, we hopped into the dinghy and went out by the old bridge to take pictures.  

While we were waiting for the sunset, we took close-up pictures of the bridge to show you how bad of shape it is in - which is really a shame.

Kip also took a few pictures of the beautiful campground they have here.  Space is very limited, and it fills up really fast.  

The last two pictures are of the old railroad bridge (on the left), and the 7-mile bridge on the right.

Now that we have power, we are going to run the air conditioner.  The no see ums can sneak through screens, so we don't want to fight with them all night.  The weather is supposed to change starting tonight - cloudy and rainy - so the beach will have to wait.