Day 10 – Wednesday June 9th – Fort Lauderdale to Key West to Fort Pierce

Miles travelled = 449

To-day was one of those where the sum of the parts make the whole.

I had been to Miami before in July (Convention Centers have cheap rates in the summer), but had forgotten how humid the area can be. It was very humid early, running sweat before I even got started.

I needed gas, no problem, the station next to the motel has gas. It took my credit, reset the pump, then nothing. I eventually got the attendant to understand my dilemma, no premium he said. Huh?. Not in any of the pumps?. Why not put a notice on the pumps I suggested. That was too technical. No problem, I’ll get gas off the Turnpike. Sure enough I spotted a sign for gas, so I cut off the Turnpike. There’s the gas station all lit up, but the access road to it is closed. OK, no problem, I can spot a gas station up the road, UGas. Never heard of it, but it should be OK. I have discovered ‘little Havana”, complete with music, and all the guys having a breakfast meeting outside, including the station attendant who had to unlock to get the pump going. So I gas up, and head for the Turnpike. Whoops, I am in a Cement Distribution centre. Hmm, I should have turned right at the lights, not left. Ah well, the security guard directs me, and I am on my way to the Keys.

I have always wanted to visit the Keys, but I could not make up my mind what to expect. I think a bit of Hawaii (hang loose), with tropical flowers etc., as well of course the ocean, and hues of green and blue. Hmmm. Well the ride from Florida City to Key Largo was kind of blah, and Key Largo just like any other touristy town, motels, restaurants, and up market resorts. In fact, my opinion only, I didn’t think the Keys really started until about halfway there. Many of the earlier islands look like just touristy places. I had expected the bridges to be really neat, but the Highway 1 bridges are concrete structures with no form. Some of the older, decrepit bridges, have more character.

It was a long ride, and slow as the southbound traffic was quite heavy, and there were road works. Loads of bikes were departing outbound, so I wondered if I had missed something. You can see the whole Keys thing is the lifestyle. The sea, climate, and whatever. Fishing is king, and everywhere are boats fishing, and people fishing from the bridges.

Some of the properties seen from the road are luxurious, right on the water. If there is ever a really bad hurricane here, lookout.

The Keys are just islands connected by bridges, and the sea is the scenery. If you have travelled by water through the San Juan’s, BC inland passage, or Thousand Islands or Muskokas in Canada, you can relate to varying scenery besides the water.

It seemed to take ages to get to Key West, mainly I think because the scenery is sometimes a repeat, cross a concrete bridge, another island. It becomes repetitive. Actually, I found that at times you didn’t realize you were on an island, some are quite large. There is one bridge called ‘The Seven Mile Bridge”, and as I rode on it going south it was sunny, the other end seemed sunny, and right in the middle was a dirty black cloud. Sure enough as you passed underneath, the heavens opened with one of those 60 seconds hosing of warm water, then it was dry again.

At last Key West hove into sight, and it is obviously the main attraction.

The streets are fairly narrow, and quite crowded with holiday makers. The tour trams, and trains are frequent and crowded, so business must be good. After I did my 4 Corners stuff, I rode around a bit, and liked the place. Lots of touristy stores and the like, but it had character. I was talking to a local (from Pittsburg) whilst he was waiting for a bus at the Post Office. I had coerced him into taking my picture. He was out of work, so some areas are not so good, and the whole place really runs on tourism. I think the days of Hemingway are long gone. He was complaining about the hourly bus service, and “ if this were Pittsburg”, I wondered why he was there.

Official 4 Corners photos:

I did meet a friendly motor cycle cop who watched my bike for me whilst it was parked on a yellow line (I was taking a picture). Actually he was good about it, but I got on and took off pretty quick.

Official start of Highway 1

I took some photos of the local tour vehicles, and of course the start of Highway 1. I also took some great helmet camera video of the ride in and out.

Local tourist vehicles:

So then it was time to head out and make the journey northwards. The ride out was much faster than inbound, mainly because I think the outbound crowd had left whilst I was inbound. All was ticking along until a couple of pickup trucks had a jousting engagement about half a mile ahead of me, so we were stuck for about half and hour. Luckily it was in the inbound lane, so the cops got organized and started to move traffic. The jam for those heading to Key West was huge. One way in and out will do that to you.

On the way out those black clouds appeared again, and I had a few of those 60 second dousings. I can’t complain, the first real rain I have had since riding up to Blaine. The ride from Key Largo back to Florida City seemed forever, and so same old.

Then it was northward on the Turnpike, and bedded down in Fort Pierce. I am actually in La Quinta, the best place I have stayed, and one of the cheapest. A guy I was talking to at a service station yesterday put me on to Fort Pierce. He said it was a repressed area, so much cheaper rates than the more up market places. He was right.

So would I go back?. Yes, I would as a tourist. There are obviously different priced places to stay, but I think staying there for a week would do the trick. I bet the road in and out is a bear in peak season, and Key West itself gets very crowded. But it would be fun to be there, and just hang out, and fish. Some of the locals I happened to talk to (I rode past the Post Office twice, even after getting directions twice), dress and look like the old characters. I think you would get there by whatever means, and don’t drive after that. Rent a scooter, all the locals have them, or so it seems.

So tomorrow I head north up the Turnpike, stopping in Summerfield for a quick hello to a friend’s father and his brothers, then onward. I have no idea where I‘ll be this time tomorrow. Actually I only know what time it is by looking at my phone, and as for what day, no idea. Each day is ‘today”.