Days 48-50: Key Largo

On Thursday, October 15 I left Homestead, Florida for Key Largo, 30 miles away. At the Monroe County line (the official entrance to the Florida Keys) I had the most aggressively anti-biker experience of my trip when a tollbooth operator yelled curses at me and told the driver behind me to take me out on the road for accidentally riding over the treadle. This was not the welcome I was hoping for.

Although songs written about Key Largo indicate it was once a beautiful destination, the Key Largo of today is, to my mind, rather corporate and crummy. US 1, a four-lane freeway, cuts it right down the middle. In place of a downtown there are cloisters of shopping centers and hotels at various turnoffs. A bike path exists but it runs right along the freeway and is marred by rocky gravel and root outcroppings that don't make for a pleasant or speedy ride. Visitors travel to Key Largo in order to fish and dive, and here, if you're not in or on the water you might as well go home. 

The island's landscape is still recovering from Hurricane Andrew, which destroyed virtually all vegetation on the island in 1992. Standing saltwater remained on the island after the hurricane passed, requiring the government to hose down the island with freshwater to prevent salinization and possible desertification of the soil. Today, Key Largo is covered mainly with the fast-growing brushy weeds that were the first to take over.

The highlight of my visit was a snorkeling tour of the White Banks Reef, part of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, located just east of Key Largo. The water was warm enough that even without a wetsuit I only started to get chilly 45 minutes in. Having done cold-water scuba before, this was the way to go! Under the water's surface I saw what I learned were elkhorn, staghorn and brain corals, parrotfish, damselfish and barracuda. One big barracuda was dragging a hook and fishing line, and I considered a rescue but wasn't sure the fish would understand. The captain of our boat assured me that the hooks biodegrade in a few weeks and don't bother the fish at all. Sure, they eat it up.