February 20, 2012

We left Ft. Myers this morning and drove to Marathon. It is advertised as the “Heart of the Keys” because it is physically at the midpoint of the Florida Keys. Along the way, we traveled on  Route 75 (“Alligator Alley”) which crosses the southern tip of Florida from coast to coast (Naples to Miami) right through the middle of the Everglades.

Turning south from Route 75, we passed through Homestead, a major agricultural area. We saw untold amounts of vegetables, flowers, plant, shrubs and trees growing for wholesale and retail sales.

Some plants are very young in the fields and others are in later stages of growth. Some corn had tassels already. Tomatoes have been ripe ever since we arrived in Florida.

 Leaving Homestead, we continued south on U.S. Route 1, the well known highway that serves the eastern coast of the United States from Ft. Kent, Maine (along the Canadian border) to Key West, Florida, a distance of 2,377 miles.

Route 1 is known as the Overseas Highway along the Florida Keys and it is the only through road. The speed limit varies from 35 mph to 55 mph, but as it is being used by a lot of people during this season, the traveling can be very slow at times.

Our hotel in Marathon is the Sea Dell Motel. How quaint that it rhymes with Cordell. It is much smaller than the suite where we lived for almost a month in Ft. Myers, but rooms are expensive here and most places are full. I noticed that our room doesn't have any heater so I guess it never gets that cold here!

Our good friends from church, Bill and Jeanne, have rented a house for two months at Key Colony Beach on Marathon key.

 We were invited to their house for a home cooked meal. Bill served fish that he had caught recently and of course some Key Lime Pie. We enjoyed the warm evening together hardly believing that we were eating outside on their patio during late February.

We plan to travel to Key West tomorrow and Bill gave us some good suggestions and tips.