As we left the John Pennekamp State Park and
headed south for Key West, we passed this sale item at the side of the
road. It is an extensively "customized" 1949/50 Buick. Much of the
chrome trim (which makes the model year more easily identifiable) has
been removed as part of the customizing - cleaning off all the trim is
often done to make the body lines more prominent without the distraction
of all the "gingerbread".
When chrome has been removed from the
hood (bonnet) it is said that the car is "nosed", referring to the
removal of trim from the "nose" of the car. Similarly, removing
trim from the trunk (boot) is referred to by saying the car has been
"decked", the term coming from the fact that the trunk lid is often
referred to as the deck lid. Hence "nosed & decked" is a standard
customizing ritual of removing trim from the hood & trunk.
The headlights have been "frenched" - ie
the chrome trim that usually surrounds the lights has been removed and
the fenders extended a couple of inches in order to tuck the lights back
into the body. The front bumper is either from another car or is custom
made, as is the grille. So, now you are an expert on the American
fascination with customizing old cars..... (Thanks to Thom Mohr.) |  |
 | Most of the
road is fairly boring. It is a two lane highway with few passing places and
speed limits most of the way. You also can't see the sea for most of the
journey, although when you can you realize that the road is at an altitude
of less than five feet. |
| Even down here you find house moves in progress. This is the
second half of a pair probably en route to replace one damaged by a
hurricane. |  |
 | The keys are
actually just a collection of sand bar islands which have been linked by a
highway with bridges like this one across the gaps. |
| Many of the keys are inhabited but they are often gated
communities. There are few places where ordinary people can get anywhere
near the coast itself. Much of the coast of Florida is in private hands. |  |
 | Even when you
have houses on the keys, canals have been cut so that each house has a dock
as well as a garage. A boat is at least as important as a car. This is not
a place for the poor of America. |
| If you can't afford a house with a dock then you can keep your
boat at the marina. Many of the RV parks have their own marinas. The
snowbirds come down with their RV, their tow-behind car, and their boat
behind that. Two trailers behind a vehicle is not legal in many states but
it does seem to be ignored on the interstates. |  |
 | Some of the
bridges are quite long. This one is seven miles. The posts in the water
carry electricity and are steel pylons. The bridge on the right is the
remains of the Key West Railroad built by Henry Flagler and opened in 1902.
It ended when a section was washed away (complete with train) in a hurricane
in 1935. |
| It is quite a feat of engineering. Some sections have now been
removed to allow boats to pass between the keys. The road bridge rises at
such points to allow taller boats to pass. The bridge sections are now used
extensively by the myriads of fishermen. |  |
 | Some sections
of the railway were built of steel and a road was built on top. Now no
longer used, it is a reminder of how the keys were won. |
| There are tiny, often unnamed keys, uninhabited and covered by mangroves. Some of these are barely above the water. The extensive shoals
and reefs around the keys help to reduce the storm surges which cause most
of the damage in hurricanes. So most of the damage down here is caused
by wind. |  |
 | So you buy your
diesel pusher mobile home and then you buy a matching 'toy box' to carry
your Harley, ATV, canoes, outside barbecue etc etc. You don't buy rigs like
this for under half a million. This RV is very close to the ground when
parked and rises
almost a foot on startup as the air suspension kicks in. |
| The camp site had not long reopened after hurricane Wilma which
had flooded the site to a depth of five feet, along with anything left on it
like this caravan. Now it blocks a site. The owners aren't interested and
the site owners haven't the legal authority to remove it. Some of these fall apart when
you try to pull them out. A crane will be needed to remove this. Cost - far
more than it is worth. |  |
 | The site isn't
five feet above sea level. It is actually based around a quarry, now full
of water, from which the stone was removed to build the Flagler railway.
Miles of salt-tolerant reeds make up most of Sugarloaf Key and many of the
others. |
| A little more height and you can get shrubs with the sun setting
on the horizon. |  |
 | Along the
roadside and around the campsite are a few higher shrubs. The sunsets we saw were
often not as amazing as you might expect because of the clear blue skies. |
| You actually need clouds to give you an impressive display at
sunset. Then it gets dark very quickly. You end up taking a different shot
every 30 seconds. |  |
 | Just to show we
aren't the only nuts with scooters we caught sight of this one on the back of a
caravan. |
| And I even persuaded Jan to try it out. You don't need a
motorcycle licence to drive a 50cc scooter in Florida. But it still takes great
concentration as can be clearly seen here. This scooter will do 50mph but
here is only doing 5mph (it's a lot harder at that speed). |  |
|