Camping Marathon/Knights Key

As ilhas de Marathon se estendem por aproximadamente 15 milhas na parte central do conjunto de ilhas no sul da Florida chamadas Florida Keys, e aqui se encontram algumas das melhores praias da regiao e oferece facil acesso aos navegadores do Golfo do Mexico para o Oceano Atlantico bem como para as aguas e canais internos.

Ponto historico de Marathon  a Seven Mile Bridge (11 km de extensao) e considerada a maior ponte em extensao dos EUA. Existe ainda tambem a ponte antiga chamada de "Old Seven" e parte dela ainda pode ser visitada a pe ou de bicicleta (Daniel e eu fizemos o trajeto de aproximadamente 3 milhas a pe...bom exercicio...) e que aparece em alguns filmes como "True Lies" e na serie de TV "Flipper", entre outros.

Aqui acampamos em Knights Key e do camping pegamos um ferry para visitar a ilha de Pidgeon Key que foi escolhida por Henry Flagler, idealizador e construtor da estrada de ferro chamada "Overseas Railroad" que liga o continente as Florida Keys, como acampamento da construcao desta parte da ferrovia. Ali haviam dormitorios para os trabalhadores (que chegaram a ser 400), refeitorio, ambulatorio, biblioteca, etc e ainda aqui existem 8 predios tombados pelo patrimonio historico que sao da epoca da construcao da Ferrovia. A escolha da ilha se deu pelo fato dela somente ter acesso via barco para que os trabalhadores nao se evadissem uma vez que o local era bastante inospito na epoca. O museu conta a historia da construcao e do local.

A construcao da Overseas Railroad se deu entre 1908 e 1912 - ano em que foi inaugurada e Flagler compareceu a inauguracao sem poder apreciar toda sua grandeza por ja estar sem visao mas dizia estar imensamente realizado com seu feito e percebia a satisfacao de todos pelo burburinho da populacao que compareceu em peso a inauguracao.

Como disse anteriormente, Daniel e eu preferimos retornar da ilha a pe para apreciar estas aguas que sao indescritivelmente esverdeadas, alem de podermos apreciar o lindo por do sol! E entramos para o grupo daqueles que andaram pela "Old Seven"...

The islands of Marathon span about 15 miles in the Middle Keys and here one can find some of the nicest beaches in the Keys. Due to the 65 foot high span of the Seven Mile Bridge it provides boaters easy access from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean as well as inland waterways and canals..

A landmark to Marathon the Seven Mile Bridge has been once referred to as "the 8th Wonder of the World" and it's remains called "Old seven" can still be visited by bicycle or on foot (Daniel and I walked the approximately 3 mile extension of it...good exercise...) and has been used in movies as "True Lies" and the TV Series "Flipper" (Pigeon Island part).

Here we camped at Knights Key and parked water front, or better "water back..." and had the nicest view of the water and the bridge. From the RV Resort we took a ferry to visit Pigeon Key Island, which was chosen by Henry Flagler - builder of the "Overseas Highway" - as headquarters and work camp for the construction of this section of the Railway. There they built workers dorms (which at times were 400) eating room, small clinic, library, etc and the island is home to 8 buildings on the National Register of Historical Places. Flagler chose the island due to the fact that it could only be acessed by boat and it would keep workers from fleeing the place which wasn't the ideal island at that time. One of the buildings houses the museum which tells the history of the construction of the railroad and of Pigeon Key and its people...very interesting.

The construction of the Overseas Railroad in its Key West extension happened between 1908 and 1912 - year in which it was innaugurated and Flagler attended the innauguration without being able to enjoy it at its full extent since he was already blind. He commented that despite the fact of not being able to see he was able to feel the contentment of the population which attended the ceremony.

As I mentioned before Daniel and I decided to return from Pigeon Island walking through the Old Seven bridge and enjoyed the spectacle of the greenish waters and the incredible sunset! And this way we joined the group that has "walked the Old Seven"...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The islands of Marathon span about 15 miles in the Middle Keys and here one can find some of the nicest beaches in the Keys. Due to the 65 foot high span of the Seven Mile Bridge it provides boaters with easy access from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean as well as inland waterways and canals.

A landmark to Marathon the Seven Mile Bridge was once referred to as the 8th Wonder of the World at its old extension. Part of the "Old Seven" can still be visited by bycicle or on foot (Daniel and I walked the approximate 3 miles extension of the bridge...good exercise...) and it has been used in movies such as "True Lies" and he TV series "Flipper" (Pigeon Island).

Here we camped at Knights Key RV Resort and parked our rig water front, or better, "water back"...and had the nicest view of the water and the bridge. From the