Florida Keys, Old Railroad Bridge

The drive from Key West to the Miami airport is about 3 1/2 hours if you obey the speed limit.  If you drive recklessly, as fast as you can, you’ll get there, on average, about 20 minutes faster.  Really, they’ve done studies: you can risk your life and everyone around you, and arrive about 20 minutes earlier.  It’s hardly worth it. In fact I tell people to slow down and leave some extra time.  You’ll want to stop and take some photos, and that will add a little time to your trip.

Every turn along the Overseas Highway (aka Route 1) is a scenic picture spot. But if you stop at all of them, you’ll never get to your destination.  So that’s the other risk.

I took this picture near Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys.  I like it, because it shows the Keys today, the same as it might have been in the 1920’s.  This was the Florida Keys that Hemingway and later President Truman enjoyed, and it’s quickly disappearing.

Now I’ll confess, I took this photo while driving by last weekend at 50 mph!    I didn’t heed my own advice and stop and enjoy the view.  And I know if you make it a habit of snapping photos while driving, you probably won’t make it to your destination either!

So next time I’ll pull over to take the shot.  Maybe I’ll even eat lunch there.  Heck I carry a fishing pole in the trunk – I might as well get it out!

Now where was it I was trying to go?  That’s a problem in the Keys.  It’s easy to forget where you were going…

More at: http://123FloridaKeys.com

Florida Keys, Old Railroad Bridge, originally uploaded by Key West Baseball.

Tags: Cudjoe Key, Florida, Florida Keys, Key West, mangroves, ocean, Overseas Highway