About a mile (west) out of Key Largo proper, is Lake Surprise, named by early railroad surveyors who were'nt expecting to find it. How could this happen you might ask? Well, when they started building the railroad in 1905 it was before airplanes and satellite pictures and maps - can you imagine going someplace that no one had really explored? This boggles the virtual walker's mind too.
At mile 107.2 is the Jewfish Creek.
What it looked like years ago when the world was black and white. (Please see my comment.)
What it looks like today.
Jewfish Creek presented the railroad builders with their first bridging challenge as they came down from Miami heading for Key West. The creek had to be a drawbridge to permit boat traffic even in those days! The creek also marks the end of the Florida Keys on Route 1.
The Jewfish Creek bridge was not finished when the track arrived; however, difficulty in building a stable causeway across Lake Surprise was a greater concern. The lake was to be filled, not bridged. When fill was dumped in, it sank and disappeared. It appears that it took 15 months to construct a satisfactory fill that would support continuous trains across Lake Surprise.
Now for something different! Yep, FISH!
What is a Jewfish?
If you thought Tarpon were huge at 8 feet long and 280 pounds, they look like minnows next to full grown Jewfish. The Jewfish is a grouper and can get as large as 8 feet long and 750 pounds. I wouldn't call them ugly but they have a face that probably only their mothers love. they are protected species so if you catch one, you have to throw (umm, lets make that put) it back.
Back when they were building the railroad, only a couple of these fish would feed the whole construction crew.
The next virtual stop for the virtual walker is a couple days down a lonely road going through the Florida Evergaldes. Next stop, Homestead!
Homestead is the home of a couple Nascar races.
3 comments:
Calvin and Hobbes - Bill Watterson
Calvin: Dad, how come old photographs are always black and white? Didn't they have color film back then?
Dad: Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs ARE in color. It's just the WORLD was black and white then.
Calvin: Really?
Dad: Yep. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
Calvin: That's really weird.
Dad: Well, truth is stranger than fiction.
Calvin: But then why are old PAINTINGS in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn't artists have painted it that way?
Dad: Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
Calvin: But... but how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn't their paints have been shades of gray back then?
Dad: Of course, but they turned colors like everything else in the '30s.
Calvin: So why didn't old black and white photos turn color too?
Dad: Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?
Run that by me again? LOL
Hey, great pics...even that last one. :) Watch out for the alligators in the Everglades. *hugs*
I could not imagine,traveling someplace that no one had ever been before,heck I can't even travel places that are traveled everyday,thanks to my anxiety! lol
Those Jew Fish,look like they would be an interesting time trying to reel them in.
Be careful to the next journey,my friend.....
hugs!
Post a Comment