Greg & Camille Go Bike

We woke up to the roaring wind a few times during the night and took a midnight stroll. In the morning, we woke just before sunrise and enjoyed sun rays peeking through thick clouds over the ocean. Sitting right by the water while eating breakfast was a wonderful way to start the morning.

We packed up to get on the road just as the camp host arrived to paint the picnic tables. Martin asked us how our stay had been and wanted to know a bit about our journey. He was really impressed by our trip and and also talked a bit about his own experiences. A well-seasoned traveler, he listed Curry Hammock in the top 3 campgrounds (other 2 were Topsail and Rainbow Springs) of the 40 or so that he'd been to in the last couple years. We agree. It was our favorite camping experience of the trip so far, and there have been a lot of great ones. He seemed like such a kind and genuine person and wished us safe travels at least 3 times before we moved on. We were both really glad that we'd been a bit sluggish to get on the road and were able to meet him.

We started out by biking 8 miles down the road (there really is just one main road) to Food for Thought, a health food grocery store that also had coffee and meals. We had coffee, some breakfast bowls, and smoothies there while enjoying computer time and an escape from the heat.

Just a mile down the road, we stopped at Crane Point Hammock, a nature museum. We spent half an hour exploring their indoor exhibits before heading out to the trails. They did a great job summarizing the history of the keys and the varied ecosystems without overwhelming us with detail. One of the exhibits described Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who apparently had been captured by the Calusa tribe in the early period of European settlement in the keys. After living with them for 17 years, he was traded away and wrote a book describing his experiences. Heading outside, we followed a couple miles of trails that had some good views. We were surprised to stumble upon their hospital for injured birds. It was kind of sad to see all the injuries, but a relief they were getting help.

After the nature center, we set out towards our campground for the night. The rest of today's ride was predominantly on the seven mile bridge. We'd been warned about it earlier in the day at a local bike shop while picking up an extra pair of tubes for Camille, but with the nice wide shoulder, it really wasn't too bad. It was a little disappointing looking to our right though and seeing the old rail bridge running parallel, with only a couple sections left to be finished. Hopefully they will repair those sections someday and make a completely separated bike way.

We arrived at Bahia Honda just a bit before sundown. En route to our campsite, we noticed warnings about crocodiles in the area. We'd just read about how rare they are earlier in the nature center! We never ended up seeing any, but it was still exciting. The campsite was right on the water and had a bit of a swamp smell to it. The biting no-see-um flies were absolutely brutal. We set up the tent, quickly ate dinner and went to bed. It was a hot and sticky night interrupted by a couple periods of heavy rain.