Monday, July 13, 2009
A Condo in Key Largo - 1350 miles, down I-95
Traveling to Key Largo by Wally Dobelis
Whether you are an owner or renter in the Keys makes a load of difference. Renters drive, because they bring clothes and tools and books, sometimes a winter’s supply. Owners fly because they keep the gear locked in their closets all year round.
The East Coat driver comes down I-95, some 1350 miles from New York City. The trip can be divided easily into three 450 mile segments with stopovers in Rocky Mount, NC and Kingsland/St. Mary’s in GA on the Florida borderline. Both towns have lots of hotels, Best Westerns, Day’s Inns and such, with discount coupon books available in the states preceding – thus, you will find NC coupons for I-95 at roadside food stops and gas stations in VA, and they will be honored if you do not delay your checking to after nightfall, since budget rooms are limited. Animals are accepted at $10 or so extra per, but these designated rooms are somewhat less clean – but do not smuggle, you can be fined.
Flying is easier, Miami Airport is 50 miles away, and car rentals are a snap. Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) is 20 miles further north, but the fares are cheaper on Spirit, and the car rental specials are better. If you are staying for the winter, say two months, try to ask for a short-term or mini-lease. Don’t be surprised if Avis or Hertz at times offer better numbers than Alamo and other second-line vendors. If you are planning to bicycle while in the Keys or are depending on friends’ transportation, take the Keys Limo service, at $70/person, or better yet, rent an Enterprise car, to be dropped off at the destination rental station. They will deliver you to your condo colony.
Return to FLL via the Turnpike is easy, we pay four $1 tolls at exits 11, 23, 36 and 49, then take Exit 54 into 595, and follow exit signs to the FLL airport. Normally, the 20 miles across the bridge and the 54 miles to the Turnpike exit take 1 ½ hrs, and the balance of the trip and return of the rental car (now mostly in the airport annex), a short bus ride away another ½ hr.
Coming from FLL airport, take 595 and watch for the exit to the Florida Turnpike, the tolls as shown above, or else you will end on the busy I-95, then the even busier and slower US 1with frequent traffic lights. The MIA exit 4.will pot you on 836, the Dolphin Expressway, busy but easy to follow, leading to the Turnpike South at its exit 17.
Returning to MIA, take exit 17 into 874 the Don Shula Expressway (Miamians take their Dolphins leadership seriously). It leads into 824,Palmetto Expressway, then turn right into 836 the busy Dolphin Expressway, and watch for the left turn into the Airport access, Lejeune Rd., and car return.???
There are interesting cruises leading out of Ft. Lauderdale. Park?
If your cruise of Panama Canal, Honduras, Guatemala or Belize requires a flight out of MIA, store your car at the airport – Dolphin or Flamingo long-term parking; whichever is closer to your airline terminal, for $12/day.
The Turnpike will end and drop you on US 1 just before the Florida City traffic light with a white cross, marking, to the right, entry to the 993x, access to the Everglades national Park, Here is Roberts, the legendary fruit stand, and Krome Avenue, doorway to Homestead, all importsnt places, to be discussed later. Drive right through towards the Keys, unless you want to stop at the Tourist Information center a 100 yards down, for maps and guides and hotel reservations. Stay on the right, unless you are going to the rich Ocean Reef condos.
Now, the famous 18-mile causeway, or bridge, to the Keys. It is a road through the Everglades-like prairie sites on Florida Bay, pink clouds and a sunset if you are arriving in the afternoon, then some open water , blue on the ocean, green on the bay side, a boat basin on the ocean side at MM , In January the initial bridge posting highlighted 18 deaths this year, intended to scare us. It worked. The one-track each way road presents a clean, double yellow stripe, broken when passing is permitted) all the way, and four –deep raised caution bricks across them, to warn the dozing driver that he is crossing into opposite traffic.
For the legitimately nervous drivers who re worried about being pushed by other beyond the 55MPH limit, there are two passing zones where you can let the fast movers pass you. Once past the Jewfish Creek draw bridge and into Key Largo, the road turns two lane each way, with a wide median, planted with palms and orange-blossoming Geiger trees. Access paths widen to many points to crossing lanes, permitting you to slide in at high speed, without impeding traffic. Exits from condo colonies and most restaurants and the tiny malls along the way have short access lanes, to wait for lulls in the ever-present traffic, so that you can pick up speed and slip into the stream. Stop signs are rare, you are expected to be cautious and safe. Even the most cautious drivers have enough space and time to wait until they feel absolutely certain of their safety. The notorious Florida slow driving old-timers are not part of the Keys scene.
The two-lane roads are only in the main towns, Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon and Key west, otherwise it is single track, through some of the most beautiful seascapes, picturesque settlements with white two story verandahs, egrets on the roadside and boats in the distance – not too many of those, since Wilma. Traffic moves fast, unless you are stuck behind an orange school bus making pickup or discharge stops. Most people going to Key West for the day will choose their travel hours with care.
More about The Seven Mile Bridge tk
A Condo in the Keys, or My Boat Is In My Closet and Other Simple Pleasures of Life in Key Largo by Wally Dobelis. Copyright M. C. Dobelis
Whether you are an owner or renter in the Keys makes a load of difference. Renters drive, because they bring clothes and tools and books, sometimes a winter’s supply. Owners fly because they keep the gear locked in their closets all year round.
The East Coat driver comes down I-95, some 1350 miles from New York City. The trip can be divided easily into three 450 mile segments with stopovers in Rocky Mount, NC and Kingsland/St. Mary’s in GA on the Florida borderline. Both towns have lots of hotels, Best Westerns, Day’s Inns and such, with discount coupon books available in the states preceding – thus, you will find NC coupons for I-95 at roadside food stops and gas stations in VA, and they will be honored if you do not delay your checking to after nightfall, since budget rooms are limited. Animals are accepted at $10 or so extra per, but these designated rooms are somewhat less clean – but do not smuggle, you can be fined.
Flying is easier, Miami Airport is 50 miles away, and car rentals are a snap. Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) is 20 miles further north, but the fares are cheaper on Spirit, and the car rental specials are better. If you are staying for the winter, say two months, try to ask for a short-term or mini-lease. Don’t be surprised if Avis or Hertz at times offer better numbers than Alamo and other second-line vendors. If you are planning to bicycle while in the Keys or are depending on friends’ transportation, take the Keys Limo service, at $70/person, or better yet, rent an Enterprise car, to be dropped off at the destination rental station. They will deliver you to your condo colony.
Return to FLL via the Turnpike is easy, we pay four $1 tolls at exits 11, 23, 36 and 49, then take Exit 54 into 595, and follow exit signs to the FLL airport. Normally, the 20 miles across the bridge and the 54 miles to the Turnpike exit take 1 ½ hrs, and the balance of the trip and return of the rental car (now mostly in the airport annex), a short bus ride away another ½ hr.
Coming from FLL airport, take 595 and watch for the exit to the Florida Turnpike, the tolls as shown above, or else you will end on the busy I-95, then the even busier and slower US 1with frequent traffic lights. The MIA exit 4.will pot you on 836, the Dolphin Expressway, busy but easy to follow, leading to the Turnpike South at its exit 17.
Returning to MIA, take exit 17 into 874 the Don Shula Expressway (Miamians take their Dolphins leadership seriously). It leads into 824,Palmetto Expressway, then turn right into 836 the busy Dolphin Expressway, and watch for the left turn into the Airport access, Lejeune Rd., and car return.???
There are interesting cruises leading out of Ft. Lauderdale. Park?
If your cruise of Panama Canal, Honduras, Guatemala or Belize requires a flight out of MIA, store your car at the airport – Dolphin or Flamingo long-term parking; whichever is closer to your airline terminal, for $12/day.
The Turnpike will end and drop you on US 1 just before the Florida City traffic light with a white cross, marking, to the right, entry to the 993x, access to the Everglades national Park, Here is Roberts, the legendary fruit stand, and Krome Avenue, doorway to Homestead, all importsnt places, to be discussed later. Drive right through towards the Keys, unless you want to stop at the Tourist Information center a 100 yards down, for maps and guides and hotel reservations. Stay on the right, unless you are going to the rich Ocean Reef condos.
Now, the famous 18-mile causeway, or bridge, to the Keys. It is a road through the Everglades-like prairie sites on Florida Bay, pink clouds and a sunset if you are arriving in the afternoon, then some open water , blue on the ocean, green on the bay side, a boat basin on the ocean side at MM , In January the initial bridge posting highlighted 18 deaths this year, intended to scare us. It worked. The one-track each way road presents a clean, double yellow stripe, broken when passing is permitted) all the way, and four –deep raised caution bricks across them, to warn the dozing driver that he is crossing into opposite traffic.
For the legitimately nervous drivers who re worried about being pushed by other beyond the 55MPH limit, there are two passing zones where you can let the fast movers pass you. Once past the Jewfish Creek draw bridge and into Key Largo, the road turns two lane each way, with a wide median, planted with palms and orange-blossoming Geiger trees. Access paths widen to many points to crossing lanes, permitting you to slide in at high speed, without impeding traffic. Exits from condo colonies and most restaurants and the tiny malls along the way have short access lanes, to wait for lulls in the ever-present traffic, so that you can pick up speed and slip into the stream. Stop signs are rare, you are expected to be cautious and safe. Even the most cautious drivers have enough space and time to wait until they feel absolutely certain of their safety. The notorious Florida slow driving old-timers are not part of the Keys scene.
The two-lane roads are only in the main towns, Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon and Key west, otherwise it is single track, through some of the most beautiful seascapes, picturesque settlements with white two story verandahs, egrets on the roadside and boats in the distance – not too many of those, since Wilma. Traffic moves fast, unless you are stuck behind an orange school bus making pickup or discharge stops. Most people going to Key West for the day will choose their travel hours with care.
More about The Seven Mile Bridge tk
A Condo in the Keys, or My Boat Is In My Closet and Other Simple Pleasures of Life in Key Largo by Wally Dobelis. Copyright M. C. Dobelis
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 8:07 AM 
