Feb. 15, 2012, The railway work of Henry Flagler was completed in 1912, but the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 destroyed many miles of the railway system. The FEC had gone bankrupt and was unable to rebuild the railway system. The remaining roadbed and railway were sold to the State of Florida and developed as the Oversees Highway later in the 1930s and early 1940s. The current roadway and bridge system, through the Keys, was rebuilt in the 1980s. The road leads visitors from Key Largo and down to the southernmost part of the U.S., Key West. The remainder of the old bridge, south of Marathon, provides a 2.2-mile bike trail or walkway out to Pigeon Island.
We had brought along our kayaks and bikes. Luckily, we were able to have one morning together when the weather was clear enough to allow a bike ride out to the island. Unfortunately, the winds and threat of rain kept us from launching the kayaks.
We knew we had a forecast for fairly good weather the day before we were planning to head back home, so we scheduled a trip out on the Lady Marathon. We had gone fishing on this party fishing boat one year ago with great success. Looking for a repeat performance, we loaded up our fishing gear and headed north to board the boat. Unlike last year, the fish were not quite as cooperative. We did catch about a dozen keepers, including a couple of yellowtail snapper, but most were smaller grunts and toro snapper. Mother Nature provided a few downpours for us, but then followed the rain with a lovely full rainbow. All in all, it was a wonderful day out on the water.
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