The Old Bahia Honda Bridge

Bahia Honda Key, Florida

Bahia Honda Key is one of the best preserved keys in the chain of Islands leading 110 miles to Key West, 90 miles from Cuba. The large key is now a State park with miles of white sand beaches and camping facilities. Bahia Honda starts at mile marker 50 just below the Seven Mile bridge leading south from Marathon Key toward Key West.




Billionaire Henry Flagler was a partner in Standard Oil with John D. Rockerfeller. After a visit to Saint Augustine he became interested in developing the west coast of Florida and built a railroad to Miami and a string of magnificent hotels, including the "Breakers" in Palm Beach.



His least successful commercial venture was the overseas railroad from Miami to Key West. This was a stupendous labor and engineering challenge and included the seven-mile bridge below Marathon Key as well as the mile long Bahia Honda bridge.

The workers who built the bridge battled sand fleas, mosquitoes and hurricanes. Thousands of them were killed in the storms that periodically swept the Keys during the construction period from 1905 to 1912.

Flagler's bridges and pilings, now unused, still stand and appear as solid as the Pyramids. I have snorkled for, and eaten, Florida lobsters that live beneath the old arched pilings and the sturdy oval pilings used on the various bridges that extend for miles between the various keys.

On Labor Day, in 1935, one of the strongest hurricanes on record severed a number of the bridges and killed hundreds of WWI veterans working on a WPA bridge project. The bodies were lodged in mangrove roots and spoiled quickly in the tropical heat. The bodies, in wooden coffins, were ordered stacked and burned. An evacuation train, which backed down from Homestead to make a quick getaway was washed away. Ernest Hemingway wrote a scathing condemnation of the government at the time. He wondered who killed the veterans and left them exposed in flimsy barracks. The overseas railroad came to an end. It is interesting to see that four of the ten most powerful hurricanes of thee last hundred years have occured within the last three hurricane seasons. Could it be global warming?

Most intense Atlantic hurricanes: Intensity is measured solely by central pressure
Rank Hurricane Season Min. pressure
1 Wilma 2005 882 mbar
2 Gilbert 1988 888 mbar
3 "Labor Day" 1935 892 mbar
4 Rita 2005 895 mbar
5 Allen 1980 899 mbar
6 Katrina 2005 902 mbar
7 Camille 1969 905 mbar
8 Mitch 1998 905 mbar
9 Ivan 2004 910 mbar
10 Janet 1955 914 mbar

The Bahia Honda section of the railroad bridge had a rickety two lane highway built over its top. That section of the highway to Key West opened for traffic in 1938 and lasted until a more modern bridge was finished in 1972. I've driven over the old bridge many times, but now it's just nostalgia and a photo op. 

Vagaries

Mile Marker 123

We spent a little too long escaping the storm, chatting with neighbors.

You never really know when you wake up in the morning if it will be the last time.


Whenever they have a fatality on the US 1 two lane choke point out of the Keys, traffic stops dead for about five hours while they investigate and clear the scene.

The accident must have happened about a minute ahead. The big rock hauler is trashed. The other vehicle is completely disintegrated, parts strewn for 200 yards along the highway. The fire rescue people walk along the roadside for 500 yards in all directions making sure that they have not overlooked any bodies or parts.

We see the helicopters evacuating dead victims.

The last time we left the Keys there was also a fatal accident that stopped all traffic in and out. Since we were stopped by a restaurant, we had conch fritters while we waited.

Fantasy Fest

Key West, Florida

Looking for that perfect costume? You might get some ideas from last night’s Fantasy Fest Parade and bacchanal in Key West.


Then again, different communities have different standards and no one ever accused Key West of having excessively high standards.


We found a parking place and walked to the far end of Duval Street. We bought a rum and coke from a Habitat for Humanity volunteer. He tells us they are building 18 units up on Sugarloaf Key. I’m tempted to volunteer, but it doesn’t fit our commitments for the next two months.

A few people in the crowd carry “repent” type signs or portable loudspeakers with religious messages. It can be very hard to distinguish the serious messages from the mockers.

We wander though the throng of nude freaks with painted breasts and genitals and hear a discussion between a spectator and a police sergeant about what constitutes lascivious indecency in Key West. The sergeant says if the parts are painted, it’s OK. The spectator points out some unpainted body parts and the sergeant shrugs.

We have some coconut shrimp and stone crab down at Red Fish/ Blue Fish and watch the chickens scavenge the scraps from the floor.

A tourist with a University of Kansas t-shirt passes us. We giggle and remind each other that we’re not in Kansas anymore.

We find a seat on a front porch of a house being renovated next to a Duval street brothel. The girls from the house sit on the front parch and negotiate with the revelers.

On the way out we run into Miss Joyce on a shadowy street, walking her dog. She’s a sweet thing, about 75. She’s lived in Key West since 1932. She’s seen a lot of changes. We talk awhile about the things she’s seen.

Most of the Fantasy Fest pictures would not be approved for our viewing by young children.