John Pennekamp State Park, Key Largo, FL

Date of Stay:  Monday November 11 - Monday November 25, 2013 (14 nights)

Rate:  $23/night (Gin’s disabled FL resident discount)

Website:  John Pennekamp State Park (FL)
   102601 Overseas Highway
   Key Largo, FL  33037
   305-451-1202

Description:  New paved road in the gated cg.  All the sites were narrow for a state park and no plantings for privacy.  We were on site 43 with water/electric (50A).  The sites are all gravel and ours, along with some others, were not quite level.  We used our rubber stall mats and were fine.  We had to drive through the day use area (pretty busy) to get to the cg.  Very nice Visitor Center with aquarium, marina, couple of swim beaches, and canoe trails amongst the mangroves.  Boat tours go out daily to the nearby coral reef for snorkeling.  There is also a glass bottom boat that operates from the marina (maybe next time).  Cannon Beach, one of the swim areas, is a nice place to practice snorkeling with a planted sunken shipwreck.  We could see a few cannons and anchor along with a few fish swimming around.

Activities:  We enjoyed more time with friends here.  Gail and Rick were on one side of us for a week and Dan and Tricia were on the other side of us for both weeks.  We all noticed that there was much more turnover at this cg versus Curry Hammock.  Must be the tight quarters of the narrow sites.  It rained more often here and we were ready to relax a bit.  Gin and Rick fished some and we all went out to eat some during the first week.  The weather improved during the next week and we paddled the canals with D&T.  We also swam some at Cannon Beach and tried snorkeling there.  It was our first time in salt water.  I stayed on top of the water and floated with my face under water breathing through the snorkel.  We all walked some of the trails there and I walked the Grove Trail to an old Key Lime orchard.  Yes I picked one off a tree!  They were working on improving the bike trail beside the highway so we just peddled around in a nearby neighborhood.

Trash and Recycle:  A couple of dumpsters in the cg.  Recycle bins at the dumpsters take aluminum and plastic.

 
D&T on site 44, us, R&G on site 42                                  Site 43

 
Visitor Center                                           Snorkeling is popular here
 
Far Beach swim area                                Cannon Beach swim area
 
Glass bottom boat leaving the marina           Snorkel boat returning to the marina

Curry Hammock State Park, Marathon, FL

Date of Stay:  Monday October 28 – Monday November 11, 2013 (14 nights)

Rate:  $23/night (Gin’s disabled FL resident discount)

Website:  Curry Hammock State Park (FL)
   56200 Overseas Highway
   Marathon, FL  33050
   305-289-2690

Description: Another great Florida State Park in the Keys!  We were in site 17 with water/electric (50A) with paved roads and level pea gravel pads.  Native plants separated the sites nicely and we were right on the calm Atlantic Ocean!  We used the bathhouse for showers (clean) to conserve our tanks.  The park’s day use area is separate enough from the gated cg to give us quiet days.  There is a nice paved bike path across Hwy 1 which we used often with our friends.  Located midway along the chain of the Keys, with Publix Grocery and KMart nearby.  Close enough to Key West for a couple of day trips!

Activities:  We were here with some great friends!  I still don’t know how we all managed to get 5 sites together here for two weeks.  There was Dan and Tricia, Bruce and Laura, Rick and Gail, Bill and Nancy and us all together relaxing and playing in the tropical paradise!  I ‘lost’ many of my pictures but we took an evening trip to Key West with D&T, B&L, and R&G hitting some shops and restaurants.  Another day trip was in order with D&T and R&G to check out the Southernmost Point and walk around some more.  Plenty of nature right there at the cg.  Our first visitor was a big iguana right at our door!  We all paddled our Sea Eagles in the mangroves around the park a couple of times and saw really huge iguanas then.  We also saw some nice property for sell $$.  We all peddled together on the nice bike path across the highway.  I know I lost several pictures of this.  The group also went out on the Sea King for some deep sea fishing on a very windy day.  Unfortunately, Gin and Nancy got sick.  The rest of us had fun though.  We spent many hours visiting each other and just relaxing at our sites.  The water is quite shallow but we all spent some time floating.  It was a wonderful couple of weeks!

Trash and Recycle:  Dumpsters near the dump station with full recycling!  Glass, plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard!

Nancy, Rick, Gail, Gin, Bruce, Bill, Syl, Tricia, Laura, Dan (from Nancy’s blog)

 

Site 17

 

Visitors to our site

 

Cruise ship at Key West                        Love the name of this KW shop!

 

KW Southernmost Point

 

Right at our back door!                             Cruising the mangroves

 

 

Love the wildlife!

 

Notice the tilt of the boat (rough water)

Gin and Syl in KW at sunset