What’s A Bar Pilot?

What the heck is a ‘Bar Pilot’? I’ll take a wild guess: Airline pilots who have one too many drinks at the local bar before their flight and end up being the lead on tonight’s news! OK, that’s 100% wrong, I’ll now refer to an on-line encyclopedia so give me a few minutes… (3-minutes 18-seconds pass)… I’m back, here we go:

Bar Pilot – ‘A pilot who navigates a ship from a pilot station over a bar and often into a harbor or dock. Normally a highly experienced ex local ship captain who possesses detailed knowledge of the particular waterway.’

There, and now you know the rest of the story! You know, my first description sadly to say is pretty accurate too! 🙂

Located on the northern part of town just 3 blocks east of Duval Street in what’s refereed to as Harbor Walk. This is a pedestrian friendly shopping, dining & ocean watching hot spot. You can find the Key West Bar Pilots sign on the western side of Harbor Walk beside the A & B Marina sign pictured below.

Building Wrapped Mural

Literally the first completely painted building mural you’ll see heading south in the entire Florida Keys! Welcome to an A-frame building simply described as an oceanic sight for sore eyes! The newly painted brilliant colors pop out at you making you take notice of even the tiniest detail.

P.S. – You’ll be surprised by the ONE mural I didn’t post from this building’s other side that had its own post years ago. It’s truly AMAZING!

You can find this beautifully painted eye-candy at Mile Marker 106.7 oceanside on US-1 at one of Key Largo’s several Information Centers.

Key West’s Secret Beach

Rest Beach Key West

Welcome to one of Key West’s BEST KEPT SECRETS and least used beaches! If you’re into soaking up the sun on a beach with nothing but sand and only a few other worshipers then this is your beach!

In this case the name “Rest Beach” is exactly what you’d end up doing here… RESTING! This is a totally NO frills place to hang out and enjoy the suns rays. There are NO bathrooms, NO food vendors, NO lifeguards, NO picnic tables, NO boat rentals, NO chairs, NO umbrellas, and NO hassles just sand, surf, ocean & sun! This SECRET SOLITUDE is a dream for those wanting to get away from the crowds of tourist flocking to the other Key West Beaches. There’s FREE parking across the street and south of the beach. So what are you waiting for, grab your swimsuit, chair and umbrella and enjoy a day in the sun with little worries of fighting any sort of crowd whatsoever!

Located on the southeastern side of the island exactly to the left of the White Street Pier (seen in the background of the top picture) & just north of the more densely populated Higgs Beach.

         

Whale Harbor Lighthouse

Say hello to the NEW Whale Harbor Lighthouse! The former restaurant and buffet that stood here has been gone for years and replaced now by this new beautiful lighthouse and not so good looking expanded parking lot. It still makes for an AWESOME photo-op for your scrapbook!

Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT the same lighthouse that stood in the same exact place several years ago as part of the Whale Harbor Restaurant pictured below. (though very similar)

You can find this newest Whale Harbor Lighthouse on US-1 in Islamorada at Mile Marker 83.8 oceanside.

Old Whale Harbor Restaurant Lighthouse

 

Largest Conch Shell In The Florida Keys

Wow, is this one large Conch Shell! They say if you pick up a conch shell and place it beside your ear that you can hear the ocean waves and surf. Well, I suggest that you don’t even try picking up the sea-side ocean behemoth. This larger-than-life conch shell is made up of welded sheets of thick steel.

As you can see by my partner-in-crime standing next to it that this thing is TALL and it’s better by far that you put your ear to it rather than trying to pick it up. Key West has a rich history in the welding trade and has numerous examples all over town. This man-made statue just like the elementary school Pirate mascot in a former blog are superb specimens of its welding prowess taught in its high schools, tech schools & colleges.

You can find the largest Conch Shell in the Keys located in the parking lot of the local high school on Flagler Ave. in Key West.

Double Manatee Rock

This TWIN MANATEE ROCK is really hard to find mi amigos! In fact, you can walk right by it without seeing it at all. To find this cool carved stone you’ll first have to find a place to park in this small parking lot. The artwork will probably be hidden by cars parked around it so simply walk around them. They’re located in a raised flower bed at the base of the sign facing the main road.

You can see this hard to find double manatee rock on US-1 Mile Marker 82.0 bayside directly in front of the parking lot sign pictured below.

Inspirational Gospel Windows

I’ve driven by this a dozen times at 45 MPH never seeing it once. As they say, “Slow down and smell the roses”… or in this case ‘Slow down and see the GOSPEL WINDOWS’.

Wow, at first I just drove around the building admiring the stained glass pictured windows before getting out for a closer inspection and photos. It’s really impressive for a smaller church compared to most of the other church windows I’ve so seen throughout the Keys. Pictured are only three of the windows, there’s more!

You too can see this amazing gospel pictorial find painted on windows at the Big Pine United Methodist Church just before the Forestry Station about 0.4 miles down Key Deer Blvd. on the left after turning at Mile Marker 30.4 bayside off of US-1.

         

Founders Park? or Sculpture Garden?

Founders Park in Key West is a great place to visit, it’s neither a park to picnic nor a place to spend the entire day. It measures a mere 30′ x 60′ in the middle of the busiest section of town called Mallory Square just 3 blocks southwest of Duval Streets northern end.

Also called Key West Historic Memorial Sculpture Garden, it opened in September 1997 and is located on the original shoreline in front of the Waterfront Playhouse. As you enter through the wrought iron gates, a magnificent 18′ long and 25′ high sculpture entitled “The Wreckers” captures your attention and takes you back to the days when brave men would yell “Wreck Ashore” and risked their lives saving vessels and passengers in distress.

The pioneering spirit of Key West and its island people will dominate your experience as you wander along the shaded brick pathways. The Garden features 36 bronze busts depicting men and women who made Key West such a vibrant and important outpost of American culture and folklore. The entire $700,000 price tag to fund this park was raised by selling individual names engraved on bricks called the Walkway thru History.

I’ve personally looked at all 36 busts trying to find any link to either side of my family tree… no such luck. Though my father was Monroe County’s & Key West’s first Eagle Scout and one time honorary Mayor of Key West (for a day, true)… it wasn’t enough to get a bronze bust. Oh well, our family did however own prosperous businesses that helped spawn the island growth and well-being including restaurants and a number of gas stations. Founders Park or Sculpture Garden is worth a FREE 30-minute visit to check out Key West’s beginnings and prominent people throughout history.

Chain Your Bike To A Chain!

I promise that the blog’s title will begin to get clearer as you read on! 🙂

Out of the corner of my eye while driving 55 mph I saw a ‘black squiggly thing.’ (I came up with that description myself) 🙂 Being the ever curious type I just had to pull over and investigate. Yes, that’s my car on the side of the road… kind of looks like a Porsche from this angle! 🙂 But it’s not. 😦 OK, back to reality! Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a cleverly made bike rack of enormously large boat anchor chain.

You can find this rarely used bike rack made of chain at the beginning of a marked bike path at Mile Marker 55.3 bayside. The bike path itself stretches on for miles and miles… kind of like this long welded loopty loop bike rack chain if you were to straighten it out! 🙂

WARNING! Don’t Swim To CUBA!

Southernmost Pier

You think this pier has enough signs! Six to be exact, it unfortunately detracts from its endless serenity into the horizon… although in a strange way at the same time makes for a good balanced photo!

This is the SOUTHERNMOST PIER in the United States, then again, there’s a southernmost EVERYTHING down here in Key West (a publicity gimmick for sure). Though most of the signs are “No lifeguard on duty” “No diving”, I can’t read the SOUTHERNMOST SIGN IN THE UNITED STATES due to fading and therefore I have a literary license to make up my own 🙂 “Warning! Don’t Swim To CUBA!”. The Southernmost Buoy claims to be 90 miles from Cuba, if so, this would be your jumping off point if you were actually going to swim there since it would be approximately 89.999 miles to Cuba. The piers real name is “Cates Pier” as noted on the dedication monument marker seen here at the foot of the pier.

To find this is simple, get on Duval Street and head southeast till the road actually ends into the Atlantic Ocean… or as they say “Till your map turns blue”! 🙂 Oh yeah, this pier is part of what’s commonly called and advertised as “Southernmost Beach”… but I’m here to tell you that may not be true either! I’ll tell you why in a future blog on the beach itself.