Pigeon Key

Pigeon Key

Our excursion this week was a ride, walk, boat trip to historic Pigeon Key. We rode our folding bikes down to the east end of the Seven Mile Bridge where we found the Pigeon Key Gift Shop in an old railcar parked alongside the highway. This skinny gift shop is the start of the Pigeon Key experience.  Most visitors buy their tickets and depart on the ferry behind the gift shop for the key.  Needing a little exercise, we elected to walk the old bridge to the five acre island.  This 2.2 mile section of the old seven mile bridge is currently under review and may be closed unless funds are found to make repairs.  We found the parking lot full of cars and the bridge heavily traveled in both directions with walkers and bikers.  No motorized vehicles are allowed, so it is a popular exercise location for winter visitors and locals. We speed walked so that we would arrive about the time the ferry docked and we could join our tour leader, Eric. This island was one of 80+ construction camps for the Henry Flagler overseas railway.  The construction period was the four years from 1908 to 1912. Prior to this, the island was mapped and named by the Spanish explorers in the 1500s although it was not occupied. Several of the buildings currently on the island were built during the construction period.  These gave Eric an excuse to educate us on the conch style of architecture designed for the tropical climate and potential for hurricanes. There was a marked drop of temperature from the outside to inside but then it was only in the low 70s outside and a stiff wind was blowing. I can’t speak to the efficiency of the passive air conditioning on a hot day. We also visited several other buildings added or remodeled when the island was used to maintain the bridge. During that period several families were permanent residents, and a school was even provided.  All the buildings today are charming and in beautiful condition with park-like trees, grass, and native shrubs making this a delightful place to spend a few hours.  The island hosts visitors on the ferry tours three times a day, but also conducts multi-day camps for students who get to live on the island and study marine sciences. This income helps the not for profit preserve this historic site at the eastern end of the Seven Mile Bridge. Since the wind was against us (20+ knots) we rode the ferry back to the gift shop and biked on home – slowly against the wind. As an aside – I really have to do an entry on the wind since we have heard from the many sailors hanging out here at the mooring field that this has been an especially windy winter – with those winds not being favorable for the crossing to the Bahamas. I personally was delighted to see the shift overnight so we had a cross wind on our way to Publix rather than a head wind/tail wind.  I know that this wind issue just burns extra calories, but while I am riding that is no comfort. For your enjoyment some photos from Pigeon Key.