Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park Walkabout

The main reason that we went into No-Name Harbor yesterday was so we could take a hike down to the lighthouse here in the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park without worrying about the boat being by itself on the outside. We got up early and headed down the well-shaded walkway along the shore and I have to tell you that this was one of the neatest places we've been to yet. I'm going to let the pictures tell you the story, but if you're interested in learning more about the history of the lighthouse (which is fascinating) you can check out the Wikepedia article on it.

There's wildlife all over the park. I happened to catch this fisherman just as a wave broke on the rocks below him.

The park is extremely well maintained and clean. There are a string of solid concrete fishing piers along the shoreline and picnic areas all around with charcoal grills and clean bathrooms. The place was pretty much wiped off the map by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 so a lot of the stuff is pretty new, including most of the trees. There used to be some non-native pines here but they were all destroyed by Andrew and replaced with native vegetation.

We're nuts about reading history signs. If you don't like them, just ignore. From the point at the South end of Key Biscayne you can see Stiltsville, a group of homes and businesses built on stilts way out in the water during prohibition so that their owners could gamble and drink. You got to love American creativity.

 

The lighthouse has been restored on several occasions. Some of the removed parts are on display at the entrance to the lighthouse part of the park.

 

The walkway to the lighthouse

 

The lightkeeper's house. No air conditioning back then, and mosquitos that look like something out of Star Trek. They had to sleep under heavy blankets even in the summertime just to keep them from biting. No screens back then either.