Bahia Honda State Park with a couple of side trips

Our first stop was Blue Hole which is an artificial contained lake. Originally it was a quarry and once tons of limestone was removed, it was abandoned. Rain drained from surrounding land and salt water seeped in from the ocean. The process was slow and the allowed two layers and is referred to as a lens. It has a strange configuration as the top 20 feet are fresh water and below is salty. The water level is stable enough to support some freshwater fish and a few alligators. Saltwater fish have been found in the salt area of the lake. It is unknown if they were placed by humans or dropped by osprey.

There were several deer. A doe and her fawn had no fear of people.

On to the state park.

We decided to go to Bahia Honda State Park and hopefully do some snorkeling.

I can only barely call this a beach. Between the rock and the water was no more than 10 feet of sand and many places even less. Still enough room to set out some chairs and get a little sun.

This was a park we tried to get a campsite but were not successful. The park is pretty though very busy compared to others in the area.

One interesting thing to do at the park is to walk up to a portion of the old highway 1.

A few pretty flowers and a lizard. 

Our last stop was the 7-mile bridge.  ​

The bridge to nowhere, at least when traveling south, it seems to be.  When traveling south on highway 1 and starting on to the bridge, it looks like the bridge just continues on forever with no land in sight.  Of course, it is just an illusion, and it does not hold when traveling north.  When they call this the overseas highway, they really mean it.

We got to walk over the old but altered bridge.  The original side extensions were removed, and new guard rails added. The surface replaced with concrete.

The original unaltered bridge still exists at least here.  It is amazing to think that as a child over 50 years ago, my family traveled over that tiny bridge all the way to Key West on vacation.  I always remembered the bridge as narrow but wow!

On the old bridge a tree, several bushes, and weeds are growing.  It is amazing knowing that there is no source of fresh water other than rainfall.  Nature will find a way.  It does show that no matter if we do not maintain things what we build, it will eventually start to be broken down by plants.  The tree is called "Fred" and the largest bush "Peace".

Sorry, that is very far away.  I will zoom in.