Travelogue

Playing SpitWhat I didn’t realize before coming to the Florida Keys is that there are actually very few beaches to swim at. Most are very pretty, but too shallow or too full of seaweed to actually do anything with but look at, unless you have a boat--and to think that we actually do have a whole flotilla back home. Having a boat would have changed everything. We could have gone fishing, cruised out to the reefs to snorkel, or just kayaked along the shoreline exploring the interesting nooks and crannies. But alas, our entire fleet was home, so we had to satisfy ourselves with just looking, which is not something my hyperactive nature deals well with.

With that being said, Curry Hammock State Park was actually quite nice—very peaceful and serene. We originally heard about this park from a gentleman we met at Gamble Rogers, who said he loved it because it was one of the few state parks in Florida that had a campground right on the water. He was right, and we really did have a lovely view of mangrove trees along the shoreline. Otherwise, without a kayak, there really wasn’t much else to do.

Curry Hammock Beach - AJGA good part of our evenings revolve around finding a good place for the boys to run. Fortunately, Curry Hammock was located near a portion of the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail, which is a paved bike bath that runs parallel to Route 1 though a good portion of the Keys. Eventually the trail will probably go the entire 106 miles of the Keys, but for now, just certain pieces of it are in place. Fortunately, we were near one of those pieces. Andrew and Herb were both nursing injured knees, so Tommy and I decided to head out together—he on foot and me on bike, so I could keep up. The path was okay, not particularly scenic. There was one nice spot where I went off the path to peek at the Bay side of the Key, but the rest of the way was pretty boring. Eventually we got to the outskirts of the town of Marathon, which is one of the bigger towns on the Keys. I might be prejudiced, but these towns just don’t have the charm of New England, which, I might add, is where I had wanted to spend our two precious weeks of vacation. Oh, and did I mention the heat and humidity? I would have to restrain myself from any “I told you so’s” and make the best of it.

Description

Curry Hammock Site #2Curry Hammock State Park is located on Little Crawl Key at Mile Marker 56.2 on the Florida Keys, two miles northeast of Marathon.

The park’s 1,000 acres were set aside as a state park in 1991 to protect its large areas of mangrove swamp, rockland hammock, and seagrass beds, which are essential for the ecosystem of the Florida Keys. The marine grass beds and tidal swamps serve as a crucial nursery for many important species of fish and crustaceans and provide rich feeding grounds for many wading and diving birds.

Although its shallow, seaweedy waters are not ideal for swimming, there are several activities in the park:

• Kayaking/canoeing along the pristine coastline on both the Florida Bay and Atlantic Ocean sides of the island, as well as along a beautiful mangrove creek
• Windsurfing/kiteboarding on the ocean side
• Birding – the park is an important stop for migrating birds. Every fall HawkWatch International conducts a census of raptors passing through.
• Fishing – on both the bay and ocean sides of the park
• Hiking – 1 ½ mile trail through the hammock

The park contains a 28-site, full-facility campground on the oceanfront.