Windley Key

One of the fallen trees at the Fossil Reef State Park

We have found another anchorage that may prove to be one of our favorites. It's a little cove on the bay side of Windley Key. Came in here Friday after sailing offshore through Channel Five to a marina in order to take on some diesel and water. Our plan was to pick up a mooring at Indian Key a few miles from the marina and explore the state park there, however the moorings were half a mile offshore from the key and there was considerable swell, so this was obviously not a good option for night time comfort. So Plan B went into effect and we turned in at Snake Creek to look for some protection from the wind on the bay side. We had a little encounter with the ground just before getting to the channel into Snake Creek, but we don't need to talk about that. It was just another one of Tom's shortcuts that didn't turn out so well.

Ocean View Grill

Anyway, the anchor bit on the first try in this cove, which always makes me happy. The wind died to pretty much nothing by nightfall, so after dinner we took the dinghy into what appeared to be a small dock with a restaurant on shore. There were a few other dinghies there. We tied up and walked down a very tidy, narrow boardwalk through the mangroves to a place called Ocean View. They said there used to be a view of the ocean but a hurricane moved that restaurant to the present location and they never went back. It has an indoor and an outdoor space with a fire pit, swimming pool, playground, and happy lights twinkling all around. Friendly bartenders too.  Just a great little local spot that was hopping on Friday night. This key is said to be the highest elevation in the Keys with one report of 12' and another of 18' above sea level.

Gumbo limbo tree

Today we had lunch at Ocean View and later walked down the road to the Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park. Quite a mouthful. This is the site of a quarry that was used until the early 60's. You can see the fossilized remains of a variety of ancient coral that are visible because of the cuts made into the limestone by the quarry activity.  There are also some trails that wind through the hammocks.  A nice little self-guided tour book is provided at the visitor's center so you can identify special areas of interest and some of the 40 different trees that are growing there.

Tomorrow the wind is predicted to get a little rowdy so we will probably go into a marina for a night or two.  Need to restock the larder as well, so hopefully we will be closer to a grocery store.