Key Largo, FL

We decided that no trip to South Florida was complete without a trip to the Keys. When we Google-Mapped all the way to Key West, we decided to begin with a fishing trip to Key Largo, the very first Key on the string of islands. Key West (the very furthest one) would be an all day driving trip if you didn’t stop along the way very much at all.




There were no panther warning signs on the way to Key Largo, but watch out for those crocs!

The bridge crossing the bay had the concrete divider painted turquoise blue to match the water down below. Boats were coming in and out of the bay and it was all very picture-post-card-ish.

Key Largo Bay

When we arrived at the departure location for the fishing trip, it was lined with all sorts and sizes of boats.






Walking around the dock before getting on our boat, we ran across the African Queen, the original boat from the old movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. It was in rather rugged shape, but then it is pretty old.

The original African Queen. Pretty small, actually.

As we got on the fishing boat with the other people, we watched a large group of pelicans very interested in the fish cleaning that was going on on the side of the channel.




I was surprised by the yellow heads on the pelicans that most of them displayed. There were a couple that were the typical brown color, but the yellow heads were really pretty.




I was later surprised to find out that yellow is their winter coloring of brown pelicans. I also noticed that some of them have blue eyes and others have brown eyes.

Blue-eyed Pelican.

Brown-eyed Pelican.

One pelican was colored differently from all the rest. I’m not sure exactly what kind he was, but he looked like he was wearing a chocolate brown Mohawk hairdo.



The Captain guided the boat slowly out through the canals past homes and an assortment of ocean-going boats and yachts.






We had a hitch-hiker the Captain called, “Bob,” that went along for the ride for a while. Of course he was hoping for a hand-out.



Then it was time to leave Key Largo behind and speed out into the ocean for all the huge fish we were hoping to catch. Only the sea gulls came along at this point.



One of the first items of business was for everyone of the 20 of us on board to throw $3.00 in a pot for the winner of the largest edible fish. No problem. Don or I should be able to grab that.




We had a good time out there. The weather was about 70 degrees and a cloudless sky. Perfect weather. However, fishing was not as good. We weren’t catching anything. 




One guy finally hooked into a large fish and spent quite a long time pulling it in. We were all sure that he would win the contest until he landed…a sting ray. So much for edible. OK, the contest is back on and we all have another chance.




A few folks were catching small fish here and there, nothing to get too excited about. Finally Don caught one, about a foot-long white grunt. It was rather pretty, with blue and yellow stripes on it, but with a name like that, I wasn’t sure how edible it was…at least for me, however, he was still in the contest.



                     A White Grunt



When the day was over, I had been totally skunked and Don had this one fish.


As we came back into the dock there were even more interesting boats to float by including a “Pirate ship.”



A fully loaded party boat was heading out as we came in to port.



One house on the water had an old canon aimed directly at us as we floated by.

Look out! Canon!!

Back in port, the larger fish (there was only one other) were all measured to see who would win the contest. Don’s fish lost by only about an inch.




Don brought his fish back to the motorhome, cleaned and filleted it. He netted about 1-1/2 ounces of meat. I let him enjoy his White Grunt by himself. He said it tasted pretty good. Couldn’t they have named it something else???




As we bid Key Largo goodbye, there was a gorgeous sun setting into the sea. A nice farewell to a great day.




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