We’re off to Key Largo to celebrate my upcoming 71st birthday and to check out the place we’ve contracted to rent next season. We like Key Largo. We’re staying at a hotel we’ve frequented before, Playa Largo, which with some legitimacy is heralded as the Pearl of the Florida Keys. As usual we intend to spend our entire time on the resort. The dining is superb. Typically in the Keys the beaches are nothing special but the pool is very attractive. The views over the turquoise water are always guaranteed to fascinate.

The journey there from Longboat Key is amusing enough as it takes us through the tranquil Florida Everglades surrounded by sawgrass marshes. The Everglades – aside from the tourist rides upon the fan-driven flat boats – are primarily attractive to fishermen and outdoor adventurers.

A large local business (popularly known as “Big Sugar“) is one producing sugar cane which actually contributes to clean water for South Florida in addition to employing a large number of employees. The business has been affected by consumer alteration to corn syrup but has adapted to change including both vegetable and citrus fruit production.

Out expectation is to whisk through the Everglades. The alligator and turtle displays will have to await another day! Along the way we’ll likely spot men clad in plaid shirts engaged in something swamp-like or nautical, maybe preparing to haul an airboat or camper. Generally speaking it is a domain which is beyond our immediate interest. But we do appreciate the openness and lack of urban infection.

Arriving on the Florida Keys along Route A1A is an exhilarting pleasure. Instantly one’s perspective is focussed upon the singularity of the passage. Its narrowness through the Keys is often bounded by emerald waters on both sides. The horizon is distant and the atmospheric dome with its whipped cream clouds are incomparable!