Arrival Date 1/10/2015 Knights Key RV Resort & Marina - Marathon FL
Our stay at Knights Key RV Resort was two weeks. Knights Key is just off Marathon Key and in the town of Marathon. Knights Key and Marina was a good RV Resort. We will likely stay there again if we are on the Keys. They had a cute beach over looking the bay, a point with lots of shore birds on a spit of rocks. The Iguana Tiki Bar was off the beach and was fun and active from 5 to 10 PM. They had a small restaurant that we did not use but apparently was inexpensive and good with a limited menu. The marina was small but nice. The cost was about 30% less than Sugarloaf Key. We only had water and electric but they had a honey truck that would pump your black and grey tanks out for $10 a hit. Our site was along the mangroves that were cut down to about 4 feet high. We had an open tent field across from us and the site was nice and wide. We had a back in site but after a day I decided that when our grey and black tanks were full I would move the RV to the dump station and when I brought it back I would pull in front first. That allowed us to look out our windshield over the mangroves and over the bay to the next key (Marathon). The view was beautiful. We could watch the Pelicans, terns, Ospreys, etc dive for fish. Across the small bay was an exclusive premier small RV Resort and Marina. Lots of big boats and Lazydays restaurant. At night the whole shoreline was alive with lights. Very attractive day and night. The RV turnaround was a really good move. That allowed us to only need two pump outs during our stay, so the lack of sewer hookup was not a big deal.
One of the unique aspects of this park was there were a lot of frigate birds flying overhead. Linda and I have never seen a frigate bird before. They are big graceful birds that have a forked tail. Very Kool. Another bird lifer (first live sighting of your life). The weather was perfect, mid 70’s to mid 80’s during the day, no rain. One afternoon we had 40 or so kayakers staying the night in the tent field. They were on a tour, kayaking 80 miles along the keys to Key West. The kayakers were from all over america and the woman we talked to from Iowa was thrilled with the keys and the tour. That inspired us to get out the Sea Eagle (our inflatable kayak) and kayak one afternoon around the resort and across the bay to the marina. It was great out on the water.
On the edge of Knights RV resort was Pigeon Key Rail Car visitors center. This old railroad car is an iconic sight along RT 1 and the old train bridge/old RT 1 road starts across RT 1 and extends out to Pigion Key. This old railroad bridge was converted into a two lane bridge for automobiles and eventually replaced with a parallel bridge that is the current RT 1. The old bridge is broken in spots and not used anymore except as a walking and bike riding bridge out to Pigeon Key. Its a nice walk or bike ride. Unfortunately you can not take the exit ramp down to Pigeon Key anymore because the ranp is not safe. We have visited Pigeon Key in earlier years and hope the historical association can keep it available for the public. Now it is only accessible by boat from the visitors center.
A block down Knights Key from the resort is Sunset Bar & Grill. The Sunset Bar & Grill is a big place that has a great location on the edge of the key overlooking the bay and bridge. It has a nice swimming pool, multiple bars and has entertainment on a regular basis. It’s a really good bar and grill with a great view and wonderful vibe.
One day we went off to Bahia Honda Key state park. This is one of the best state parks in Florida and maybe on the east coast. The whole key is a park. A lot of it is left natural. There are several beautiful beaches with pavillions and bath facilities. There is an exhibit about the Flagler railroad that went through the keys and opened up Key West to the rest of the nation. The history of the railroad is really interesting. The old railroad bridge is still there but in complete disrepair. They also have a nature center and snorkle / boat rental. There is a small set of RV sites that you need to reserve 11 months in advance and there are a group of rental houses. Bahia Honda is a beautiful state park and Linda and I would love to rent an RV site there in the future. If only you did not have to reserve a site so far in advance.
One day we spent the afternoon at Cranes Point. This is an old estate that was owned by a couple that were naturalists before there was such a thing. It is 38 acres of natural key property less space for the welcome center and the couples 1950’s house. It is an oasis of nature surrounded by homes and commercial real estate. There is a museum with history and exhibits about the history of the keys and related history of the Caribbean and Florida. They also had a bird rehabilition center. I really enjoyed the museum and thoroughly enjoyed wandering the property.
We had lots of birds flying over our site including osprey with their fresh catch. We had a crew of doves that regularly visited our site and an iguana appeared quite often. Linda loved watching sunrise over the bay many mornings (I am never up to see that sight).
The Bournes arrived the second week we were at Knights Key, so we had company for several eating and drinking adventures. I made my world class gumbo one night and it did not disappoint. Breakfast at the Stuffed Pig was good (nice back garden eating). Lunch at the Chiki Tiki bar was beautiful. The Chiki Tiki bar is down a side street and has a deck over the channel with views of the end of Knights Key and the harbor behind on the other side. One knight we met the Bournes for happy hour at Looie Key restaurant/bar and liked it so much we stayed to have dinner and watch the band. To finish the night we stopped at Boondocks and caught a couple of songs by Howard Livingston who is a Jimmy Buffett wannabee. One night Lennie Bourne made reservations and we went out to Lazydays restaurant for dinner. This was a little more upscale than most restaurants we go to on the road and it did not disappoint. We sat overlooking the bay with our RV on the other side of the water. The sunset was great and the food was excellent.
Knights Key started out with inconsistant WIFI but it got better as time went by. We had some extra time to do work around the rigs. One afternoon we went out and bought a TV mount at Home Depot and reinstalled Ricks new HD TV. It was more work than either of us thought but the results came out great. A couple of days before we left our back AC unit broke down. The good news is that we had two AC units and the front one was still working. We discovered from the people in the site next to us that DirecTV now allow you to call and change the local channels you receive. That saves us $15 a month since we do not need to get the universal network channels anymore.
