Indian Key Full Moon Trip

By Monica Woll

It was tempting to cancel this trip since the second hurricane of the already very active season was upon us. But several club members wanted to go so we put off storm preparations. Even Frank rushed to close up shop and go with me on Monday August 30. We were exhausted from 2 weeks of our sale but we were so glad for an excuse to get out on the water! There were ten of us total, a pretty good turnout for a Monday night: Park Manager Pat Wells, Judy McGraw, Rick Bartoli, Sharon Alvarado, Donna Doud, Hans Fendl, Clark Sheen, and Debra Stucki of the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail.

The conditions couldn’t have been better! It was hard to believe there was a huge nasty storm out there named Frances. We left from Indian Key fill and paddled bayside to enjoy the sunset. We weren’t in any rush as we watched the colors of the sky deepen. Indian Key is less than a mile’s paddle from US 1. We then crossed under the bridge and paddled to the beach on the southwest side of the island. We took our picnics up to the viewing tower to wait for the show. Rats were scurrying around below us adding to the eerie atmosphere. Pat Wells gave us a ranger talk on Indian Keys’ colorful history. After the moon came up enough to light the way, we set out to explore.

It was a relaxing paddle back to Indian Key Fill for all of us but Pat who paddled back to his home on Lignumvitae Key (what a lucky guy)! Look for his hospitality next year at his annual Lignumvitae Key cleanup.