Biscayne Bay is the site of unique collection of stilt houses. Their colorful housing structures are perched on sand flats a mile offshore from Bill Baggs State Park called Stiltsville. You can see them from the park along the Bay side.

These structures  are accessible only by boat.  There were actually a total 27 structures in the 1960s.Unfortunately there are currently only seven stilt houses in total.  The numbers have been whittled down through the years by fires, storms and hurricanes.  Hurricane Betsy destroyed many of the structures in 1965 and by early 1992 there were only 14 left. Then came Hurricane Andrew, which destroyed 7 more.

The first stilt shack was built in the early 1930s, but some Dade County historians say that there were a dozen shacks in “the flats” as early as 1922. 

Crawfish” Eddie Walker built a shack on stilts above the water in 1933, toward the end of the prohibition era for gambling, which was legal at one mile offshore. He sold bait and beer from his shack. Thomas Grady and Leo Edward, two of Eddie’s fishing buddies, built their own shack in 1937. Shipwrecking and channel dredging brought many people to the area and more shacks were constructed, some by boating and fishing clubs. Local newspapers called the area “the shacks” and “shack colony  King Crawfish Eddie’s original shack was destroyed by the late-season Hurricane King of 1950. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Calvert Club was the first social club built at Stiltsville constructed during the late 1930. It was said to be a major tourist attraction in Miami.

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 In 1940, Commodore Edward Turner built a large house on a barge and pilings near Crawfish Eddie’s and named it the Quarterdeck Club.

When it opened in November, membership cost $150 by invitation only and the club became one of the most popular spots in Miami. It was a Men’s Club, a kind of play-boy club, men showed up with women who weren’t their wives, and local newspapers began running stories and photographs of parties with celebrities. The club’s popularity grew after an article about the club appeared in Life magazine on February 10, 1941. Hurricane Donna in 1960 damaged most of the structures in Stiltsville, including the Quarterdeck Club, then the building was completely destroyed by a fire in 1961 that burned all the way to the pilings.

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In the late 1950s, twelve workers from the Miami Springs Power Boat Club purchased a sunken barge for $1, re-floated it and towed it to Stiltsville, where they grounded it on a mudflat and built a structure and docks for use by their club. Hurricane Betsy did considerable damage to the barge in 1965, so club members invested in concrete pilings, which still remain in place. Thousands have visited the Springs House over the years, including Boy Scout troops and Optimist Clubs. Several television commercials have also been filmed there It was one of the seven remaining structures here.

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In 1962, a businessman/scam artist named Harry Churchville grounded a 150-foot yacht named Jeff in the mudflats of Stiltsville and turned the boat into The Bikini Club.  Alcoholic beverages were offered for sale, with free drinks to women wearing bikinis. There was a sun deck for nude sunbathing and staterooms could be rented for any purpose. The Bikini Club was raided by the Florida Beverage Commission in the summer of 1965, and closed down for selling liquor without a license. On September 8, 1965, Hurricane Betsy destroyed most of Stiltsville and severely damaged the boats upon which the Bikini Club was based. In 1966, what remained of the Bikini Club burned to the waterline

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Family Time

In it’s prime Stiltsville had many family homes. Where families got away from the city and come to a place that was magical. A place where you could fish and swim, the ultimate water front living. Especially being able to feel the ocean breeze coming in from all sides in the hot and muggy summer. This was a great place to be because it was before air conditioning.

The remaining 7 shacks in Stiltsville

When your at the Bayside of Bill Baggs by the seawall that is where you see Stiltsville, a mile away from the shore. We walk past it all the time and I still think about what used to be. All the stories I have read about, some good and some a little risky, it’s a very alluring place with much history. These houses were some of the most coveted places back in the 1960s & 1970s. The Stiltsville houses in Miami continue to be a major attraction for today’s visitors. The houses have been featured in films including Miami Vice, Bad Boys II, The Absence of Malice and novels by Carl Hiaasen and Les Stanford and others. “It’s like being on a boat without the rocking.” Since the mid-2000s, the structures have belonged to the National Park Service, the park at one time wanted the owners to destroy their homes thus the Stiltsville Trust, a nonprofit organization was created to care for and maintain each of the remaining seven buildings and uphold their legacies. From what I have recently read you can rent a shack overnight or for a party.  Also if one of the buildings is 50% or more destroyed by fire, storms, etc. you cannot fix it. I know that a lot of people love and care about this place and it is something that they cherish as a big part of their past.  Someone said that “at a whim Mother Nature can erase all of Stiltsville, and once it’s erased, it belongs to the Bay.  “So we need to treasure it for as long as we can.”

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Boating and now Kitesurfing are definitely a thing to do especially in Stiltsville where you can take a boat to one of the shacks and take off and kitesurf!

Kitesurfing, I’ve watched them from afar and see them sailing

on by and it looks so enthralling. I know I couldn’t do something

that daring, maybe when I was young? No way, who am I kidding!

We have been setting up our travel plans for the next two years, and pretty much have it figured out. Cooper is in agreement with our plans so all is right with the wrold.

Until March 31st 2021 we will still be here at Key Biscayne.

Gulf Shores State Park Alabama – April 1st to April 10th

Buckaneer State Park Louisiana – April 10th to April 12th

Houston Rv park Texas, April 12th to April 14th

Jellystone Park Kerrsville Texas April 14th to April 16th

Maraton Rv park Texas April 16th to April 20 here we will visit Big Bend National Park

Mission rv park El Paso Texa April 20th to April 25th here we will visit Carlsbad, and Quadaloupe National; Parks

Coachlight Rv park Las Cruses Texas April 25th to April 29th here we will visit White Sands national park, and other places.

Katchner Caverns State park Benson Arizona April 29th to May 12th

Butterfield Rv Resort Benson Arizona May 12th to Sept 12 th here we will enjoy the summer and take one day or multi day trips to places while leaving the 5er in place.

Sept 12th till Oct 8th travel to the lower part of Colorado, not sure yet where we will stay.

Oct8th to Oct 15 make our way back to John Pennecamp in Key Largo

John Pennecamp State park Oct 15 to Jan 5th 2022 workcamp

Tampa (near) Florida Jan 5th to Feb 5th (not sure where yet)

Lower Florida (Where??) Feb 5th to March 1st

Bill Baggs State park Key Biscayne Florida March 1st to May 31st work camping

May 31st to June 3rd travel up to Savannah Georgia

Creekfire Rv Resort Savannah Georgia June 3rd to June 10th

June 10th to June 20th travel back up north to our home base in Newfane NY

Home base NY June 20th to July 31st

Travel out west to Utah area July 31st Aug 10th

Utah area Aug 10th to Sept 31st

Travel to the lower part of Arizona stay for the winter till end of March 2023 From there we do not know yet.

As you see from above we are work camping again next winter. After that we will take a break from work camping for a few years and see how it goes. Things may change but for now this is our plan.

kinda, sorta to some extent?

Since the Key Biscayne Lighthouse & cabin have been closed at Bill Baggs, due to covid, Dave & I were asked if we wanted to clean it up a bit and we have. So we are taking the title of Honorary / Temporary “Lighthouse Keepers.”

Let’s start with the Lighthouse Keeper’s cabin

front of the cabin

A lighthouse keeper had a very hard and different kind of life. I would only want to be an Temperary / Honorary Lighthouse Keeper.

Cleaning up a bit

And now the lighthouse ....

There are109 steps to the top of the Lighthouse and then on to a watch room

When you step out on to the top railing on the very top you see this …..

You can see the cabin from this view

A bit of History . . . .

The lighthouse left over from a not-so-kind history of Indian attacks, Civil War battles, pirates, hurricanes and other harrowing and heroic times in Florida history, and it’s a treasure that has withstood more than its share of wear and tear over the decades.

It is the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County, though it has been reinforced and refurbished several times since its original build in 1825.

Initially built as a 65-foot lighthouse with wooden stairs, the Cape Florida Light was initially build to guide sailors and serve as a lookout to protect the area from the pirates, Indians and other invaders that had been posing dangers to Florida throughout the 1700s and early 1800s. The first keeper and his family moved into the lighthouse’s cottage, becoming the first American family to reside in Key Biscayne. There are now 109 steps on the narrow spiral staircase that takes you to the top of the Lighthouse.

Eleven years after opening, while the keeper and his family were away, a band of Seminole Indians attacked the tower, burning all of the wood structure inside and pillaging the cottage. It would be several years – well after the threat of Indians had subsided – before the lighthouse was rebuilt and operating again. 

Lighthouse keeping is not for the faint-hearted. Keepers live in isolation, endure violent storms, and must be ready to respond to the occasional shipwreck. They have to be self-sufficient, handy, happy with their own company, and comfortable with heights lighthouse attendants often faced

Until the invention of the light bulb, the “light” at a lighthouse usually came from a flame. If the fire escaped control, catastrophes happened. Rescues  were made frequently by the lighthouse keeper or any family member, if they had family there.  Before widespread electricity and automation in the 1960s, some keepers began floating their lenses in liquid mercury. The keepers would  breath and touch the mercury on their daily cleaning rounds. Modern scholars have proven that chronic mercury poisoning causes confusion, depression, and hallucinations. Some lighthouses likely attracted some folks who had trouble fitting into society, but being very isolated, especially if no family was there, you suffered from extreme Isolation and depression.  Lighthouse keepers didn’t leave the lighthouse, they had supplies brought by boat, some only a twice a year and only getting off the island every 2 years or so. 

Mouthfuls of molten lead, wild weather, and insanity: the occupational hazards of an early lighthouse keeper.   Amorina Kingdon

If you ever saw the bizarre movie The Lighthouse, this could explain a little of it.

Yep, life is a beach, unlike the rest of the country, shivering, freezing cold, miserable, and dealing with a pandemic, here it is beautiful, everyday, and most people do not seem to know a pandemic is going on. It has been in the low 80’s mostly sunny, everyday, with a few days of 88 or so, and very little rain. SO what to do. Well, walk on the beach of course. We walk a few miles on the beach with our feet in the water, and take a dip in the ocean here and there, rinse and repeat. As to the pandemic, we are right on the flight path for the Miami airport, every 5 minutes or so, planes take off and come in for a landing, ALL day. Hoards of people are here, most wear masks, a lot don’t, 6 feet apart forget it. SO, again what to do, we just grin and bear it ,HA Ha. Besides dealing with that, it really can’t get any better here, and we are having a great time. For now Ya all take care now, ya hear.

I’m not bragging, maybe just a bit, but …….

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park is an award-winning beach!  Cape Florida’s 1.2 mile-long sandy beach is so spectacular that Dr. Beach has repeatedly named it one of the top 10 beaches in America. Dr. Beach (aka Florida International University professor Stephen P. Leatherman) praises the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park beach for its “clear, emerald-colored waters and gentle surf on a fine, white coral sand beach.” It is, he says unequivocally, “the best swimming beach in the Southeast.“  Bill Baggs State Park has predictably made it to the Top Ten Beaches in America for the last ten years running, but this little oasis barely 15 minutes from downtown Miami, is more than just a beach.

Dave & I go to the beach, our front yard, to relax, take a walk a dip and just frolic in the Atlantic, where the ocean as been the perfect temperature.

Some of the different beach accesses

After a hard day of volunteering 🤣 We had lunch at The Lighthouse Cafe, in the park, and then off to the beach.

Beach access from the cafe

These pictures of the beach are from the lighthouse to the section where the hotels and condos start. You can actually continue walking from Bill Baggs beach to start of the island, Bill Baggs is at the end.

“Your only worry should be if the tide is going to reach the chair.” – Zac Brown

BISCAYNE

It has been a great haven/harbor for us, as well as being somewhat diverse.

I definitely love our little corner of Bill Baggs State Park in Key Biscayne at the end of the island in a little corner of the park, near the administration building.   There we have a short  path to follow from our RV. If you go down the path take a right and head north it goes to the ocean harbor of Biscayne Bay called No Name Harbor and you will see a beautiful sunset.  A short distance the other direction headed south you will see a lighthouse and a beautiful beach on the Atlantic Ocean where you can see a gorgeous sunrise!   

The path from our RV to Biscayne Bay and to No Name Harbor. At the end of the harbor is Boater’s Grill a very good restaurant inside Bill Baggs state park.

“To me the sea is a continual miracle; the fishes that swim, the rocks, the motion of the waves, the ships with men in them. What stranger miracles are there?” Walt Whitman

We take the same path to see the sunsets.

If you are in a beautiful place where you can enjoy sunrise and sunset, then you are living like a lord.”
Nathan Philips

For my birthday Dave took me to ……….

Just a hop, skip and a jump from our RV, it was very good!

If you take the same path from the RV going straight and then left heading south your going to find lots of good fishing spots, Stiltsville, a sea wall and a lighthouse at the end.

And that is on the harbor side of Bill Baggs, I haven’t even gotten to the lighthouse or the beach!

We have now been here one month plus a few days, seems a lot longer than that, not sure why. Two months to go, then off to see the wizard !!!!. Melissa, and I along with Cooper are doing good. One thing for sure is that we are doing way more walking, biking and hiking than we ever did when we were in Key Largo, which is a good thing. For the remaining time we are here ,we will now be working, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Melissa will be at the gate and open the park and work from 7:30 to 1:30. I am in shop and maintanance, and kind of do my own thing. When a project comes up i go do it, other than that i really do not have a set schedule time wise, could work 4 hours one day and 3 the next. They really, i do not think know what to do with me. You see normally the volunteers here, which there is only two couples would be working at the light house during there shifts, but it is closed. Closed due to Covid, so no one can go into the light keepers cottage or go up the light house itself, which is really a shame right now.

One thing to share is a lot of people ask me what is the single most found item while picking up trash, and by far it is plastic bottle caps. They are everywhere, in the ocean, on the beach in the grills, all over. The second most thing i find is, a surprise even to me , but it is those plastic (Green) teeth flossers, thingies. After they use them people just throw them on the ground. There you have it.

I do have to say the park here is beautiful ,we walk just a little bit and we are at the beach or along the sea wall at the bay. The other day we rode our bikes into town , I got a hair cut and Melissa explored a little, then we took a long walk on the beach i think 3 miles, and i finally did it, I dove in the ocean, it was a little cold, didn’t stay in long ,but it was refreshing. We have also now walked the beach at dusk along with Cooper, when the park is closed, it is pretty neat seeing the stars coming out and the light house lit up, will be doing that again for sure.

That’s about it for now, maybe my next post will be more interesting.

Today i will give a little background on where we are staying here in Florida. As i mentioned before Key Biscayne is a small barrier island right off the coast very near Miami.

As you can see from the above picture you come onto the island by way of the Rickenboker Bridge and Causeway, ( named after the famed world war one ace, Eddie Rickenboker) . From there, there is only one main one down to the bottom, or to the state park, called Crandon Blvd. Key Biscayne is sort of divided into three areas, the first one in the above third of the picture is called Crandon park, here, there is a huge marina, golf course, and very large park on the ocean side, which is on the right. Tons of parking, hiking, biking trails and of course, a few miles of beaches. The middle third is the village of Key Biscayne proper. Crandon Blvd, has all the stores, shops, eateries, etc. They have only one grocery store, the Winn- Dixie, most shops are high end. There is not a McDonalds, burger King or anything of that sort at all. The left area is where all the single family homes are, Which is on the bay side. The right side has all the condo’s ,resorts, like the Ritz- Carlton etc, that faces the ocean side and has all beach access. There are about 13,000 people living here all toll. The lower third is all state park, Crandon Blvd, just ends at the entrance to the park. The left side or bay side has a sea wall along with fishing piers along it’s 2 mile length, the right side, or ocean side has almost 1.5 miles of white sandy beach. The very bottom is where the lighthouse and light keepers cottage is. All total the island is about 5 miles long and maybe 1 mile wide at it’s widest point. We are staying very close to the bottom, more in the middle area, about 1/8 mile to the bay side and 1/8 mile to the ocean side. Hope that gives you an idea where we are, we have been here about one month now. Very little rain, with temps in the mid 70’s. My next post will be about the history of Key Biscayne.

We have now been here just a little over a week. All is well and we are settleing in good. We have also finished our first week of work. We will be working Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday while here. Melissa will be at the gate from 7:30 till 2:00 and i will be working in maintanance and field.

Above is my picker mobile, i will be using while working here. As there are 16 park rangers here, the carts they get around in are scarce, so i made up the picker mobile. It has a basket on back where i can put tools as needed, or the trash bucket, as you see in the photo. My picker is mounted up front. so far i have ridden 4 to 5 miles each day i have worked, so i will be getting my miles in. The park is big about 430 acres, with beach access, access to the sea wall area, paved bike path around the park, and many trails going every where. There are about 900 parking spots, not counting the resturant area, right now only 500 cars are allowed in the park(because of covid)then the park is closed for the day. Friday and the weekend seem to be the busiest and the times it closes early.

Above is the park, the main road coming in top to bottom on the right side. The 1.2 mile long beach is on the right (Atlantic side) and the seawall, where there a lot of piers for fishing is on the right side. No name harbor is on the left side or Biscayne bay side. The lighthouse (which is closed right now) is at the point on the bottom. On the map about 3/4 of the way down ,sort of in the middle is where we are staying, we are near the shop, and administration offices.

Picture above is of the lighthouse at the point.

The harbor, and below biggest boat i have seen yet about 80 feet or so.

Boats out in the bay.

View along the beach

Lots of fishing along the sea wall all the time, this guy caught a nice fish as we went by.

Above is a picture of a lightning Welk shell( about 3 inchs long) i found, when we were walking the beach one of the first days we got here. It was half buried in the sand and i just saw it and picked it up not knowing what it was. It is in very fine shape and a good find, considering shells are not really known here to much.

This is one of the biggest Banyon trees i have ever seen down here in Florida, it is located right in the middle of the park along a trail, has to be well over 100 years old.

Cooper having fun in the dog park we found in town. GO Coopy

We have also been walking a lot and riding our bikes way more than we did at Pennecamp. It is only about 1.5 miles into town from here, so we will be doing that from time to time. Also good for me, not so for Melissa is we get a lot of TV channels here, as we are only a few miles from Miami. So i will be getting my fill of GRIT TV, and am happy, but hay we are on an island in south Florida, during the winter, so how can we not be happy.

We are now in Key Biscayne Florida, at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. We left Key Largo Friday( new years day), and drove 67 miles to get here. Key Biscayne is a small barrier island about one half mile off the mainland connected by a bridge and small causeway, about 2 miles south of down town Miami. It took two hours to get here. There was one accident on the causeway coming out of the Keys ,and heavy traffic coming into the park here. There is only one main road coming into Key Biscayne and it ends right at the park entrance. As we got to the park entrance we noticed a sign that said, park closed, with a traffic barrier and two cop cars. All the traffic was turning around as they could not get in. I pulled to the right side, got out and talked to one of the cops. They knew we were coming and were waiting so they could escort us in. Wow a police escort, we felt important. After we got in the park we went to our site and got set up. There is only one other resident volunteer couple here. She works here at the park and he has his own business, so he does not volunteer. We have a nice big spot here, lots of room. Other than that we are just getting settled in and start working Tuesday, have no idea what we will be doing. I will soon make a post on Key Biscayne, the park and history, for now we are doing well, and Happy New Year.