Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1960-12-01 / 12. szám
10 FRATERNITY THE OVERSEAS HIGHWAY One of Florida’s most unusual tourist attractions is the scenic Overseas Highway, U. S. 1, which connects Miami to Key West, in the chain of islands known as the Florida Keys. This unusual highway is constructed on a series of concrete bridges, traversing the old roadbed of the Florida East Coast Railway abandoned in 1935. The road, constructed at a cost of $5,000,000, was opened to traffic in 1933. This engineering marvel leapfrogs almost 100 miles over islands known for their tropical beauty. Mile after mile your car skims along, almost like a skipping stone over the patches of water and land. Endless vistas of colorful sunlit water and tiny islands edged with white coral sand are revealed. Tiny villages cling to the islands of Key Largo, Marathon Key and Sugarloaf Key. The longest over-water stretch is provided by Seven-Mile Bridge, “The Eighth Wonder of the World”, while Bahia Honda Bridge, 65 feet high, provides the finest views of innumerable keys, vari-colored water and brilliant panoramic sky effects. At the end of this sunlit trail is the colorful city of Key West. Though in the forceful grip of past history, Key West today is an “off the beaten track” tourist attraction. The old Bahama residences have steeply pitched roofs designed to catch rainfall. This was the island’s principal source of water before the construction of a pipeline. Pre-Civil War forts, churches, monuments and buildings, quaintly set amid tropical landscapings, are native to the island. Popular tourist attractions in Key West are the turtle crawls where turtles weighing over 500 pounds wait to be turned into delicious steaks and soups — the charter boat docks where deep-sea and reef-fishing boats return late in the afternoon loaded with the day’s catch . . . the 100-year-old Key West Lighthouse which may be seen 15 miles at sea. The alligator, shark and barracuda-filled tanks of the city’s Municipal Aquarium are another popular tourist attraction. New specimens of fish and marine life, inhabiting local waters, are added to the open-air tanks daily. Fishermen by the thousands are attracted annually to the Keys. No salt water fishing license is needed, and catches include amberjack, yellow- tail, snapper, trout, channel bass and sea perch. Deep-sea fishing yields tarpon, sailfish, bonefish, bonito, dolphin, jewfish, mackerel, barracuda and shark. The endless vistas of sea and sky of the Overseas Highway, the fabulous fishing of the Florida Keys and the vast recreational facilities provided up and down the islands are a tropical magnet for Florida visitors.
