American Press Travel News-May 23rd,-excerpt from “43-Bridges to the Florida Keys”-Bob and Barb-Authors: The easy guides to your motoring whereabouts in the Keys are “mile markers”. Starting at Mile Market 124 (MM124) at the beginning of the 18-mile stretch into the Keys, to Mile Market 0 (MM 0) at the Southernmost Point of the United States in Key West. These are small green markers at roadside mark each mile into our island paradise.

 Many early settlers of the Keys came from the Bahamas, where the Queen Conch, (a large marine snail), is a staple food. For this reason, their descendants are often called “conchs”. The “h” is silent and the word pronounced as if it were spelled “conk”

 Spanish names are amongst the oldest on the continent. The Spanish name for our islands was “Cayos de los Martires”, Islands of the Martyrs. Cay, pronounced “key” is the Spanish word for island and accounts for the American name, the Florida Keys.

 The Keys are part of Monroe County and the Everglades’ National Park takes in almost all of the mainland area of Monroe County as well as most of Florida Bay. The southeastern boundary line is the Intercoastal Waterway, only about a mile or so from U.S. 1, the Overseas Highway.

The Park area is about one and a half million acres, most of which are wetlands consisting of either fresh or brackish water flowing through the saw grass. The Park was established to basically protect and preserve wildlife and the integrity of these major wetland areas. Here is where the wet and wild contains a plethora of wildlife—a hundred different bird species, alligators, panthers, deer and even the saltwater crocodile which is highly protected as an endangered species.

Other National and State Parks in the Keys are John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and The Federal Marine Sanctuary on Key Largo at MM 102.5, Long Key State Recreation Area at MM 65 and Bahia Honda State Park MM 36. In all of the parks, the emphasis is on water related recreation. There are fees for all parks. Camping space may be reserved. Pets are not permitted overnight.

 The jewels of the Keys are the reefs. The only living natural coral reefs on this continent, but they are not the only treasures found off the shores of the Keys. Gold, silver and precious gems also litter the sea floor, from the holds of Spanish treasure galleons caught in hurricanes a century and more ago. At Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum in Key West, you can touch gold bars, see jewelry once worn by Spanish aristocrats and learn how it was all found and recovered from beneath the sea. Check out Amazon for a look at “43-Bridges to the Florida Keys” It’s the official historical guide to America’s tropical islands!!!