SEAN
Before JC arrived, Kurosh and I had spent a few nights of research on the laptops and began to read in to the interesting background of the Keys, a history rife with tragedy, rebellion and pristine waters, as well as its notoriety of being the prime smuggling route for almost the entirety of all marijuana and cocaine importation in to the USA in the 80s and 90s! One of the more interesting stories of the Keys that captured my imagination was of the Overseas Railway. Built in 1912, the railway connected Miami all the way to Key West, the last of the Keys, by a series of long bridges and trestles.
In 1935, one of the worst Hurricanes ever recorded on our planet hit Islamorada – one of the central Keys – killing an estimated 600 people including many on a train trying to evacuate residents and War Veterans stationed there. The railway was never repaired after the storm, however it was also never demolished, so much of the tracks and elaborate early 20th century style bridges still remain.