Card Sound

78 days to the Keys

So what's with Card Sound, anyway?

When I first started traveling to the Keys in the early 90's, Card Sound Road was the great unknown.  Literally.  In the beginning I didn't even know of its existence and I remember being surprised at the signs on US 1 pointing to the "alternate route to Key Largo" as I thought US-1 was the only way in and out.

In the early part of the 20th century, Henry Flagler was continuing his relentless march to the sea with his Florida East Coast Railroad.  Having conquered Miami on behalf of Julia Tuttle (she of causeway fame) at the end of the 19th century, Flagler set his sights on a deepwater port in the Keys to ship to and from Cuba.  He set his engineers to surveying, with the initial plan calling for a route across the Everglades to Cape Sable, then across some 25 miles of open water to the islands north of No Name Key.  The plan that ultimately won out, however, was the present path of US-1 over Jewfish Creek and Cross Key, although the railroad had also considered the more northerly route through Little Card Sound.

This route became the original path of SR-4A sometime in the 20's, complete with a wooden swing-bridge across the water.  Over the years a small fishing and boating community sprung up in the area where Alabama Jack's is now and as many as 100 people lived there at one time.  Through the 20's and 30's, this road and a tiny wooden bridge (rebuilt after the 1935 Labor Day hurricane) served as the only drivable access into and out of the Keys.

Fast forward 20 years to the Second World War and a growing military presence in the Keys.  It was no longer practical to move people and equipment over the old wooden bridges and much of the Overseas Highway was rebuilt, and much of it on the railroad right-of-way and over Flagler's railroad bridges, abandoned after the 1935 hurricane.  Once again, the Card Sound bridge fell into disrepair and was eventually removed altogether.

It was around this time, after the war, that Georgia construction worker Jack Stratham leased a piece of land on the right of way and what started out as a simple cottage and boathouse became Alabama Jack's.

Today, much of this is still there, to some extent or another, although the community of Card Sound is practically nonexistant, and the wooden bridge has been replaced by a high bridge in the late 60's to provide another evacuation route for Keys residents and easier access to the growing area of North Key Largo. 

Today, the road is mostly deserted except for the area around Alabama Jack's and the Card Sound Bridge.  If you read any Carl Hiaasen, you'll recognize this area as the home of Skink, and the high bridge as the one that Skink lashed himself to to ride out the hurricance in the book "Stormy Weather".  Pay careful attention as you go down the road - osprey nests abound on the tops of poles.  Herons and egrets are everywhere - in the water and out of it.  Aside from a couple of turnouts for maintenance buildings for AT&T and Florida Power and Light, there is no other development.  This is pretty much about as far off the beaten path as you can get.

This is also the home of the American Crocodile.  Yes, crocodile, not alligator.  Crocodiles live in the salt water down here, and, with the Key Largo Wood Rat, are largely responsible for the lack of development in much of upper Key Largo.  Crocodiles flourish in the warm waters surrounding the Turkey Point power plant a few miles to the east of here, and their habitat is expanding.

Alabama Jack's opens at 11am daily, so don't get there too early.  They close around sundown when the mosquitoes get bad.  There is usually live entertainment on weekends in the afternoon.  People come from near and far for AJ's conch fritters, but make sure you try the grouper sandwich or grouper fingers, too.  They also make an outstanding Conch Salad which is very much like a ceviche.  Being from Maryland, I avoid the crab cakes, but some people like them.  Also try the sweet-potato fries!  Try to get a table on the water, and you can watch all the little fish congregating at the pilings.  Try not to feed the birds - no one wants birds shitting all over everything!

Until recently, Alabama Jack's was a beer-only bar, but they got a full liquor license about 5 years ago and serve anything now.  Do be careful when you leave there as I've seen Monroe County sheriffs watching people come and go from AJ's.  Get your $1 toll ready, cross the bridge, and head on into North Key Largo.