Once you leave Sugarloaf Key, you're in the homestretch to Key West. Despite Key West's popularizing the "Mile Marker 0" location, you actually enter Key West at MM 4m so you're now only 13 miles to Key West. You'll cross 11 final bridges in those 13 miles as you hop from island to island. The land here is low. In her book "Key West & The Florida Keys", author June Keith calls it "a land that's mostly water, a sea that's mostly sky", and that's exactly what it is. Thousands of mangrove islets dot the water and there is little development over the next several miles.
First up is the Harris Channel bridge (#32) at MM 16.4. This will take you to the first of the Saddlebunch Keys. The Saddlebunch Keys are not individually named, and most are not much above sea level. Next up is the Lower Sugarloaf Channel at MM 15.4, which will take you over to the largest settlement in the Saddlebunch Keys. The community of Baypoint - on the Ocean Side at MM 15 has about 500 people. Right at the entrance to Baypoint is Baby's Coffee. If you like specialty or just good coffee, stop in Baby's - they usually have a large variety of coffees for you to choose from, and all of them are very good.
Saddlebunch #2 bridge is next - look to the Gulf side here to see what the Saddlebunch Keys are about - there are literally dozens and dozens of islands out there, many of which are very tiny. You can often see single mangrove trees growing out of the water. Mangrove trees "make islands" - as they spread, their roots capture all sorts of detritus, silt and vegetation and create land.
The only other settlement in the Saddlebunch Keys is on the next island. After the bridge, around MM 14.4 on the Ocean Side is the tiny community of Blue Water. Saddlebunch Bridge #3 is next. You'll notice that the old railroad bridges no longer exist down here - they were removed after the modern bridges were built. The new bridges down here are now paralleled by narrow bridges that carry a bicycle path. The islands themselves are devoid of anything except mangroves and the ever-present power line along the highway.
More of the same, crossing Saddlebunch #4, Saddlebunch #5 and Shark Key Channel to Shark Key. The road runs along a fill on the south end of Shark Key where the railroad was. The old road, after running along the southern edge of Sugarloaf Key, bypassed the smaller Saddlebunches and crossed over to Geiger Key. Shark Key, Big Coppitt Key and Geiger Key are all connected by fill now. After passing MM 11 you'll cross fill to Big Coppitt Key, and Boca Chica Road on your left will take you down to Geiger Key where you'll find a nice bar and restaurant at the marina.
Big Coppitt Key and the Rockland Keys are suburbs of Key West and home to many people that work in Key West or at the Naval Air Station on Boca Chica Key. As such, they are very highly developed, in stark contrast to the last 5 miles. Many services line the road here. If you have a rental and are returning it in Key West, fill up here - you'll save a few dollars on a tank versus filling up in Key West. You'll do even better on Summerland or Ramrod Keys.
At MM 9.5 you'll cross Rockland Channel to East Rockland Key. East Rockland, Rockland and Boca Chica Key are all connected through fill. The railroad ran through this area along the current highway, and the old road ran along Boca Chica Road, south of the Air Station. The old road is still open most of the way across Boca Chica. The highway opens up to four lanes here, and the entrance to/from the Naval Air Station is found at MM8 in the form of an actual interchange, the only one along the entire Overseas Highway. Despite the proximity to Key West here, the entire island is mostly consumed by the Naval Air Station with little to see or do along the road.
At MM 6.3 the four-lane Boca Chica Channel bridge will take you to Stock Island.
Stock Island allegedly got it's name from the livestock that was housed here. Being an island, no fences were nesessary. The old road crossed from Boca Chica to Stock Island where Maloney Road is now. It followed Maloney up to MacDonald, and paralelled the railroad from there to Key West. Today, the bridge ends at MM 6 where you are actually briefly on railroad fill attached to the southern end of Raccoon Key. Raccoon Key, to the north of the highway, is mostly the residential community of Key Haven. The city of Key West is currently trying to figure out how to annex the community of Key Haven since there are many expensive homes there.
A small fill at MM 5.1 takes you to Stock Island proper. Stock Island is divided north/south by the highway. Everything north of the highway is within the city limits of Key West, while everything south is unincorporated Monroe County. Stock Island was briefly an incorporated city of it's own in the 1960's, but that was short-lived.
The city of Key West has no interest in the southern half of Stock Island. Perhaps this is because this half of the island is covered in trailer parks and lower-value housing. There is also a higher crime rate here. The northern half, however, is a base of services for Key West and Monroe County. The northern half of the island is looped by College Road, which intersects the Highway at MM 5.1 and MM 4.2. Heading around College Road counterclokwise from MM 5.1, you'll pass the entrance to the Key West Golf Club, which fills most of the inside of the College Road loop, then at the northern tip of the island, the Florida Keys Community College and the Memorial Hospital, next an Elementary School is on the right, followed by the landfill. The landfill looks like a small mountain, thus it's nickname "Mount Trashmore". The top of the landfill is the highest point in all of the Florida Keys. Passing Mount Trashmore, the Monroe County Detention Center is next on the right, followed on the left by a series of Monroe County and City of Key West government buildings on the left, abutting the Golf Club behind them. Back to the highway at MM 4.2, a right turn will take you to the island of Key West.
If you stayed on Route 1, the mile between MM 5 and MM 4 is littered with auto service stations, scooter rentals, and the ridiculously overpriced Bone Island Liquors, who apparently spend all of their inflated profit on tons of neon. Primary intersections at Cross Street and MacDonald Avenue take you to the south end of Stock Island.
Two very good seafood restaurants are to be found on Stock Island. The Hogfish Grill is popular with locals and has gotten lots of press lately, including several visits from Food Network celebrities. The Rusty Anchor has gotten some not-as-good reviews lately, but had the best cracked conch steak I ever had, the last time I went there. That was in 2007, though, so caveat emptor.
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