MARATHON

Vaca Key is the largest island of the Middle Keys, at nine kilometers long, where the largest town is Marathon. Here I suggest you stop off at Crane Point Museum & Nature Center, one of the most beautiful places on the island, where you can stroll amid the palm trees and wander through the gardens. Don’t miss a visit to Aderly House, a perfect example of the traditional cabins used by immigrants from the Bahamas.

Once you leave Marathon, pay attention to the first bridge that appears before you. As you’ll see, the Seven Mile Bridge you’re on runs alongside a twin structure: an old railway bridge built in 1912, which required such a titanic effort that the newspapers of the day called it “the eighth wonder of the world”.  

 

An interesting fact: it seems that Marathon, the biggest town in the Middle Keys, owes its name to a comment made by the renowned tycoon Henry Flagler, founder of the Florida East Coast Railway that used to run right along the Florida coast; he asked his railway workers for a “marathon” effort in order to complete the line to Key West.