Save the Florida Key Deer - Review

Save the Florida Key Deer by Margaret Goff Clark - Great Children's Book.

Approximately the size of a golden retriever but having the deer's distinctively graceful shape, the Florida Key deer is found only on the Florida Keys. Hunted almost into extinction, the animals numbered less than 100 by the late 1940s, but thanks to the combined efforts of a letter-writing 11-year-old boy and a courageous Wildlife Service agent who tracked down poachers, the herd has increased in size and now numbers 250 to 300. Although the blurry photographs don't add much, Clark's story of this engaging deer at odds with encroaching development makes a good choice for reports on an endangered species.

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Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge - Review

My favorite place!
There is nothing like arriving here. My family has been frequenting this spot for nearly 30 years, and we have never had a bad experience (except when we've had to leave due to hurricanes). The waters in the near vicinity of Big Pine Key are full of snapper, lobster, tarpon, and stone crab. Just watch your season folks! The friendly family atmosphere makes this facility perfect for kids of all ages. They can even provide you with a bicycle (at a small fee) to tour the local hot spots! Enjoy and relax, as we have and will continue to do.

I am very likely to return to the Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

By debbie2234, a 42 year old family woman on an economy budget, traveling for leisure.

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Nothing can beat the folks at Big Pine Key
My wife and I are regulars at the lodge every lobster season for around a 3 week stay. We are going on our tenth year and look forward to our trip all year long. The service is excellent as are the people. I can honestly say there is no negative's about the Fishing lodge, it's people or it's service. An A-1 adventure.

Ric and Cindy Yrabedra from Bradenton, Flrida

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Big Pine Key Real Estate - Prices Going UP!

MLS #538172: 2/2 single family home at 3681 Fox Street on Big Pine Key has been increased from $ 755,000 to $ 799,000. DOM (48).
Special home in serene area of BPK. Located on a canal with unobstructed views of the hammocks. Boat dock and a floating dock. Easy access to open water and minutes away from the Content Keys. Beautifully landscaped yard with tropical fruit trees and a veggie garden. Interior has been completely renovated & freshly painted with new kitchen and oak cabinets. Tile throughout w/carpets in bedrooms.

MLS #538809: single family home at 29818 Tropical Trader Road on Big Pine Key is back on the market at $ 499,000. DOM (5).
Extremely MOTIVATED Seller!!!Great price for this great location with a large lot. Plenty of room for outdoor activities in this highly-desirable, family-oriented neighborhood. Lots of room for expansion - perfect for a young family. 3/2 stilt home with ceramic tile throughout and jacuzzi tub. BRING ALL OFFERS!!!


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Children's Christmas 11-25

6:30 p.m. Nov. 25: Children's Christmas party with Santa. Every child receives a gift. Coldwell Banker Schmitt Real Estate Co., mile marker 30 gulfside, next to the Big Pine post office. Call 872-3050.

Big Pine Key Jobs

Employment Opportunities at Sweetwater Homes, Inc.

Sweetwater Homes, Inc. is a well established company in the Florida Keys for 30+ years. Sweetwater Homes, Inc. is the pioneer of Modular homes in the Florida Keys and we live in what we build. We are a growing company that is always seeking great employees with or without experience. We have many opportunities in the field from labors to carpenters. We also seek sub-contractors that can meet our expectations and our demand. Below are the positions we offer for future employment.

Laborers - You will be expected to complete small to large task that may require some skills or knowledge. Your daily tasks may be to tie steel for columns, strip forms, anchor homes, and/or assist with stairs and decks. This position starts at $10 - $15 per hour dependent on experience.

Carpenter Helpers - This position will require knowledge and experience in the construction trade. Your tasks may include building decks and stairs, installing trim, and/or various other jobs dependent on your knowledge and abilities. Your position will require knowledge of general laborer and carpenter helper. This position starts at $15 - $18 per hour dependent on experience.

Carpenters - You will be required to have a large knowledge and experience in the construction trade. You will have to perform jobs that consist of trim completion, cabinet install or repair, decks, stairs, covered porches, and much more. Your position will require knowledge of general laborer, carpenter helper, and carpenter. This position starts at $18 - $23 per hour depending on experience.

For more information, contact us at 305-872-9520 or info@sweetwaterhomes-floridakeys.com

Coconuts For Sale - Big Pine Key Real Estate

MLS #538753: commercial property (Coconuts Lounge & Drive Thru Liquors) at 30535 Overseas Hwy is for sale at $ 3,750,000.

Designated prime redevelopment on Big Pine Key. 1.5 Acre parcel sits at only stoplight on Big Pine Key and has access off Wilder Rd. Drive thru may be grandfathered, current Liquor and Package Good License included.

3 Day Wait in ER for Big Pine Key Woman

For three days, Leslie Deal remained in an emergency room bed at Fishermen's Hospital, in Marathon Florida -- scared, frustrated and in excruciating pain from an uncommon hip socket fracture that had gone untreated.

No doctors in Monroe County could perform the intricate surgery. Worse, workers at Fishermen's Hospital could find no combination of hospital and orthopedic surgeon outside of the Keys that was willing and able to take her case. Kim Bassett, CEO of Fishermen's Hospital, said she tried 15 hospitals -- one as far away as Naples -- and was turned down by all of them.

Tuesday afternoon, Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital -- which Bassett said turned down a transfer at first -- accepted Deal. Around 5 p.m., she was airlifted the approximately 80 miles.

Deal's ordeal began Saturday afternoon. She said she was trying to protect her teenage daughter from a large, belligerent drunken woman in a friend's yard on Big Pine Key. As she intervened, Deal said, the woman fell on top of her, breaking her left foot as well as causing the hip fracture.

Read More Here

Favorite Websites - National Key Deer Refuge

Refuge Facts:
Established: 1957.
Acres: 84,000.
Location: The refuge is located 100 miles southwest of Miami and 30 miles northeast of Key West, FL along U.S.#1.
Headquarters: On Big Pine Key in the Big Pine Key Plaza off Key Deer Boulevard.
Other management: 700 acres through the State CARL program, 200 acres owned by the Monroe County Land Authority. About a third of the uplands portion of NKDR is on Big Pine and No Name Keys.
Staff: 13 persons.
Visitors: More than 90,000 annually.
Current budget: (FY 05) $1,041,000.

You can find everything else you want to know about this refuge and Key Deer here.

The Secret of Big Pine Key

The Secret of Big Pine Key

The world's a very dangerous place. A new Iraqi conflict has now deteriorated into a civil war that has spilled over into most countries in the Middle East. Gasoline is in short supply and prices have escalated causing many country's economics to collapse. Adding to the turmoil are sinister forces plotting to take advantage of the situation. Their collective goal is to overthrow the U.S. Government and then carve up and rule the world.

The suspense builds as opposing factions seek to discover the location of a sunken World War II ship that hides incredible secrets along with a vast treasure. Vic Jeski, the unwilling hero, acts daringly, but foolishly at times, to uncover the "secret" and thwart the plans of those who are planning to use the treasure and the "secret" to dominate the world. He risks his life and is very lucky to survive. But can his luck hold out until the true nature of sinister plots are revealed, and before the horrific plans are implemented?

Sheri Golden - Ironman

Sheri Golden, a Big Pine Key woman, didn't come out on top in the Nov. 4 Ford Ironman Florida competition in Panama City, but she did accomplish what she set out to do: Complete the grueling competition. Golden completed a 2.4-mile swim in the Gulf of Mexico, a 112-mile stretch on a bicycle and a 26-mile run that comprise the Ironman.

She finished in 12 hours, 18 minutes, 31 second and placed 46th among 91 in her age group of women 40 to 44. She said:, “The conditions were cold and kinda windy.... The wind chill was 38 when I made my way ... to body marking (they write your race number on your arm and quad, and put your age on the back of your calf in big numbers with a permanent marker."

“The swim went well; the bike again was tough. I spent a little time off the bike trying to fix my water-bottle cages that were about to come off. A lot can happen on a 112-mile ride. I was not in a good mood when I came off the bike, but there is nothing like running a marathon to make ya' feel better....“I did not make my goal time, or beat my time from last year (I was 11 minutes slower). I didn't even buy any merchandise from this race. But what I took from this race I could never buy, anyway. This was tough, but I persevered. I am an Ironman.”

They Have Taken Our Whale!

The National Marine Fisheries Service has removed the remains of a 30-foot-sperm whale that beached itself off of Big Pine Key in July. The agency is expected to take the 12-foot, 1,000-pound skull bone, which it removed Tuesday from the Gulf of Mexico near the western end of the Seven Mile Bridge, to its Key Biscayne laboratory.

The skull bone was the only remaining piece; officials believe the rest of the bones were eaten, stolen or collected by marine scientists. “That's one big whale bone,” City Manager Mike Puto said with camera firing. “Actually, I think I'm gonna miss it.”Others who will miss the whale are the slew of reported and unreported poachers who lifted nearly every bone from the carcass as it lie decomposing on a flat just a few hundred yards from a public boat ramp and popular sightseeing and fishing bridge.

Puto later joked that the skull could be used as a signature attraction in Marathon, much like the giant lobster in Islamorada. But it turns out the skull and a few other recovered bones could be headed upstate to experience the college life.