The First Bands of Tropical Storm Fay?

That was Folly Beach yesterday afternoon

This must be the first bands of tropical storm "Fay"

I like scenes like this and the sound of the big waves coming in to the shore

And there were also two guys out there, they don't cared about the weather nor the coming storm - that was exactly what they needed for their exciting kite surfing sport!

He came later to the beach with his kite and just started going out to the water. But he had to come back pretty soon, then suddenly the horizon was just black!

This kite surfing sport is big fun, you can see it here - and it was big fun also to watch those guys too!

And then it was time to run to the car, big rain drops started falling....

A day in Spring at Folly Beach

Beautiful colors of the water and the sky and some people were already enjoying the sunshine. This is the place to be on a day like this!

A place, where flying kites are not only for little boys...

A place where airplanes meet the clouds...

...and fourteen pelicans are flying over your head...

and you will find some still living shells in the water

and of course, where hubby has to take a closer look to it too - don't worry, we released it back to the sea.

The place also, where palm trees are giving a very tropical look to the scene - I felt almost like back in Key West :-)

...where the palm leafs have very strong colors...

..where black birds are singing in the limbs...

...and on the other side is his neighbor singing too, a brown bird. Can anyone tell me the real names for these little cute birdies?

Do this plant will have some flowers too? I'm pretty sure they'll do, later in the summer - because just now it's "only" springtime.

It's so much fun to spend some time at the beach - and it's big fun to live in Charleston!

Shade, shade, shade......

As a European I could never understand in the begin, when I came new to this island, why the houses here have so many trees around in the yards. Of course, the only one reason is to get enough SHADE, the most important thing in hot summer days down here, it's cooling off your house in a natural way too, not only with the running Air conditioner. Today I'm happy for so many trees as possible....

In Europe - and special in Switzerland where I was at home - we have not that many trees and not that close to the houses at all, they would be only covering up the beautiful view to the lakes and to the mountains. :-)

How to climb a Coconut Tree

How to climb a Coconut Tree

According to experts, there are two basic techniques to climb a coconut tree. The front foot technique is similar to rock climbing. You put your hands close to each other on the back of the trunk and walk up alternately moving your feet and hands. The frog technique is more suited to almost vertical trees. Your legs should be flexed on each side of the tree with the sole of your feet applied around the trunk. You place one hand up and behind the tree and the other hand at your chest level on the front side of the tree. In this way, you apply pressure from both sides, lifting you up while pushing up with your legs.

There is only one technique to go down. You lower your hands one by one behind the trunk and just let the sole of your feet drag against the tree.

You are very welcome to try it out down here - we have enough Coconut trees for every one of you! :-)


Read more about climbing technics here

Tropical Beach Scenes

I'm back to my "good old" Palm pictures again.... The pictures are new, but the subject is "old". And I have to tell you again: I love palm trees!

Single palm at Smather's Beach on a cloudy day

That looks like rain out there on the horizon!

Smather's beach is normally empty on a day like this....

...except a sleeping beach bum who is dreaming there on the bench, probably about some better days he had in the past.

Tropical Beach

Tropical beach scene on a gray afternoon

Deep Blue

This was our sunset yesterday, just a deep blue sky and dark gray clouds, that's it!

Palms again.....

YES, we have still some palm trees left on the island! Somebody asked me in a comment to one of my last posts about palm trees, if there are still some palm trees left to photograph in Key West, because I captured so many of them already on my blog. I have to say it again: I just LOVE palm trees and no one of them look the same!
And new ones are growing too.... :-)

AND...... believe it or not, we have also pine trees on this island,
even a lot -
like this great beautiful example here, photographed in the last sunbeams of a hot and humid summer day.

Labor Day Weekend at the Blue Lagoon

In the U.S. we are celebrating a long weekend, the "Labor Day" Holidays.
I wish you all out there a relaxed long weekend - where ever you are, at the beach, in the mountains, hiking or biking or just enjoying to be home with your family and kids:

Have a wonderful day!

The Old 7 Miles Bridge - Pigeon Key

Pigeon Key - Cayo Paloma

On old Spanish charts, Pigeon Key was known as Cayo Paloma (dove or white pigeon). Many believe this 5.31-acre island located beneath the Old Seven Mile Bridge, just west of Marathon, was named after the white-crowned pigeon of the Florida Keys.

Nobody had much use for Pigeon Key until Henry Flagler needed it to complete the Seven Mile Bridge, which was part of the Florida East Coast Railroad . At that time, the bridge was known as "Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge".

Work began on the island in the spring of 1909, and by the beginning of 1912, it held four bunkhouses, each designed to hold 64 men; an engineering/office building, which also held sleeping quarters for the men who worked there; and numerous tents set up over wooden floors on stilts for the laborers. Food was good and plentiful and strict cleanliness was the law.

Originally, the design for the portion of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Pigeon Key area called for it to be a rock-filled causeway, as the water in the area was shallow enough to build it that way. Of course, the final decision was to make the entire span a bridge.

When the railroad was completed all the way to Key West in 1912, Pigeon Key was transformed from a construction camp into a bridge tender maintenance camp. Some of the original buildings were replaced with more permanent structures, some of them homes. In an attempt to attract and keep more married personnel, a school was opened in 1923. A post office was established the same year and remained open for 10 years. After the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, Pigeon Key became the southern base for rescue, relief, and evacuation operations.

As a result of the damage to the Overseas Railroad caused by the 1935 hurricane, the railroad bridges were transformed to the roadbed for part of the new Overseas Highway . Pigeon Key was headquarters for the construction of this roadway, which was a toll road until 1954. After the tollbooths were dismantled, land title for Pigeon Key was transferred to Monroe County.

In 1960, Hurricane Donna damaged two of the buildings so much that it was decided to burn them down. A few years later, the University of Miami leased the land for a marine biology project. This lease was cancelled in 1987.

In 1992, the Pigeon Key Foundation was formed as a joint venture between the Monroe County Environmental Education Task Force and the Mote Marine Laboratory of Sarasota, Florida, and a 30-year lease was granted. Today, seven historic structures remain alongside a few more structures added over the years.

A multi-use educational and meeting facility is housed in the restored Section Gang's Quarters. PKF offices are located in the Assistant Paint Foreman's House. The Assistant Bridge Tender's House now serves as a museum dedicated to the railway and early highway history. The Bridge Worker's Dorm and Negro Quarters have been restored and are used as sleeping quarters. The rest of the historic buildings and the additional structures have all been restored.

The Pigeon Key Foundation, a non-profit organization, has transformed this island and its buildings into a world-class educational center; a place to teach visitors about the splendor of the cultural and natural resources of the Florida Keys, and a nationally recognized concert and event location.

Read more about Pigeon Key here: http://www.floridakeys.com/marathon/pigeonkey.htm

I Love Palm Trees

Somewhere up in the Keys

Dog's beach in Key West

Single palm at Smathers' Beach or the last sunbeams with raising moon

Palm group at Smathers Beach, where I am doing a lot of weddings

Single palm on a hot summer day


I have many of palm tree shots in my archives and I would like to share these pictures with you - I hope you'll enjoy!

Key West House, Palm and Clouds

This could be my house on Fleming Street - if you send me $ 2,000,000.00.
Just joking, but I have dreams anyway. :-)

Look up to the sky

Storm clouds forming in the north

Lovely evening clouds behind the Oleander tree

It looks like rain is coming any time

These are typical hot summer day clouds

These are the reflections of clouds in the water on the street

I love to photograph also all the different cloud formations what we have here on this island - especial now, this time of the year.

Different Palms than at home

Palms in sunset light on Honeymoon Island, Florida

Palms and cows around Lake Ochechobee, Florida

Palms and the beach on King George's Island, Florida


On my travels in Florida I have seen that the palm trees come in many different types then down on my island where I'm living. But they are all majestic, I love these trees.

Beaches and Palms

Single palm tree in evening light

Empty beach - where are all the tourists gone?

At noon in Fort Zachary Taylor.

Look up to the sky - but watch out for falling cocos nuts.

Palm group at Smather's Beach in the last sunbeams of a hot and humid day in paradise.