Kayaking in Virginia, the island across the Miami downtown

Little beach in Norris Cut, Virginia Key, Florida - Photo: Still Gravity.
Our perfect little beach in Norris Cut - License our images here.

This was a winter paddle. We launched our kayak from the spot of the old Jimbo’s Place in Virginia Key. Out in Norris Cut, we settled on a small sandy beach across the condominiums of Fisher Island at the entrance of the port of Miami. 

Norris Cut and buildings of Fisher Island and Miami Beach - Photo: Still Gravity.
Norris Cut and Fisher Island - the tall buildings are in Miami Beach. 

Why is this inlet named Norris? 

Nobody is sure, but there are some ideas. Nature created the inlet in the 19th century. A hurricane is the usual suspect. Soon, the newborn cut connecting Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean became a favorite. There was not Governor Cut in those times. That man-made canal that allows big ships and cruises to enter the port of Miami was built in 1905. 

Containers ship in the Port of Miami seen from Norris Cut - Photo: Still Gravity.
The Port of Miami seen from Norris Cut. 

Norris Cut got many names: Boca Ratones, Narrows Cut, Narres's Cut, Norez Cut, until 1867 when Norris appeared in the charts. Researchers think that the actual name evolved from "Norez" and was given by Bahamians living or sailing in South Florida.  

A breve storm from a cold front hit us and brought some manta rays to feed near the beach. 

Manta ray close to the beach of Virginia Key, Florida - Photo: Still Gravity.
Manta ray close to us in Virginia Key. 

A couple of them swam six feet from us. Nice experience sharing the water with these majestic creatures. 

Gone the foul weather, we reembarked and paddled towards downtown Miami. Busy place far away on the horizon.

Downtown Miami seen from a kayak - Photo: Still Gravity.
Downtown of Miami seen from our kayak.

Incredible that this city began with a few settlers around the miniscule Fort Dallas. Big change in less than two centuries. What is the future? Hard to imagine. 

(For more ideas on kayaking in this area, check our trip to Stiltsville in Biscayne Bay.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chekika: Forgotten spot of Everglades National Park close to Miami

Image
During our last visit to Chekika ( map ), we found closed roads and dilapidated buildings. This was our fourth time here. Little by little, nature is coming back. Wilderness taking over what was always its property.            The closed entrance to the Grossman Hammock -  License our images here .   Everglades National Park closed indefinitely the Chekika Day Use Area in 2013. They claimed budget constraints. One year later, Chekika was on the news when a juvenile Nile crocodile was removed from the area - the animal was captured in a canal north from the Grossman Hammock. Two others were caught in 2009 and 2012 further to the east. You know the script with invasive species: they escaped, or someone released them.  The Everglades already have the mighty Pythons running wild. I don’t want to imagine the River of Grass ruled by “man-eaters” crocodiles that can reach up to 17 feet. That would be madness. 
More »

Google search and the little blog

Image
Many small websites are going dark like the sands of the desert at nightfall -  License our images here .   Little blogs are dying. They are jailed in a dark and remote dungeon of Google organic search, the non-index dungeon. The mighty gatekeeper, like Saturn , is devouring its children. Betrayed for money, the good old-fashioned blogs are the collateral damage of their "helpful" content update. Long gone is that 2004 when Loren Baker wrote: Google likes Blogs. Blogs do well in Search Results Listings on Google. This is because Blogs contain fresh content and are richly interlinked, despite their relatively small audiences. Some would go so far as to say that Google over-represents Blogs. (Source:  What if Google didn't like blogs? ") That's ancient history. A jump to 2022 shows a different picture. According to Sandy Maguire: The Internet is dominated by a few big websites. Out of social, the amateur opinion is vanished. (Source: " Why Is the Web So Monoto
More »

Ernest Hemingway's "Oklahoma": "All of the Indians are dead (a good Indian is a dead Indian)"

Image
Page of an edition of "Three Stories & Ten Poems" from Ernest Hemingway.  Here we go with Hemingway poetry. Harsh. But we know what to expect from his sharp journalistic prose and  iceberg theory .  "Oklahoma" was published in 1923 in Three Stories & Ten Poems   - affiliate link to Amazon . The name says it all: the "Oklahoma" of the Choctaw language - means "red people" -, and Oklahoma the state seen through its genesis, the Indian Territory .  American Indians or Native American - whatever suits you, but many of them prefer the first name - in their new way of life.   Now to the poem.  All of the Indians are dead (a good Indian is a dead Indian) Or riding in motor cars— (the oil lands, you know, they’re all rich) Smoke smarts my eyes, Cottonwood twigs and buffalo dung Smoke grey in the teepee— (or is it myopic trachoma) The prairies are long, The moon rises, Ponies Drag at their pickets. The grass has gone brown in the summer— (or is it
More »