Hutchison Island

The next day I wanted to learn a bit more about the greater area, so I got my tank full, much cheaper at that time, and started my scenic tour. If you drive south on Hutchison island, after an urban vacation zone with a typical beach club area, you quickly come to an uninhabited zone. It is one narrow road with not much traffic surrounded by some wild plantation and the waters of the Atlantic Ocean leading to some points of interest, like the Frederick Douglass Memorial Park. Besides the fact that you can ride on horses there at a truly lonely beach which is not my world, I did ask myself, who is Frederick and why did the US honor him with this thin zero relevant piece of land. I learned he was an African American politician, who escaped slavery and dedicated his life to the protection of human rights. He also was an abolitionist and opposed the politics of Abraham Lincoln in first place. Later he supported his movements leading to the civil war, and even met with him in the White House. So I stood there feet in the waters and thought… behind the horizon next land you could see is Africa. While walking over this mental bridge, I got back in my car and continued my tour. Soon the road leads literally over water and on the left-hand side facing the Atlantic, signs indicate the possibility of purchasing a plot of land. Some are a little bleached or even yellowed, the tourist development seems to have stalled, it may have something to do with another official traffic sign that says: Roads are Subject of Flooding. Indeed, the land is thin at this point, and if a hurricane hits, you certainly wouldn’t want to have a house there that floats or flies away.

But perhaps it is also due to an industrial complex a little further south on the island, which makes a military impression, but it is the Saint Lucie nuclear power plant, which has been supplying electricity with two pressurized water reactors since 1976. At least there is Pie Hole Wood Pizza in this radioactive green zone, very well attended, you should always be one of the early birds in Florida and ask for a table shortly before 12, then you will get one. The pizza is delicious, small and even too much for one, but for 19.99 you still have 2 slices for dinner in the box. You can sit outside in a large fly cage, an indication there must be a lot of mosquitoes at some time of year, which I don’t miss now, in the middle of February. Half way in my meal, it suddenly roars as if the 7th bomber squadron is attacking at low level, but there are only 5 Harleys with seated older gentlemen taking a break there due to a rain shower. These bikers are a far cry from the martial hype that rockers in Germany cultivate about motorcycling. There is nothing aggressive in the air, except a touch of fun.