November 19, 2020

Nike Missile Site

Long Pine Campground Everglades National Park Homestead, Florida Day 2

I saw this bird on my morning walk…I thought it was an osprey until I looked at my pictures tonight…beautiful eagle!

Our campsite.

We spent the morning back in Homestead. We wanted to make sure that we have everything we need/want before we drive another 34 miles to Flamingo Campground where we will spend the next ten days. There are NO services all the way in the bottom of the Everglades. We fueled the Jeep, got a couple last minute groceries, got some bug spray, and went to Robert’s. Today we decided to get Cuban sandwiches for our lunch…YUMMY!

We stopped at the Everglades Visitor Center for postcards.

This afternoon, we took the Jeep and the bikes to the Nike Missile Site. The road to the site is actually closed but there is a nice long stretch that is nice for cycling. We biked 5 miles into the wind first. If we have a choice, we always start with the headwind. See the windsock…the winds were steady blowing at about 16mph with occasional gusts…good work on a bike!

Then, we tuned around and with the wind pushing us, we sailed all the way back to the Jeep. Tim wanted to ride down to the site…it meant climbing over the gate meant to keep people out.

The Nike Missile Site was an active military installation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Men were stationed here to deter Cuba from launching missiles/nuclear weapons directed at the East Coast of the United States. Whenever Russian planes invaded the airspace, these soldiers had 4 minutes to prepare the US missiles for launch. The planes would skirt the edge of the airspace and then retreat. The Cubans were watching via satellite to see how long it took to be launch ready. For further motivation, the families of the soldiers lived on the east coast where the nuclear warheads would be sent. These men could get it done! In the past, we have been fortunate to take a tour here and listen to a retired marine, who had been active duty during the Missile Crisis, tell the stories of this place.

This gate leads to a hardpacked trail directly form the campground to the road…of course it is not passable.

We saw one little gator.

We went to check out one of our favorite picnic spots but it is closed and seems to be waterlogged!