The Rickenbacker Key is a five mile long expanse of beach along the Rickenbacker Causeway, which leads to Key Biscayne. There is parking along the Key and it’s always packed on the weekends with people cycling, jogging, sunbathing, BBQing, and fishing off the pier, (to my chagrin). Well, there was…..Thanks to Irma, my favorite running spot–The Rickenbacker Trail-is a mess. And the popular beach is altered forever. The hurricane spread some of the sand from the beach over the road and the water moved closer to the road. So there is not much space to sunbathe now or practice Santeria, as some of the locals do. Yes, I found a dead beheaded chicken and candles once. The road was also damaged. The bricks were uprooted and scattered, and the trees alongside knocked down.
I went there on my last stop before the storm. I wanted to catch some of the cool pre-storm wind before hunkering down for a few days. There were a few people out collecting sand and getting a last run or bike ride in before having to hide away. I even saw a group of guys going into the evacuation zone at Key Biscayne with surfboards. I had a feeling it was going to altered. Here are the before and after pictures.
Miami Chronicles 