Wow Jim, that's a looong bridge! I think that would scare me a bit - no-where to go if something goes wrong! (But I've always been a scaredy-cat!) Beautiful photo, lovely sunset - love the reflections on the water.

This is beautiful! You must be looking back at "mainland?" Seven miles is a long bridge! I believe our Machinaw Bridge is 5 miles and it is a long bridge! Do you know how deep the water is there? Does the bridge open for ships?

The photo of Seven Mile Bridge is actually looking away from the mainland, looking WSW, towards Key West. In fact, this bridge is already 50 miles from Mainland USA and well into "The Conch Republic."

It connects Marathon Key, Florida to Big Piney Key, more than 50 miles from where US 1 leaves the mainland proper. That occurs (leaving the mainland) when you cross Jewfish Creek and go onto Key Largo on US 1. The "Overseas Highway" stretches over 100 miles, connecting dozens of keys, to reach Key West.

The Seven Mile Bridge does not open. It has a high section where larger boats can go from Florida Strait (part of the Atlantic, on the left in the photo) into Florida Bay (part of the Gulf of Mexico, on the right).

The high section of the Seven Mile Bridge is not nearly as high as the Mackinac Bridge. I have been over the Mackinaw Bridge, and I must admit, I had my wife drive because I am not fond of narrow roads over high places!

The reason the bridge in the Keys need not be so high is that the water in Florida Bay is very shallow, hundreds of square miles, with only a few places where the water is more than 18 feet; unlike the Great Lakes most important shipping channel, where deep water allows deep running and high-standing ships to pass.

Interestingly, the very same cormorants which live out on Mackinac Island in the summer - I recall them on the jetty as the ferry came into the island's harbor - live in Florida in the winter, with thousands congregating on the many bridge pilings of Overseas Highway and 7-mile Bridge.

The Keys are on my Bucket List ...