USA ~ Pigeon Key - Florida ~

... Amazing aerial view of Pigeon Key located in Florida Keys... a piece of history about halfway on the famous "old" Henry Flagher's Seven mile bridge... it consists of two bridges, running parallel to each other... the original bridge was built for the railroad, and then converted for automobile use... however, it wasn’t ever really wide enough for this purpose, and the new bridge was built next to it in 1978... the modern bridge is open to vehicular traffic, whereas some parts of the older bridge only open for walking and cyclists... one of the most beautiful walks across an ocean anywhere... the views over the endlessly vibrant blue ocean are gorgeous🌊... also accessible by ferry from a visitor center at Knight’s Key on the west end of Marathon... this tiny island is a collection of historic structures and a small museum about the history of Pigeon Key... the Bridge has been featured in the films Licence to Kill, True Lies, The Haunted Mansion, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Mission Impossible III... Thanks a  lot Glenn! (✿ ♥‿♥)

Key West is the southernmost city in the US. It is an archipelago, just of the coast in southern Florida.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this five-acre property served as a home base for railroad workers erecting and later operating the final installment of Henry M. Flagler’s Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway: the Old Seven-Mile Bridge.

More than 400 workers lived in the railroad village on Pigeon Key, which had a post office, commissary and one-room school, during the Seven Mile Bridge’s construction from 1908 to 1912. Following its completion, maintenance crews continued living on the island.

A hurricane destroyed the railway in 1935, and a state highway was built to replace it.

Photo: L. Fisher

Stamps:

Grapes
(Issued 19-02-2016)

2X The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission to the Moon
(Issued 19-07-2019)

USA ~ Fort Lauderdale Beach - Florida ~

... Hello!! Back after a short Christmas break... hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time with family and friends♥... Fort Lauderdale Beach is a year round sun-filled beach town... famous for its pristine beaches, miles of swaying palm trees and soft ocean breezes... also known as the Venice of America, because of its 270 miles of canals and waterways... this must be the first postcard you sent before cruising to the Southern Caribbean and it came as last o͜͡o ... Loved them all... Big Thanks Glenn!!✿◕ ‿ ◕✿ ➝ Gem's World Postcards

Photo: John Gordash Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a city located on the coast in southeast Florida close to Miami. It is part of the South Florida metropolitan area.  The city was first founded by Major William Lauderdale during the Seminole War of 1837-1838. The city grew rapidly during the land boom in Florida during the 1920s.

Fort Lauderdale's port is called Port Everglades, which is a misleading name, as it is not in fact located near the Florida Everglades. Port Everglades is ranked second among cruise ports worldwide and has more home ported cruise ships than any other port.

Stamps:

Songbirds in the Snow
(Issued 04-08-2016)

USA ~ Hemingway Home and Museum - Key West

...It was not only sun, sand and beaches :D...Ben and Dorien also visited this great historical site... one of the most famous tourist attractions... Thaaaanks!!

Photo © Werner J. Bertsch
Backside card:
The Nobel Prize winning author resided here between the years of 1931 to 19by to 1940 with his second wife Pauline Pfeifer and their two sons Patrick and Gregory.The home was built in Spanish Colonial style of native rock hewn from the grounds, with furnishings, rugs, tile and  chandeliers brought by the Hemingways from Spain, Africa and Cuba. Guided tours will bring you closer to Ernest's life in the 1930's. A living memorial to the important American author, bullfight aficionado, big game hunter, deep-sea fisherman, world adventurer and cat lover.

Ernest Hemingway's most productive years were spent in Key West. And this is the place he did most of his writing.

Stamps:
Forever stamps - A Flag For All Seasons
(Issued 03-05-2013)

USA ~ Miami Beach ~

...First postcard sent by my niece and nephew during their vacation in the US...fantastic panoramic view of Miami Beach on the Atlantic Ocean...amazing blue and turquoise colors...Heel erg Bedankt Ben en Dorien!!

Photo: Martin Gordash Backside card:
On the left is an overview of Haulover Beach, and tot the right is Bal Harbour.

Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.It has been one of America's pre-eminent beach resorts since the early 20th century.


Stamps:
Forever stamps - A Flag For All Seasons
(Issued 03-05-2013)

USA ~Purple Gallinule - Florida Everglades-UNESCO~

My nephews 5 postcard and the second of the amazing Everglades...posted at the same time as the last one... but travelled a week longer... a vibrant colored bird...he seems to walk on water with his special yellow colored feet!! Thanks a lot Ben for all the wonderful "holiday" postcards!! :D

With Forever Flag stamps.

The Purple Gallinule  also called "swamp hen" is a beautiful colored bird of southern and tropical wetlands, he can be see walking on top of floating vegetation or clambering through dense shrubs. Its extremely long toes help it walk on lily pads without sinking.

Purple Gallinules are know to eat a variety of both plants and animals so they are categorized as omnivores. They eat seeds, leaves and fruits both in the water and on land and have also been know to eat insects, frogs, snails, spiders, earthworms and fish. Sometimes Purple Gallinules will even eat eggs and chicks of other species of birds.

USA ~Everglades National Park - UNESCO~

...Card nr 4 from Ben's holiday in the USA... and one of the highlights of his trip...a guided tour in the Everglades... because the animals are  used to many visitors you can get so close to the alligators and water birds!! Hééél erg bedankt Ben voor de vele fantastische kaartjes!!

Put his last stamps on this card...the whole quartet of great Forever Flag stamps.(Issued 22-02-2012 - tomorrow a year ago :D )

The largest (nearly 1.5 million acres in size) subtropical wilderness in the USA protects an amazing landscape filled with curious flora and fauna.The park provides important habitat for numerous rare and endangered species like the manatee,American crocodile, and the Florida panther.

The Everglades National Park composes part of the largest stand of protected mangrove forest in the Western Hemisphere.

USA ~Miami Beach~

From freezing cold and snow in Louisville...to hot, sun, sea and beaches... Thanks again Ben!!

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With lovely Forever flag stamps

Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Florida.It is located on a series of natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which seperates the Beach from Miami city.

USA ~Key West~

A beautiful aerial view ...it all looks so blue... must been a great trip...visiting Key West with a rented "Ford Mustang" car...an experience of a lifetime ... Thanks a lot Ben!

Again the nice Forever Flag stamps!!

Key West is 129 miles (208 km) southwest (229.9 degrees) of Miami and the southernmost point in the U.S. It is famous for watersports, lively nightlife, beaches and historic sites such as the Ernest Hemingway House.

USA ~Tampa-Gasparilla Pirate Festival ~

A pirate festival...it looks so much fun... every January the world’s only fully-rigged pirate ship, the Jose Gasparilla, appears in the waters of Florida with booming cannons and costumed pirates ...visited by more than 400.000 people every year!
Thank you so much Jesus (I'm wondering will you be going too? ^___^)

With nice stamp from the Forever serie: Great Film Directors (Issued 23-05-2012)
and the the George Washington definitive stamp.(Issued 11-04-2011)

The Gasparilla Pirate Invasion and Parade has been a Tampa tradition for over 100 years. Named for the legendary pirate, Jose Gaspar (Gasparilla)— the last of the Buccaneers, a Spanish pirate captain who terrorized the coastal waters of West Florida during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The theme is an "invasion" by Gasparilla and his men, which begins when the "Krewe" (made up of residents of the city) arrives on a 165' long priate ship, the Jose Gaspar.

USA ~Florida-Tampa~

...Great view of beautiful colored skyscrapers... Thanks a lot Jesus!!
I hope everything is alright over there because we hear a lot of disturbing news about hurricane "Sandy".:(

With lovely stamps: Madonna of the Candelabra by Raphael (Issued 13-12011)
Tiffany Lamp stamp (Issued 28-04-2009)
Navajo Jewelry (Issued 12-02-2011)

Tampa is the commercial center of Florida's West Coast. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County and is located on the west coast of Florida, on Tampa Bay near the Gulf of Mexico.
While it's the country's eleventh busiest seaport and a center of banking, it is also bustling with attractions that bring visitors from all over the world.

USA ~Florida-Tampa~

Great and really "big" size card from Florida on a cloudy day...Mostly we only think of Florida as the "sunshine" state with sandy beaches and palm trees ...Thanks a lot Jesus!!

With two great stamps from the Forever serie:“Lights, Camera, Action”
On May 23 in Silver Spring, Maryland, the U.S. Postal Service will honor four great filmmakers who captured the many varieties of the American experience. Frank Capra, John Ford, John Huston, and Billy Wilder created some of the most iconic scenes in American cinema and gave audiences an unforgettable vision of life.

Tampa is a part of the metropolitan area most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area. Tampa is part of the Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida. The four-county area is composed of roughly 2,7 million residents, making it the second largest metropolitan statistical area in the state, and the fourthlargest in the Southeastern United States. (From the back of the card)

USA ~Walt Disney World~

...I think this must be the happiest place on earth ^__^... For young and old...Thanks a lot Evans Family!!
Walt disney's quote: "Your dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."

The Walt Disney World Resort (also known as Walt Disney World and informally as Disney World) is the world's most-visited entertainment resort located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
With 4 theme Parks:
Magic Kingdom
Epcot
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Animal Kingdom.

USA ~Florida-map~

Wonderful and my first mapcard from "The sunny State" Florida! (US1358158)...I love the bright colors and all the interesting details on this card! Thanks Rose!

Great stamp (I think created on stamp.com)...unique and with pumpkins... really ideal for this time of the year!!

Florida is located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean with state capital Tallahassee.

USA ~Florida-The St Marks Lighthouse~

...What a coincidence, on monday I received a multiview with all Florida's lighthouses on and today I got a beautiful singleview (US-807870) of one of those lighthouses...:-)GREAT!!


Guiding mariners through the shallows of Florida's Apalachee Bay since 1831, the St Marks Lighthouse is the second oldest lighhouse in the state. Today, it is located within the boundaries of the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most pristine natural areas along Florida's Gulf Coast.

USA ~Florida's historic Lighthouses~

Views of Florida's Historic Lighthouses.

USA ~Orlando~

Received an official (US-763773), a wonderful skyline nightview with amazing buildings and colors!


Orlando is a major city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida.It is Florida's third largest metropolitan area and its fifth largest city by population.

USA ~Florida~

This lovely card arrived today from Florida.... It looks such a gentle and harmless animal...I think the reason why they also called "Sea Cow" must be related to their feed because I don't see any simularity with a cow! :) Still wish I could see them in the wild.... And again lovely stamps too!

The Manatee "Sea Cow" makes its winterhome in Crystal River and the other rivers of the suncoast. When the Gulf waters cool, the Manatee moves into the spring-fed rivers with their constant year round temperature of 72 degrees. They are huge beasts and though they may grow to be 15 feet long and a weigh as much as 1500 pounds. Manatees are vegetarians and feed on submerged plants growing near the suface of our streams and canals.

USA ~Florida~

View of Cocoa Beach, on the Atlantic Ocean and within sight of the launch towers of Kennedy Space Center.