Monday morning came early after the late night. I had made contact with JD Dean who is my Step Moms Cousin that lives in Key Largo. We were supposed to go fishing but the weather from the night before had made for less than favorable fishing conditions, so we rescheduled to Wednesday. To give Grandma a chance to recoup after a LONG day of travel we stayed close to home. We had plans for 3 of our 5 weekdays and we would start making the most of it first thing tomorrow.
Tuesday was our first day off. We decided to go find the water. We went to a place known as Shipwreck Beach. It resides in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park which is home to Christ of the Abyss which you will recognize in photos as the the statue of Jesus under the water. We didn't see this because it required transport in a boat out to the reef. Lance and I did get to see a "Shipwreck Museum" at shipwreck beach which is an assortment of cannons and an anchor with a placard explaining when they were placed and historical significance of the artifacts, all underwater. It was a neat experience. We also saw some spiny lobsters and a massive sea cucumber. Grandma and Krystal enjoyed the sun and Ava played in the sand. We only spent a few hours there and then spent the rest of our day enjoying the pool at the condo. Of course we had to catch an awesome sunset before turning in for the night.
Wednesday Lance and I got up early and met JD out at the docks that belong to the condo for a morning of fishing. JD is a retired veteran. His boat is named in remembrance of one of his team members that he lost in Afghanistan. We boarded the "Forever Young" and headed out into the bay. He went on to tell us about his mission to give back to military families and veterans. He especially wants to be able to take children out that lost their parents in the war for free or as free as possible. Even after putting in his 20 years in the service he is still serving in other ways. His wife is also retired military of what I seem to remember him saying 23 years served. Lance and I got to see the turquoise water, a couple manatees, sharks, sting ray, and even catch some fish. It was a great day and I as I continue this journey I cant help but keep coming back to trying to find ideas to help support JD in his mission. I think its a great cause and after JD gave his entire youth to this country he deserves to get to do something that truly makes him happy as well. I cant thank JD enough for the opportunity to spend some hours with him and my Son out on the water. When we got back in we went to find a few things we needed for the house and spent more time at the pool. We had dinner at a mexican food place within walking distance of our condo where I learned another thing that lizards like aside from what I talked about in Crystal River.... tortilla chips. I was so entertained watching them eat little pieces of tortilla chip that I didn't even think to offer them any guac or salsa, so before you ask, I have no idea if they like guacamole or salsa on their chips. After dinner we wrapped the day up sitting down at the dock watching the sun disappear over the horizon. While it was peaceful and still one of those sneaky damn manatees scared the piss out of me. When you are dangling your feet over the dock and next thing you know there is a massive grey colored animal just under the service your fight or flight kicks in well before your brain. This manatee didn't want to eat me, it was swimming by on its way home I assume. Turns out it comes by there around the same time every night.
We worked on Thursday so Grandma took the kids down to the pool for a good amount of time after the kids got their homework done. Thursday was meant to be an easy day because we had a full day planned on Friday and it turned out to be every bit as eventful as we had hoped for.
We started Friday out early with intentions of catching a sunrise over the Atlantic, from there we would travel the 100 something miles to Key West, the furthest south point in the continental US and only 90 miles from Cuba. To catch the sunrise I had tried to get us to a place called Harry Harris Beach in Key Largo, but turns out I did a terrible job at doing my homework. The park isn't open until 830a, sun comes up at 750am or so. This meant we had to do a mad scramble to find a way to the edge of the island to see the sunrise and we were running out of time. Eventually we found the perfect spot and took some amazing photos. It was a great start.
The next stop was a place called Robbies in Islamorado, FL. Here you could buy a cup of small bait fish and feed tarpon by hand. Tarpon is a predatory fish that are prehistoric in their pedigree. They have to be 7 years old to begin reproducing and can reach lengths of over 8ft tipping the scales (no pun intended) at over 300 lbs. They can breath through a swim bladder as well as gills giving them a unique advantage over other fish, they can breath raw oxygen. I can tell you something you wont see on wikipedia though. Lance and Ava turn into big chickens when it comes time to dangling a bait fish near the water haha! I cant blame them though. The fish were literally as big as they were and when they came up to get the bait you could easily imagine it swallowing an entire kid arm, though I dont think this has ever happened. (most likely) The pelicans like to hang out here too and try to steal your bucket of fish. Even though it was a PITA to keep them out of your bucket it was cool to see those enormous birds so up close.
Continuing on we headed towards Sombrero Beach to spend some time in the water and take a break from the car. From sunrise to Sombrero we had been in the car a little over an hour without the stop at Robbies. This beach came recommended by JD along with Robbies and so far he was 100% on recommendations so we had to stop. It was a nice beach with good facilities for getting changed. We swam and Grandma stuck her foot in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in her life. It was special to see. After an hour or so we got back in the car and continued on.
The next stop was a place called the Blue Hole which was on the Big Pine Key. This Key is also the home of the Key Deer. An endangered species of white tail deer that inhabit many of the keys but are found more readily on the Big Pine Key. Their numbers are estimated in the 700 - 800 range, but they lose as many as 150 to car collisions each year. Combined with dog attacks and disease they are still quite vulnerable of full extinction in the coming years if they aren't continually protected from humans. We were lucky enough to see a few while driving to the Blue Hole, they look like little white tail deer, only 50-75 pounds. The Blue Hole is a wildlife habitat that houses tarpon, alligators, turtles, and an assortment of other freshwater fish. It was originally a limestone quarry but after the company went under it filled with water and subsequent hurricanes brought in fish and other wildlife. We saw all of the above on our visit and it was a good experience. Grandma hadn't seen an alligator in the wild before.
Final stop of the day was Key West. We stopped to see the tourist attraction that is the brightly painted buoy that was placed by the city in 1983. There was a freaking line to get a picture with it. So we decided to not be another casualty of conformity and blinked out to grab some food at a local restaurant. I wanted to try Conch which was a staple food for the indigenous populations long before us white folks arrived. We found a restaurant that fit the bill and Grandma treated us all to lunch. Grandma had spiny lobster, I had conch fritters, Lance, Ava, and Krystal had burgers. Grandmas lobster was really good. Conch is a couple things, chewy, and tasteless. The breading it was in was good and overall it was a fulfilling meal, but I wanted some key lime pie. If you are familiar with the show on MSNBC "The Profit" you might have seen the episode where he goes to Key West and invests in a key lime pie company. After seeing the show I had to see about the hype. It was really good and very rich. The kids and I got it on a stick dipped in chocolate. I would happily go back to Key West again if only for the pie on a stick.
By this time is was late in the day and we had an estimated 2 hours worth of driving to get back, the next day was Avas birthday so we had to get the house decorated to surprise her when she woke up, and it had generally just been a lot of activity. So we drove straight through and got in the door just in time to catch yet another breathtaking sunset. Im telling you, they never get old. After being in the car all day I laid in the water and floated on my back listening to the waves as the sun went down. The sky changed to darker shades of blue as the horizon set on fire in purples, reds, and oranges. Heaven....
Ava didn't know it, because it was a surprise, but she was about to face her newly discovered fears of large animals in close proximity head on. We had booked this gift prior to our manatee encounter, so unintentional but still fun to watch play out. Ava got a 1 on 1 Dolphin encounter for her birthday. I'm writing this weeks later and she talked about it today. Probably her favorite gift she has ever received. From a parents standpoint I was reminded that experiences like these could set off a chain of events that may determine what our children end up doing for a living. I wonder sometimes what my life would be like today if Id experienced the things our children have just in the extent of this trip. Birthday or not, this was so worth it. I think I enjoyed the interactions she had as much as she did! Fun Fact, did you know Dolphins can live 30 to 50 years. The dolphin Ava met was a 17 year old male. Ava wanted Ice Cream on the beach for her birthday in lieu of cake, so we all had ice cream cones and sang her happy birthday to finish up her day.
Saturday was our last day in Key Largo. We had to get checked out of the condo and head to the airport and drop off Grandma. She was flying back out of Ft Lauderdale which was on our way to our next destination. We pulled into the departures lane and helped her onto the curb with her bags, said our goodbyes, and headed north to Cocoa Beach.
It is good that Ava and Lance are experiencing so many things. There are so many different occupations out there that people just don't know about. This is such a great learning experience for them, and, as you say, may help them to determine the path they take in their lives. And you are all having such fun, along this marvelous journey. Stay safe. Keep the blogs going. Love them!!