The Florida Keys

Nov 1st

We didn’t do much today. We got to know some of our neighbors, and explored the RV park. Mia and Kathy went swimming in the ocean. It was fairly choppy and the sand was churned up, so they couldn’t see many fish. The park had a party last week for all of the kids staying here, and the children all painted coconuts with Halloween colors. They were going to throw all of the coconuts away, so we asked if we could keep a couple. They are good eating coconuts. I husked one, and we drank the water and ate some of the meet. One of our neighbors told us that the winds should change direction in the next few days, and then the water will clear up. After dinner we sat under a palapa in the sand and watched the sunset. The temperatures are in the low 80s, but the humidity is high.

Nov 2nd

There is a very nice family staying here, and Mia has befriended the four children. They invited us to meet them at another beach on the other side of the island, later in the afternoon. We met them there, and spent all afternoon playing in the water. The water was warm, but it did have a slightly bad smell. The smell is from the sea grass that washes ashore and rots. I bought some shrimp on the way home, and made coconut shrimp with the coconut we opened yesterday.

Nov 3rd

We went down to Key West today. It took us just over an hour to get there and we drove over the iconic 7-mile bridge. I had no idea how many little islands make up the Keys. Key West a lot larger than I expected. To get to the old section of town, you have to drive through all of the new shopping malls, hotels, and chain stores. We parked in the old section of town and walked around. We found a marker at the edge of town proclaiming that this point is the southern most spot in the Continental US. Key West is not exactly a family friendly place. It is mostly bars, restaurants, adult stores, and strip clubs. There are even sidewalk bars, where you can buy a drink to-go, and walk around the streets with drink in hand. We found a nice French creperie that had outdoor seating on the roof. The food was amazing, and they even provided iced water for Oreo. We walked around the old town for a while more, then found a Brazilian steakhouse, that had an awesome outdoor patio. The staff was extremely nice, and they invited us in, even though we only wanted drinks and dessert. We had to have a Margarita and Key Lime pie in Key West. Both were delicious. We made the long drive home with our bellies full. The winds had shifted during the day, and the water around the RV park is becoming very clear. I walked out onto the pier to see how far down I could see, and I saw a giant fish, 4 to 5 feet long, swimming around. There was a couple fishing at the end of the pier, and I told them about the big fish. They said, “Come over here and watch what happens.” They had just caught a small fish and were throwing it back. As soon as the fish hit the water, the big fish came up and ate it. It was a massive barracuda, and they had been feeding it all day. At first, they tried catching it, by putting a hook into one of the small fish they threw back, but as soon as the barracuda bit the fish, it spit it out. It didn’t get that big by being stupid.

Nov 4th

The water is dead calm this morning, and visibility is very good. Our only issue is the cloud cover. We went snorkeling several times throughout the day. The sheer number of fish is mind-boggling. They are everywhere. We saw crab, a ray, barracudas, and all kinds of tropical fish. If the sun had been out, it would have been even better. I man fishing on the pier, hooked into something massive, and he fought it for over 40 minutes. By the time he got it to the pier, over 25 people had gathered to watch. It turned out to be a 6-foot nurse shark. When he got it close enough, I took some pictures for him, and he cut the line. The water cleared even more by the evening, and as we walked along the jetty, we saw another small nurse shark, lobsters, and even more fish. It was like having your own aquarium. I could just sit there and watch, it was so mesmerizing.

Nov 5th

There are thunderstorms coming in today, so it is overcast, but the water is calm and clear. We did some snorkeling before the rain started this morning, and it was glorious. By the afternoon the wind and rain were in full force, and this evening the thunder and lightning joined in. Poor Oreo was not having a good time.

Nov 6th

The wind has really picked up, and the waves have brought a massive amount of sea grass to our shores. During one of the storm breaks, we drove about 5 miles to Curry Hammock State Park and took the nature trail hike. There were placards along the way telling us about the local flora and fauna. The trail led us through dense jungle and ended at a gorgeous bay. If the ocean wasn’t so angry today, it would have been a great place to snorkel.

Nov 7th

The storms have passed, but the ocean has not calmed down. There will be no swimming at the campground today. We packed up our snorkel equipment and drove south to find beaches on the leeside of the island. We pulled off at Veterans Memorial beach, and the water was very clear. There were no coral reef, but fields of sea grass with channels of clear sand between them. We walked out into the channels and saw a few fish. There looked to be little round patches of seagrass in the channels too, and I avoided stepping on them. Kathy brought goggles with her, and looked at the clumps. They were upside down jellyfish, with their heads in the sand and tentacles pointing up. They were everywhere. When we got back to shore, I googled them. They are Cassiopea jellyfish. They do not have normal stinging tentacles, so we were in no danger. We decided to try and find a better beach. We found another pull out just past Bahia Honda State Park. Part of the coast line had a short sea wall, and as we walked along it, we could see all kinds of fish. We decided to try snorkeling here. We had the whole place to ourselves. There was some coral close to shore, then it changed to sea grass. We did get to see a lot of fish including, barracuda, tarpon, stingray, and skates. On our drive home, we stopped at a local grill and ordered coffee and key lime pie. Everyone is complaining about the cold (its 73 degrees).

Nov 8th

The wind has calmed dramatically this morning. Our neighbor told us about kayaking at the state park near us. There is a kayaking trail around the small island that the park is located on, and it is on the sheltered side of the islands. We rented two kayaks (it didn’t seem like a good idea to take our inflatable one into a mangrove forest) from the park, and they gave us a map of the kayaking trails. We chose the shorter one, which goes through the mangrove forest, and would take us a couple of hours. We started on a white sand beach, and the water we paddled out into was very clear. We could see small fish, jellyfish, crabs, and even a couple of horseshoe crabs. As we went around the island, we entered a channel between the two islands. We reached what appeared to be the end of the channel, and found a sign post with an arrow pointing into the trees. This is where we entered the mangrove forest. There is a very narrow water path through the trees, and we had to duck quite a bit to get through some of the overgrowth. In many places it was too narrow to paddle, so we just grabbed a nearby tree or limb and pushed our way through. I was amazingly peaceful. The water was crystal clear and the only sound was the wind and our kayaks. We saw several different wading birds, fish, and tree crabs. The tree crabs were kind of surprise, because you would grab a branch to move your kayak, and there would be a crab on it. They did not seem scared of us. When we emerged form the mangrove forest, we still had 45 minutes before we needed to return the kayaks. Mia enjoyed the forest so much, that we went through it again. We returned the kayaks and headed home. We sat at the beach tonight enjoying our last sunset in the Keys. I would definitely come back here again.