Oct 29th
We spent a majority of the day on Mia’s schooling. In the afternoon, we hiked one of the trails through the swamp. It is a bird watchers paradise. Later in the evening Kathy and I walked the longer trail. We were eaten alive by mosquitos, but we still haven’t seen any alligators. The park is nice, but we have come to learn that most of the people staying here are actually working here on-site shoring up the levees, so the “vibe” is a little different. Most of them are just here to work, and they don’t like living here.
Oct 30th
We drove into Belle Glade today to try and find supplies. I can only describe the town with these two words, “utter despair.” Half of the buildings and houses are boarded up, there are bars on all of the windows, there is trash everywhere, and everyone looks miserable. In the afternoon, we hiked the longer trail again. We have been assured that there are alligators, and that we need to watch our dog, because they will eat him. We did see some amazing birds, catfish, and Florida gar, but still no alligators. This evening, the wind died out completely, and the mosquitos converged. While I was making dinner inside the trailer, I looked out our screen door, to see it covered in mosquitos. It was like a horror movie. We realized that we had let several inside too. We were killing them all night. It being Saturday Night, the park was a little louder.
Oct 31st
We were so excited to be going to the keys today, that we were all up very early. The depressed feeling we were getting from the other campers and the town, fueled us to pack up and be gone by 9am. As we were driving through Belle Glade, I finally saw an alligator. It was in the canal, right in the middle of town. Of course, Kathy and Mia missed it. The depression lifted when we hit the coast. We crossed onto Key Largo and took in the teal water around us. The views from the bridges between islands are amazing. We reached The Jolly Roger RV Park right at the check-in time of 1pm. My biggest worry, was that this would be like Myrtle beach. It is not. First of all, the park has strict rules about golf carts, and secondly there are only 160 RV sites, and every one of them is within 100 yards of the water. Our site is less than 20 yards from the swim area, and we have amazing views of the gulf. As soon as we arrived, all of the neighbors around us, started talking to us. Everyone is so friendly and relaxed. It is a completely different atmosphere. We asked about trick-or-treating at the office, and they told us that it doesn’t happen in the RV park, but they pointed us to a local strip mall that was having an event for kids. As soon as we were all settled, Kathy and Mia went to the water. A storm front had just come through, so it is a little churned up, but the temperature is very warm. Mia got her costume ready (Hermoine Grainger), and we drove to the strip mall, and had dinner at Marathon Grill and Ale House. The food was good, but the Key Lime pie was exceptional. All of the stores in the shopping center had set up tables with decorations, and kids were trick-or-treating. Mia received a lot of candy. Our waitress told me that we needed to take Mia to the neighborhood behind the airport, because the police block off all the streets to traffic, for kids to wander safely. Kathy got the same information from a local police officer. We drove to the “fish bowl” (neighborhood where all the streets are named for fish), and found parking along the airport road. The police had a ten block area blocked off, and even had treats in the trunks of their cars for kids. It was a massive Halloween party, and the entire neighborhood participated. Almost every house had decorations and a table set up in their front yard for trick-or-treaters. It felt very COVID safe. One house had a DJ and food bar. Another house was handing out beer to the parents. By the time we pried Mia away, she had over 5 pounds of candy in her bag. She proclaimed this “The best Halloween ever!”
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