Key Largo, Florida

I keep thinking over and over how crazy it is how far away from home we are!  We didn’t want to drive all the way to Key West (another 120 miles) but we are pretty far South!  I thought a relaxing time on the beach would be fun but even though we are close to the ocean, the beaches are not great.  Still, our campsite was right along the water with a Tiki Hut.  If it weren’t for the biting bugs, it would have been a very pleasant place to sit! This picture was from BEFORE we discovered the bug bites!

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and it was a very tight space in which to park the trailer but with the help of two neighbors David got it parked.  David has been such a hero with all the driving and set up and take down.  One of the neighbors, Mike and his wife Terry, are snow birds from Ohio, and they were very helpful in giving us tips about how to spend our time in the keys.  Mike came and knocked on the door to say that there was a Manatee drinking out of his faucet!  It was very fun to see.  He said he could be fined for letting the Manatee drink but we enjoyed watching!  The next night he had us come feed cat food to some fish.  He had an underwater light so we could see the fish really well.  

The nearest church was in Homestead, about 45 minutes away.  They had a good testimony meeting and 5th Sunday lesson.  With it being a Fast Sunday, we didn’t do too much in the afternoon.  We are really not used to the heat and humidity and I think the kids have determined that they do not want to live in Florida!  

Monday we tried to do two National parks in one day. Really that short changed Biscayne but it is mostly a water park and we had a very similar state park right next to our campground and Biscayne is 45 minutes away.  It is beautiful there!

In Everglades National Park we booked a tour.  The other person who was supposed to be on the tour didn’t show up so we had a private tour.  Our guide was named Maria and she was awesome.  She took us to three places in the park.  The first was a boardwalk called Anhinga Trail.  It is named after a bird that dives in the water to catch fish.  One of the most exciting sights of our walk was one of the Anhinga birds catching a fish and swallowing it!  You could see the fish go down the bird’s neck!  After these fish dive they have to dry themselves off so they sit on a rock, spread their wings, and wait a while.  We also saw lots of alligators, great Egrets, a blue Heron and some cool fish.  Things are so different, it is fascinating to see.  We had a unique experience when we met up with some veterinarians who were releasing some rescued birds to the wild.  They asked Zina if she wanted to release one of the birds.  

We also visited a cold war missile site where the US government kept defensive surface to air Nike Missiles to intercept incoming offensive strikes from Cuba.  It would have been hot work!  Then we visited a place where you could walk through three ecosystems in a short walk.  The first was an area that needs fire to clear out the undergrowth so the park service does prescribed burns.  The second was a grassland that is actually a slow moving river where you would sink up to your knees in water if you went out there in the wet season (it is the dry season now.)  The third was a rainforest where it would not burn even if a fire came along because it holds so much moisture!  We saw a Gumbo Limbo tree that is reddish but has green bark underneath that can photosynthesize so you can cut the tree in half and both parts will keep growing!

Mike had given us the complete ocean report for the upcoming days so we knew that Tuesday would be the only good day to head out on the snorkel boat.  We booked the snorkel tour at the John Pennecamp State Park which was very close to our campground.  It was very stressful to be trying it for the first time and be worried about all the kids, especially Zina.  In the end, we had a good coach and all of us were able to get in the water.  There was a strong current taking us away from the reef so David and Zina never made it to the reef.  I made it but didn’t stay long because I wanted David to try for it.  Myra and Will did very well with the snorkels.  My phone somehow knew I wanted some videos and took them for me but they are a bit crazy because I wasn’t controlling the camera!  That night we ate at a place our neighbors recommended, the Lazy Lobster, but we were not especially impressed with the food AND Zina dropped her root beer and when they gave her a refill she somehow managed to knock it off the table!

Wednesday David was concerned about a check engine light on the truck so he was at the car repair until early afternoon.  I had scheduled a shallow water Dolphin experience for the kids in the afternoon.  I am not sure how to feel that experience.  It was VERY expensive but also very unique.  Zina was sad because the people who paid $350 instead of the $185 we paid got to be briefly pulled and pushed by the dolphin.  I didn’t choose that because a parent would have had to participate with Zina costing another $350!  Zina didn’t understand.  Here are some great pictures of our encounter!

Thursday I booked a kayaking tour of the Mangrove tunnels.  Again, very different from anything we have ever experienced before.  There was a “swimming hole” once we got way down the tunnel and each of the kids jumped off a tree into the water before climbing back in the kayaks.  The paddle back to our jumping off point was against a pretty brisk wind so we had to work hard.  Zina and I shared a kayak, David and Will shared a kayak and Myra had her own kayak.  Close to the end of the paddle, a large iguana swan across the canal right in front of us and climbed up on a dock where our guide could get a picture of him! When we got back Zina was able to have a video call with her school class.  We had planned all week to go to Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill Restaurant because Will had read about it.  The food was very good and we had a fabulous view.  They had live entertainment, music first and then a magic show.  We were just getting ready to leave when the server asked if we were staying for the magic show.  David took Zina up front to watch the show and the magician used her for one of his tricks!  I was too far away to get a video and I had David’s phone so we don’t have any video evidence but she made a table float and he turned one sucker into two and gave her both!

It was quite an adventurous week for a family that is not very physically adventurous!