Day 44 - Key Largo - Sunny and mid 80's:
We got up early and headed out of our wonderful home away from home in Miami to make our way to Key West. Our first stop along the way was in Key West. We had plans to do some snorkling while we were there. Our trip was AMAZING. We headed out of the canal into the big ocean at John Pennycamp State Park.
We made some quick friends with a family who are traveing the country as well. The kids were awesome and we had so much fun getting to know them. They kept Ben quite entertained. The kids were excited as this was their first trip snorkeling. They were wonderful and maybe we'll run into them again...in the meantime we are following their blog. You can check it out too, it's located here!
Back to the water...Ben has been SCUBA diving before but this was my first time being in the Ocean looking at all of the amazing sea life. We saw so many fish and jelly fish (ahhhh!). The water was a bit rough but as long as you were actually in the water you really didn't notice. Our first stop was in a more shallow area on the reef. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The fish were so beautiful. It did freak me out a bit when I would get close to the reef as we had been instructed not to touch the reef unless it was an EMERGENCY as it takes a year coral to grow 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. After about an hour we headed back to to the boat to move to a new location.
Our second stop was at a deeper location. This location wasn't quite as clear as the first location. Here we saw more fish and Ben was able to do some diving down deep to see more. We were able to see brain coral at this location. It take about 50 years for brain coral to reach the size of a basketball!! I didn't stay out quite as long as Ben this time because I was not interested in diving down deep and staying on the top didn't really provide a great view due to the rougher water and angle of the sun. After our second stop we headed back into the docks. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that I confronted a few fears that I had and jumped in the water!
Once we were back on land we changed out of our swimsuits and hit the road for Key West. I was really looking forward to the beautiful drive BUT I fell asleep. Ben was able to see all the sights and the SEVEN MILE bridge. I was disappointed but figured I would see it on the way back. When we arrived we checked in at the hotel. We knew that we would be taking a ferry to a small island where our room would be located so we decided to grab dinner before getting on the boat. They took our luggage and brought it over to the room while we went to dinner. We headed to the Hog's Breath Saloon to grab a bite to eat.
After dinner we jumped on the ferry and headed over to our room. It was a short 10 minute boat ride. When we departed the concierge met us and gave us a tour of the property before bringing us to our room. It was AMAZING. We had a two-bedroom cottage right near the pool. Once we settled in we headed to the hot tub to relax before hitting the hay.
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It was an awesome day and you were both so lovely to the kids - huge amounts of patience and tolerance, kudos and thanks to you!
ReplyDeleteDave says ps: nice map, LOL! We got the link for ours from a friend's blog - great isn't it?!
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Very informative post. Islands of Florida is a best vacation spot. Key Largo is a famous for diving sites.Florida Keys Island is a famous for boating.In Key West resort you can enjoy enchanting sunset, night dance. You can see Everglades National Park, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park here other activities you can enjoy such as kayak, canoe, camping and fishing. Other attractive places are Crocodile Lake National Park, Jacobs Aquatic Center, Africa Queen. For more details refer Key largo florida
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