John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park, FL
We pulled out early this morning continuing our journey South. Four years ago we drove through the Everglades and really enjoyed it. Being that this trip is called "The Greatest Hits" another trip to the Everglades was in order. This time however, we decided to explore the Big Cypress National Preserve. We stopped at the Visitor's Center and one of the things that took us by surprise was the display on animal noises of the swamp. Of course I was pushing all the buttons and dicking around with all the exhibits. When we listened to the "alligator sound" we were shocked! What we thought had been bullfrogs at several campsites were in fact alligators. Actually, I'm SO glad I didn't know that. Kinda creepy knowing those big jawed creatures were calling out to each other so close to us! Here's a picture of Ned outside the boardwalk area of the visit center, overlooking the alligator area.
Hey Megan and Josh take a look at this picture. If we were playing "Geoguessr" there is no way I would have said the Florida Everglade region. It looks so much more like Africa! We also passed several Indian villages with thatched roof dwellings. I was living in the moment too much and forgot to snap a picture, but the thatched roofs and this landscape just added more to the African theme.
Driving through the Everglades you also get some touristy tacky Indian stuff like this too.
There were also lots of "authentic" and "original" airboat ride operators. We thought about stopping and taking a tour, but it was so hot and muggy that the Florida Keys kept calling out to us.
After taking a moment to check out some exhibits, we stopped to have a picnic lunch in the Everglades with, you guessed it, smoked salmon from our Smoked Fish adventure yesterday with some watermelon. Delish!
After leaving the Everglades behind, we finally crossed over into Eastern Florida. About 12 years ago, when I was working at Apple, Ned joined me for a business trip to Florida. In our free time we visited a Fruit and Spice Park. It was so fascinating and also the first time I ever saw a cacao plant. Wow, who would have thought back then that I would one day be making chocolate from bean to bar and visiting awesome cacao growing countries...and making wonderful friends as well. I'm talking about you Sarah, my Trinidad traveling buddy! Anyway, we decided to take a trip down memory lane and drive by the Spice Farm. Special memories and funny how life comes full circle.
We finally made it to the iconic Overseas Highway One! It's such a thrill to drive this highway, with the aqua colored barrier, especially as you come over the bridge and look down on the crystal clear green water and see boats bobbing up and down. This picture does not do it justice, but hope you get the idea.
Tonight we are camped in Key Largo (cue Beach Boys song) at the John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park. The camping is a bit of a joke. The land part of this park is basically one big marina with campsites that are more like a parking lot. However, it's the coral reef and the associated marine life that brings most visitors to the park. It's the only tropical living coral reef in the continental U.S. and was the first undersea park in the U.S. I reserved this spot in August of last year and glad I did. We have just about the only shady spot in the park. What you can't see are the two campers parked just a few feet on either side of us.
The only way to really explore the coral reef is either by glass bottom boat or snorkel tours. We were hoping to catch a late afternoon snorkel trip, but the wind was strong enough that all the tours were cancelled. We reserved a spot for tomorrow morning, keeping our fingers crossed that it won't be cancelled. In the meantime, we decided to do some snorkeling around Cannon Park (yes, supposedly real cannons are underwater from a sunken Spanish ship). While snorkeling we saw some pretty amazing fish! Very colorful, but the scariest part for me was snorkeling over a flock (what are a bunch of jellyfish called anyway) of jellyfish, like 50 of them!! Well, I sure hightailed it out of there! We saw a baracuda too. Sadly, our underwater camera died. (Too many selfies broke the camera??). Here's Ned taking a little nap after a big day of driving and snorkeling.
Before hopping on our bikes and riding to several stores in the area in search of another underwater camera, we made sure we were well fortified.
Bummer, we weren't able to find a camera. Sigh. Ned has resorted to the "drop electronic device in bag of rice" trick to see if we can get it working by early tomorrow. Stay tuned! (P.S. believe it or not I'm terribly overdressed around here for bike riding! You should see some of the suits these gorgeous Latina women are wearing with pride. Dang, they own it!)
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