Truckin down to Key West

We woke early Monday morning with the Florida sun shining brightly on our faces.  The cool night had turned into a sweltering morning and the blankets and sleeping bags that kept us warm all night were flung aside as we desperately tried to remain comfortable and get a few more hours of precious sleep.  Always the first to rise, I woke soon after the sun hit my face and proceeded to wake Katie, the worst part of her day, as she tells me each morning.  After tidying up in the trusty Walmart bathrooms we finally took the southern branch of our crossroads, began our trek through the Florida Keys, and successfully explored all directions of the compass from our starting point of Homestead 3 days earlier.  As we traveled down Highway 1 through Key Largo, now called the Overseas Highway, we couldn't help but notice how touristy our surroundings had suddenly appeared.  Bursting on the edge of the highway are tons of gimmicky shops and snorkel rental places all designed to reel you in from the competition which is on every corner.  However, amongst all the tourist traps you can just barely sense the edges of reality.  This is where people live.  Every now and then in between the rental cars and hippie vans you can see an old beat up truck driven by someone whose skin is so leathery that you have to look twice to be sure they are not wearing a jacket.  You come to the realization that only a small number of the people there are actually running the tourist operations.  When you look down the side streets, there are real business, a community supporting itself living in this paradise that most people only get to experience once, if at all, and even then only briefly.  It makes me wonder if it was mere chance that they were born in paradise and never had the heart or will to leave? Or are they visitors who became enamored with their surroundings and were simply unable to call any place but this their homes.  I'd be lying if I said that I didn't envy them, despite their origins. Often the thought crossed my mind to pull into one of these many shops and ask for an application.  We could easily have lived in the van for a few months, making enough money to support ourselves on food and drink, and live, if only for a while, in the Keys.  However, my mind was too focused on going, constantly moving, so the thought never took hold longer than the pause at a stop light.  Once we passed out of Key Largo the road opened up into the wide ocean.  We were on a slender bridge with nothing but water for miles.  It made me feel vulnerable.  I kept thinking about what would happen if a storm blew in while we were exposed on this narrow strip of highway.  I kept imagining what it must be like to watch a hurricane approach from the south as you stood on the bridge, bracing yourself for the full might of God...  We continued down the road, intent on making it to the Bahia Honda State Park, located on the Bahia Honda Key.  This is a point just over halfway to Key West and we had hoped to camp here for the night.  The park was voted best beach in America in 1995 but has since given up the title to other beaches, many of which we would accidentally visit in the future. Just before reaching the Bahia Honda Key we passed over the New Seven Mile Bridge which perhaps unsurprisingly parallels the Old Seven Mile Bridge.  From this point on, an abandoned and decaying road would remain to our left.  It reminded us of our trip down Route 66 with its many sections of the old road side by side with the newer alignments.  The only difference here was instead of becoming overgrown with grass and returning to the earth, the road, or bridge rather, was being devoured by the ocean.  Many sections of the bridge were simply gone, fallen into the water.  Some were still slightly preserved and served as monuments or fishing bridges for the locals.  Either way, it was a comforting thought to know that the state of Florida took the time to upgrade.  It took about 2 hours to reach Bahia Honda Key and by this time Katie and I were both anxious to stretch our legs.  We pulled into the park and received the news that the car directly in front of us had purchased the last campsite for the night.  Somewhat dismayed we decided to comfort ourselves by taking a little hike followed by a dip in the ocean.  Before we left the car, both Katie and I changed into our swimsuits.  Our towels, still damp from the previous days snorkel trip, Katie decided to hang out of open windows on either side of the van.  I didn't particularly like the idea and suggested that we roll the windows up so that the towels were clinched inside.  Katie shrugged this idea off and said that no one would steal our towels.  I wasn't particularly bothered either way and we began our hike along the coastline of the key.  It was a windy day and thus all of the parks fun activities like kayak rental and snorkeling were closed.  Still the water was a vibrant blue and the sun was shining unhindered by any clouds.  We walked along the beach starting on the north side of the key, and followed the coast around to the south.  The south side was exposed to the wind which we were surprised to see was barely blowing.  The south side of the island also gave us our first encounter with the Portuguese Man-O-War, a type of jellyfish that causes severe pain if you get stung.  As we walked along the beach, wading ankle deep in the water, we passed many Man-O-War both living and dead, tons of sea urchins, and we even saw a few larger crabs scuttling in and out of rocks as we walked by.  We collected a few rocks and seashells to add to our collection and I found one of our favorite treasures to date, a sea urchin exoskeleton. After a while we sat down in about 2 inches of water on a small sandbar and enjoyed the warm water and soothing sun, letting our bodies drift into complete relaxation as we cleared our minds of everything except for the glorious present.  But all things must come to an end and after enjoying this blissful state for about a half hour, our stomachs began to rumble and we knew it was time to go.  We made our way back to the car where we noticed that both of our towels were missing.  Katie, in utter disbelief ran to the car to find that only one had actually been taken.  It seems that our Budweiser beach towel was too ratty to take and it was ditched a few feet from the car.  Using our 1 remaining towel we both dried off, changed, and hopped back into the car in search of a restaurant.  Now being in the Florida Keys, I had a pretty specific vision of the place I wanted to eat at.  A bar with a deck overlooking the water with decent food and cold beer.  You would think that this type of place is a dime a dozen in these parts but you would be wrong.  Where the keys are large enough to actually support human life and urban sprawl, the ocean is out of sight and all you are left with is a view of the highway and the shops across the street.  We drove through Big Pine Key and saw nothing that even came close to my desire.  We both agreed to drive one to one more key and if we were unsuccessful there, we would turn and eat at some boring place without a view.  Our prayers were answered however as we crossed over to Little Torch Key and were greeted by Parrotdise Waterfront Bar & Grill, the self proclaimed "only restaurant and bar with a view."  Basically it was just meant to be.  We ended up eating inside at the bar with a stunning view of the water and the comforts of air conditioning.  We order conch fritters as an appetizer and the setting was so perfect that even Katie gave them a try.  Our appetites suppressed for the time being we headed back to Big Pine Key, famous home of the endangered Key Deer.  We stopped in Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuge office and they informed us of the best spots to see Key Deer, which was basically just down the road.  The ranger also told us of a couple hikes that we could take along the way to see some alligators.  We took a right out of the plaza down the aptly named Key Deer
Road, and proceeded to stop off at the various trailheads.  These hikes were less than impressive and after the second one we decided we were both done.  The ones we experienced involved taking a 1/4 mile trail around a small freshwater pond looking at Florida gars and playing "find the one alligator."  Now that we decided to just focus on finding some key deer, we hit the 2 lane dirt road and began to slowly creep, keeping our eyes pealed at every turn.  We made it to the end of the road without a successful sighting.  Since it was around 1 p.m. we figured that they must be inactive and we thought about

just trying to find them on our way back out but as we were just about to give up we spotted a herd of about 10 down a side street.  We pulled a quick U-turn and drove over to the deer.  Katie had read in one of our books that if you crinkle a plastic bag the deer will come right up to you.  They associate the sound with food since they have been fed so much and they will come right up to the car.  Katie, ready to try out her theoretical knowledge found a bag and began to crinkle it.  Her theory worked all to well and in moments the deer were right up next to the car and Katie got so nervous that they were going to jump in that I had to drive off and circle back around.  After some close up pictures and a few minute enjoying the deer alone, our one stopped car along the side road became 5 and we decided it was time for us to move on, now able to add Key Deer to our list of sighted animals.  Back to the road we went, intent on driving until it ran out, which was in about 60 miles.  Between Big Pine and Key West, there isn't too much to speak of apart from beautiful views of the ocean and sparsely scattered houses on the few keys that were big enough.  About 30 minutes down the road, seeing all the water around finally got to Katie and we were forced to pull over on the side of the road for her to relieve herself.  Her situation must have been urgent indeed since there was no real cover to speak of other than the should or the small 2 lane highway.  We pulled off on a larger section of the shoulder that
looked like it may be used for people pulling off to fish in the area.  As we crept along the gravel shoulder looking for a good spot for Katie to do her business we saw a huge 4 ft. iguana run right in front of our car.  We were only able to snag a picture of it's tail as it was scurrying into the bushes because we were both momentarily stunned by this unexpected bit of wild life.  As quickly as the iguana left our sight, Katie's urgency again sprang into her mind and she followed the lead of the iguana and crept into the bushes.  We would later find out that the iguana's are an invasive species to the keys and locally considered a pest, either way, we were excited.  Finally around 4 p.m. we rolled into Key West, literally at the end of our road, the farthest south you can drive in the United States.  There was no where for us to go now but back north, though at the moment that was the last thing on our minds.  For the present our concern was how to spend our time in Key West.  Naturally our solution to this question was to visit the local information booth and feel out our options.  Such as it happened, that day I was wearing a rugby shirt, and the guys at the information center both used to play rugby in their day.  We got to talking a bit about rugby and about what to do in Key West.  Eventually after taking a minute to talk it over amongst ourselves, Katie and I signed up for an all day package the next day, the details of which I will save for later.  Now that we had our tomorrow planned, we began to worry about the present.  After our rugby friends gave us a hint about where to park for free in Key West, we began to call campgrounds in the area to secure a spot for the night.  It was about $20 bucks cheaper to book a place on nearby Stock Island as opposed to on Key West itself, so thats exactly what we did.  After getting everything arranged at the campsite, we again headed back to Key West to spend the night on island time.  Naturally, we sniffed out the United States southernmost brewery and began our evening there.  Kelly's Brewery, started and owned by Kelly McGillis the star of Top Gun, was an ideal Key West setting.  Just far enough off Duval Street to avoid massive crowds of drunk fat men in half buttoned Hawaiian shirts, but with enough people to make a fun social atmosphere.  We grabbed the last 2 spots at the bar and began to talk with the old couple sitting next to us as well as the bartenders.  After discussing our trip, Key West, the package that we purchased for the following day, and the usual niceties discussed between strangers, our friends next to us had to go but not before buying Katie and I another round, adding to our already faltering sobriety.  After we left Kelly's we headed for a more touristy destination, but one that we just couldn't pass up, Margaritaville!  We both ordered ourselves a cheeseburger in paradise which came full with all the fixings, including french fried potatoes, and ate until we could barely even finish the complimentary margarita that came with our dinner.  We spent the rest of the night walking up and down Duval Street, stopping in the occasional shop and sobering up before we headed to the campsite for the night.

An Underwater Forest

The next day we decided to tackle the Eastern branch of our crossroads and visited Biscayne National Park.  As I have previously mentioned, the majority of this park is under the ocean.  Thus, the only way that you can explore and indeed do anything more than visit the gift shop, is if you take a glass bottom boat or snorkel trip out on the reefs. I had never taken a glass bottom boat ride before and was slightly intruded by the idea.  Katie on the other hand had taken one before and was completely against it.  She stressed that you see the same things as snorkeling except without all the fun and excitement of being in the water with everything.  Seeing her point, we decided to save the glass bottom boat ride for when we were old and senile and began to make reservations for a snorkel trip.  The night before, using our hotel internet, we had read reviews about the place that the National Parks service uses for this task and all signs pointed toward the negative end of the spectrum.  Not that the tour or the guides themselves were bad, just that they were unreliable when making reservations.  Upon discovering this, we decided to arrive at the booking office first thing in the morning to ensure a spot of the first available trip.  Because of insufficient numbers, the first trip available was to take off at noon, leaving us with the whole morning to do as we please. Since there was nothing in this park that offered us any entertainment above ground, we again headed down the Western branch of our crossroads toward the ever entertaining Anhinga Trail, a mere 15 miles away.  Again we explored the trail, this time sans the camera, taking in the animals at our leisure.  We grabbed a quick lunch before getting back to Biscayne for our trip.  After a long boat ride, we dropped off about half the people on the boat at a nearby island then we headed out to the reef with the rest of the snorkelers.  Once in the water we swam over to the reefs and were amazed by what we saw.  Though nothing will compare to the snorkeling we did in the Red Sea in Egypt, this was still an amazing sight.  Unlike in Egypt, the coral was the main attraction here, not the fish.  There were massive fans and dozens of other structures which I don't know the names for all flowing in rhythm with the waves of the water.  Indeed, it was a very windy day and the waves were strong and constant.  As long as you could bear their force topside, the underwater treasure was a just reward.  Even though the coral and its structures were the newest and most exciting thing at first, as the saying goes, there are plenty of fish in the sea.  Many of them were species that we recognized from the Red Sea and still others there were that were completely new and different to us. Katie and I were reluctant to leave this beautiful underwater world and thus, we were the last ones on the boat.  Once we were back on land, we showered up using some freshwater then got in the van and tried to figure out what to do next.  Since we had all night to waste we thought of the obvious choice, a brewery.  After consulting the Brewers News that we picked up at Terrapin I decided on a place just north of Miami called The Funky Buddha.  I was simply attracted by the name and did not take into consideration what the name implied about the food or the people.  When we arrived, we realized we had overlooked the fact that it was Sunday night and there was a music show. The place was packed.  We had no hope of grabbing a table as everyone was jammed in, standing room only, so instead of dealing with the crowds we headed down the road and found a small pizza place.  On our way back to the highway, planning to make our way back south to, we passed giant funland center equipped with a mini-golf course and full arcade, not to mention tons of other activities to keep anyone entertained for hours.  Not yet ready for bed, we decided to spend the next couple hours here until we were both tired or kicked out by the closing bell, which both happened in the end.  We headed back to the town of Homestead, "Gateway to the Keys" where we decided to take advantage of Walmart's  renowned hospitality regarding weary travelers.  With the van parked in what we thought was an inconspicuous spot, we climbed into CJ for the night after using Walmart's fine facilities to tidy up before bed.  Getting into our normal nightly routine, Katie began to read while I started to bring out my computer to type a bit.  Within 5 minutes after crawling inside, Katie noticed a security car, lights on, stopping inexplicably close to our car.  We both played it cool for a moment, ducking down and hoping that CJ's tinted windows would conceal us enough to satisfy the guards curiosity.  Alas, they did not, and without hesitation the guard knocked on our window and stepped back to his car.  Seeing no point in denying it, I opened the side window, reached out of the car, and opened the sliding door from the outside. This has been the process of exiting the van ever since the beginning of our trip since the inside handle is broken.  I boldly approached the security guard and questioned loudly "yea???" as if he was in the wrong for disturbing my sleep.  Seemingly somewhat flustered by accusative tone, he sheepishly uttered "hable Espanol?" Again in a half cocky, half irritated tone I responded simply "No..." At which he began to stutter, searching his mind for the English words "follow me" which he managed to spit out before hopping in his car and driving off.  It took me a minute to comprehend what he said and also to move our stuff from the drivers seat so that I could actually drive the van.  (At night we move everything from the back of the van into the front so we can comfortably sleep).  The security guard led us to the other end of the parking lot, to a small section where numerous RV's and campers had already set up shop for the night.  Understanding the security guards intentions, we filed in amongst our vagabonding brethren and staked our plot of land for the night.

Seas of Grass

Today we woke at a literal crossroads of our trip. In the morning we passed through a small town called Homestead. Here we crossed an intersection of Highway 1 which presented us 3 options - East, West, and South - all of which led to unique destinations that we intended to visit. To the left and East was Biscayne National Park, a National Park which is almost completely underwater. Straight before us and South lay the Florida Keys, a tropical paradise immortalized in song not to mention the Southernmost tip of the US, only 90 miles from Cuba. And to the right and West, the Everglades National Park, the largest subtropical wilderness in the US. Not getting our fill of alligators the day before, we took the Western road and again entered into the Everglades. Inside the park our first stop was at the Anhinga Trail, which seemed more like a zoo than a National Park trail. This trail is 100% unhindered by man, aside from the path and boardwalk, and for reasons unknown to me all sorts of animals flock to this location, particularly the cormorant-like Anhinga,

with its outstretched wings, for whom the trail is named. Along the trail you can commonly see this bird either swimming in the water hunting after fish or else sunning themselves with its wings stretched out to absorb the sun. Besides this bird there are a great many other types of birds that can be found through the half mile
trail, many of which have names that can hardly be pronounced. The trail is also, perhaps not surprisingly, famous for its resident population of alligators which can be seen by the hundreds along the banks. Because of these two diverse forms of life, the trail in turn attracts 2 diverse groups of people. There are your families and elderly folk who have come to the Everglades for the first time to see

the alligators and there are the bird watchers: camera people, toting along giant tripods or standing at a single spot for hours hoping to capture an elusive bird in its natural environment. Katie and I fall somewhere in between. Though we were excited about seeing alligators again, we ended up spending the majority of our time looking for rare birds, as the alligators weren't too much fun to look at after the initial shock of seeing them wore off. As we started on the trail the first thing we saw was a giant alligator laying directly over the path! We were pretty thrilled about this, and took this opportunity to get as close as we could to this sleeping giant. After that, we mainly focused on the birds, apart from a few alligators swimming in the waters and one that we think might have been a little insane as he
kept ducking underwater and springing up to unleash his deadly bite onto a tree branch. We saw a great number of birds and even saw a few of the rarest, helped out here and there by our tripod wielding friends. A couple hours later, after finishing our trip around the Anhinga Trail, we began to make our trek south toward Flamingo, the southernmost headquarters of the Park. This is the only spot within the

Everglades, or the US for that matter, where you can see the American Crocodile in its natural habitat. We have been told that Everglades National Park is also the only place in the world where you can see both alligators and crocodiles coexist side by side. In Flamingo we signed up for a 2 hour boat ride that again took us into the depths of the mangrove forest. This time the journey would be the focal point, not
the destination. Our lust to see the American Crocodile was instantly gratified almost as soon as we pulled away from shore. We saw several, even one with its mouth held menacingly open. After this excitement, the rest of the trip was relatively tame. After the crocodile, we saw several birds but only ones that we had seen earlier and closer along the Anhinga Trail. The only difference was now, with a tour guide in tow, we got to hear all about the various birds whether we wanted to or not. Our guide also educated us about how dangerous the forest and the surrounding ecosystem truly was than we were previously aware. He told us about the many native poisonous snakes and the newly introduced python that was rapidly taking over. He even told us about the Manchineel tree, a tree so deadly that one drop of its sap will burn a hole straight through a human arm. Katie was most intrigued by this tree and half heartedly wanted to touch it, but when the guide informed us that by even touching a leaf, human skin would blister and form lesions, she thought better of it. After our tour we headed back toward the crossroads of our southern Florida trip, Homestead, glad to say we had one avenue explored and behind us. It had been a couple days since leaving Aunt Chris' house and I personally was ready for a shower. Unlike the mild temperatures of the north, this southern sun radiated heat which caused a constant sweat, this added to the layers of sun screen that were necessary in order for my fair skin not to fry under it, created a bitter recipe which meant we had to shower. Back at our crossroads, we searched around for the cheapest hotel and indulged in a clean, refreshing night.

Alligator Alley - Revisited

Friday morning we woke up with the sun and were ready for some gators!!! Though we had had a small sampling a couple days before, now it was time to hit the big leagues. First stop on our list was the infamous Alligator Alley. This is a stretch of I-75 that cuts right through the Everglades and where we had been told that hundreds of alligators line the shoulder of the road sunning themselves in the bright Florida rays. This section is also a toll road, and we were immediately skeptical of this stretch because we had heard reports that the swamp is now completely fenced off keeping all the alligators closed off from the road. To our dismay, these rumors proved to be fact and there was a giant fence set back about 70 ft. from the roadside keeping the wildlife at bay. We assumed that this was put in place to keep both the gators and the drivers safe but to us it was a huge disappointment. We did see tons of alligators but they were all spied from a distance and there was no chance to get up close to them or even to stop to see them. Once at the western end of the state we drove a few miles south and took Highway 41 back towards Miami. This road is what

Alligator Alley once was, and should still be. It is a small 2 lane road that follows a small river the entire way. It too cuts through the Everglades and the Big
Cypress National Preserve. There are many roadside pull off, some with large boardwalks so you are able to get right up close and personal with the gators. We literally saw hundreds of alligators along this road and it was a rare occurrence to go more than 5 miles without seeing one. On the real Alligator Alley we drove right through, making just one stop at a rest area. On Highway 41 however there were multiple opportunities to make stops and we took full advantage of them. Our first side trip was at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center in Everglades National Park. Here we took a boat ride through the mangrove forests, which the Everglades are famous for, out into the Gulf of Mexico. Right as our boat was pulling into the Gulf, 2 pods of dolphins converged on our location. It appeared that these 2 groups were in a contest, vying for our attention. Even if we had been in Sea World, we would have not seen such an impressive show. First the dolphins were content

to swarm around our boat, feeling us out as well as getting comfortable with the other pod perhaps. Then
one dolphin took it upon himself to get things started. He began circling our boat, keeping his head above water, spitting and splashing water in front of him and making a sort of barking noise that seemed to be a call to his friends to join in the fun. A few of

the smaller dolphins, we assume they were kids, began to take deep dives, disappearing for a bit then springing out of the water, several feet in the air! They would flip in the air as if part of some circus act and then land gracefully back in the water. Some of the dolphins even even swam on their sides, one fin out of the water as if they were waving to us. There was about 20 dolphins in all and though only a few were putting on a real show it was amazing to watch so many so close. Though the dolphins weren't done yet, the boat was on a time schedule and we had to leave before anyone wanted to head back. Pictures were tough to get since there was so many dolphins and you never knew where and when something cool would happen. Nonetheless it was incredible and we both will never forget it. Back on land we again turned our focus toward alligators. We made several stops on or way back to Miami, most of them to do short hikes on boardwalks which gave us some great views of alligators. Though the day started out as kind of a disappointment, the rest of the day overshadowed it completely.

3... 2... 1... LAUNCH!

The next day Aunt Chris was leaving town, heading to Lake Placid to spent the weekend with her quilting friends. Katie and I decided to leave that day as well, continuing our journey towards the keys. Before heading south however, we chose to spend the day again in Cocoa Beach and watch the shuttle launch from there as well. We figured that we would never get an opportunity like this again and it seemed our fate to be there. We got to the beach around noon even though the shuttle was not scheduled to take off until 5 p.m. Katie was nervous that since we had already seen people camped out for days, we would not be able to find a good parking

spot or a place to watch the shuttle take off from. When we arrived however, there was plenty of parking and room on the beach as well. After getting the car situated we finally made our way to Ron Jon's to browse through their extremely overpriced merchandise. On our way to the beach I decided I needed a new swimsuit. Not willing to spend over 20 bucks on this purchase, we headed across the street to some discount store where we picked up a cheap one there. We spent the rest of the

day walking the beach and stopping at restaurants that were either on the pier or near the beach, wasting the day away until the launch. About an hour before take off we set up shop on the beach, laying down towels and setting up our camping chairs. I went swimming for a bit while Katie read her book before joining me in the water a little later. We stopped

swimming right before the shuttle was just about to take off. Even without a watch we were able to tell that the launch was approaching. Soon all of the children were called out of the water by their parents. It seemed like everyone

there had a camera or tripod and all were beginning to get them ready in anticipation. All of our eyes were focused on a point out in the distance that we assumed was the launch pad. After minutes of restless waiting some shouted "there it goes" and pointed over in the opposite direction. Unfortunately the clouds had set in a bit and though we had clear skies all day, soon the rocket was draped in clouds. The noise was amazing and

more than being loud or in your ears, you could feel it in you body. A deep rumbling that at first was faint but continued to build until it consumed you. Everyone watched for a few minutes as the rocket skipped in and out of the clouds before disappearing from our view entirely. An old couple next to us, asked us if we

had gotten any good pictures of the launch and we began to talk to them. It turned out they were from Holland and they had seen the very first Discovery Shuttle take off some 30 years ago. Now they were back to watch the final one but though they had a tripod set up and everything, they missed the rocket completely. They joked that they would just have to buy a paper the next day and hope the front page had gotten a good shot of it. We didn't stay in the area long enough to find out whether or not the paper did a good job covering the launch or photographing it. After the shuttle had disappeared, we left the beach and headed to Charlie and Jake's Brewery in Melbourne for some dinner. We spent the night in a rest area on our way south to the Everglades.

No Luck Without Merritt

On Tuesday morning we left the quiet confines of Mike and Erin's place and headed back to the open road. We made our way south, planning to end up the evening at my Aunt and Uncle's place where we would be staying for the next couple days. After we got CJ a well needed oil change and filled up our own bellies with some lunch, we began our southern trek into Florida. My Aunt Chris lives in a small town on the East side of the state between Melbourne and Vero Beach called Fellsmere. It's about 3 hours away from Jacksonville, so to burn some time before my Aunt and Uncle got off work we decided to make a stop off at Cocoa Beach. We were drawn in by the billboards that cover this stretch of I-95 advertising Ron Jon's Surf Shop and couldn't help but stop in to see what all the fuss was about. Uninterested in shopping at the moment, we parked the car we headed straight for the beach. We only had 2 hours at our meter and we spent the entire time walking up and down the beach looking for seashells and other fun ocean debris to collect. The most common thing we found was old, disregarded, crab exoskeletons. We are pretty sure that they are not from dead crabs but rather get shed as the crab grows out of them. Most of the time we would see them floating in and out with the tide, leaving us rushing to stop them before they got lost in the surf.

Occasionally, however, they would be stuck in the sand, just sticking out, barely visible. One time we saw a shell sticking out like this and when we went to pick it up we unearthed an entire crab! It was slightly scary but immensely cool. We had to watch our feet as we set him free, making sure that the waves didn't send him back into our feet. After our 2 hours at the meter were up, we climbed back into the van and made our way to Fellsmere. It was great to see Aunt Chris and Uncle Bill and we spent the rest of the night talking with them about our travels and all the fun things we had planned ahead of us.

On Wednesday, both Aunt Chris and Uncle Bill had to work again, so the day was ours to explore. The night before, during our long talk about our journey we had mentioned to them a stop on our trip that we were unable to make. The Blue Springs State Park was a stop that we had planned to make the previous day but did not get the chance to do. The draw of this State Park is manatees. During the winter months, all the manatees that are left along the Florida coast head inland, up rivers that connect to the ocean, into warmer waters. The Blue Springs State Park boasts that they house up to 78 manatees during these months, all which can be viewed from a boardwalk that surrounds the spring. Unfortunately, during our visit we were at the tail end of this season. We called the State Park a few days before we left Mike and Erin's and they told us that they only had 4 manatees that visited the park that day and it was in the morning hours. They day we left, they had only seen 2 and it again was in the early morning. Accepting that we missed our chance, we completely avoided the State Park, sticking to the coastline. When we brought this up to Aunt Chris the night before, she told us that there was a similar river nearby but at this river the manatees inhabit the area year round. Excited for this opportunity we made this place the first stop of our day. Canal 54, located within the St. Sebastian Preserve is only about 5 miles from their house and when we arrived at the manatee

viewing area there was already a group of people there, which we took for a positive sign. However when we get got out to take a look, we realized there was in fact no manatees present. The clear water was teeming with fish however and we spent a while watching all the different kinds swim about while birds dove and swam to catch them. Our manatee plans again thwarted, we decided to head north and visit the Canaveral National Seashore where we planned to spend the rest of the day. Lady luck must have been against us that day or else she had different plans for us than the ones we intended. Aside from no manatees, our first spot of bad luck came when we realized that we forgot our atlas back at the house. We had brought it in the night before to plan our trip and now were faced with the task of navigating by memory. We eventually made it to Merritt Island which itself is a National Wildlife Refuge and a place you must pass through to make it to Canaveral. After we crossed the causeway we noticed that the shoulders were lined with people in campers who had seemingly been stationed there for days. We thought this was a bit odd but didn't think much of it. Once we were on the island we were greeted by signs informing us that the National Seashore was closed. Perplexed, we stopped off at the Merritt Island Visitor Center to figure out why it was closed and also to discover what we could do with our day now that our plans were void. At the visitor center luck began to shift back to our side. We learned that the reason the Canaveral National Seashore was closed was because the last shuttle of the Discovery Missions was due to launch the next day. Apparently they close the area 3 days prior to a launch and though we would not be able to explore this part of the island, a whole new opportunity opened up to us. Also we were happy to learn that Merritt Island had plenty to offer us. First and foremost we were excited to hear that the park had a place where you can see manatees! This is a place where they come during the summer months and thus

were just arriving instead of just leaving like their inland counterparts. The visitor center told us that there was a few of them already and we headed straight there, hoping to catch a glimpse. When we arrived there was a bunch of people standing around, seemingly looking at nothing in the water. We waited about 5 minutes before we spotted one manatee that was sitting in the shallows hiding just out of plain sight. We watched him for a bit before another surfaced near the viewing platform. He was

more active and we watched him bob up and down for about 15 minutes before deciding to move on. Next we decided to take a driving nature trail that took us

back through the coastal swamps. This place was full of wildlife. It was here that we saw the first alligators of our entire trip! Aside from the 15 alligators that we saw along the road we also spotted armadillos, feral pigs, a graveyard of horseshoe crabs, and tons of wild birds,

including the pink hued spoonbill! We took this drive at a very slow pace, keeping our eyes peeled for wildlife around every corner. By the time we finished the loop it was time to head back to my Aunt and Uncle's place for dinner. After the meal we headed to the Indian River just after nightfall hoping to see some dolphins. We didn't have any luck but on the way home we stopped at an ice cream shop and indulged ourselves to make up for it.

World Beer Tour!

Originally, on Friday, we had all planned to make the trip back to Orlando and visit the second of the two theme parks that we all planned to visit together, Disney's Epcot Center. However, after waking up so early the night before and after enduring the 2.5 hour commute to and from the theme park, we all agreed that perhaps our eyes were bigger than our bellies so to speak. Instead of waking up early and heading south again, we decided to make it a leisurely morning then spend the afternoon in nearby St. Augustine, the nations oldest city. Our first stop in the city was to take a free tour of the San Sebastian Winery and get Mike and Erin's first wine tasting under their belt. The winery was surprisingly packed, having about 3 tours / tastings going on at once. The wine was just OK and our pourer, having to entertain an entire crowd, did not give us the one on one attention that Katie had come to associate with wine tastings. It was still a lot of fun, just too bad that it had

to be Mike and Erin's first experience in a winery, crammed around a small table fighting for a place to set your glass. After the winery, which was located on the outskirts of town, we made our way into the downtown proper. Once we found some parking,

a rare commodity on this day, we made our way over to the A1A Brewery where we destroyed a plate of nachos and then again hit the streets. We walked around beautiful downtown St. Augustine for about an hour, window shopping and trying to stake out or next place to eat. Along the way we stopped in a hole in the wall bar and popped a couple bucks into the Megatouch machine. It turns out that no one in St. Augustine plays those type of games and we ended up milking the 2 dollars for over 2 hours since we kept getting record scores and thus, bonus replays. After ADAM BANKS had made his mark we hopped into a little tapas and wine bar down a small side street, ordered a bottle of wine and some food, and spent the rest of the night sitting outside enjoying the atmosphere not to mention the wine, food, and company.

Saturday was another lazy day. Mike especially felt like taking the day off and spending it the way he usually does, lounging around the house watching TV and movies, mixed in with the "occasional" catnap. We again had an early morning on Sunday. We had to make it back to Orlando to visit Disney's Epcot Center. We had

took it upon ourselves to try and complete the Epcot Beer World Tour, which consists of walking around all the 11 countries and sampling their fare along the way. We had all day to complete this task and we took our time and had a lot of fun doing it. We

started in Canada and worked our way counter clockwise around the pond. Katie and I got to sample wine from France, Italy, and Germany, sake from Japan, margaritas from Mexico, and beers from everywhere else. We ended up

eating at half the countries along the way as well, not being able to help ourselves from sampling the native cuisine. We even got to ride the few

thrill rides that the park has to offer. By the end of the day we were all exhausted. Thankfully Mike refrained from drinking and was able to cart us all home. Katie and I took advantage of the car ride again and napped on the way home and even after that we were ready for bed once we got back to Jacksonville. We did not envy Mike in the slightest, he was the only one of our group that had to work in the morning; Erin had the day off to honor Presidents Day.

On Monday Katie and I again headed south to visit St. Augustine, this time sans Mike and Erin. Mike was busy working and Erin felt she needed to spend the day collecting herself and cleaning the house. Katie and I had interest in visiting St. Augustine again in order to take a more historical approach to the city. The Castillo de San Marcos is a National Monument located in downtown St. Augustine. It is a fort built by the Spanish who founded the city to protect from the town from the French who had claims south of the city. After touring the fort we went to a nearby restaurant called Sangria to have some lunch. Our seats were on the second floor and overlooked the main street meaning we had a prime location for people watching. That night Mike and Erin took us out to dinner for our first ever encounter with Indian cuisine. Katie and I were instant fans and were super excited to add another dining option to our repertoire.

Hogwarts: A History

Today, February 17th, is Katie's Birthday. To celebrate, we are headed to Universal Studios

Florida's Islands of Adventure, home to the famous Harry Potter World. We had to rise early in order to make the most of our day, not knowing what the crowds and lines would be like. By 7 a.m. all 4 of us were showered and out the door, on our way to Orlando, just in time to hit the morning rush hour. Being battle hardened from my years fighting the morning commute back in Chicago,

this 20 minute hiccup in the plan was nothing to me and before everyone else could finish complaining about it, we were already inside the confines of the park. Once we got through all of the ticketing windows and layers of security, the park was ours to explore. We were ecstatic when

we realized that today wasn't going to be a busy day. We walked right on to the Hulk, our first ride of the day, and because the line was non-existant, we decided to do it twice. Next, we went to Harry Potter World, which is its own section within the park. As we rounded the corner into Diagon Alley, we

were all blown away. Every storefront from the books and movies was brought to life before our eyes. There was even giant barrels of butterbeer strewn throughout the street, tapped and ready to serve. We immediately started going through all the shops, picking up and examining all of the hokey imitations of things from the movies. Next we made

a stop in the Hogs Head Tavern and enjoyed our very own butterbeer, which sadly is not beer at all. After the initial shock of entering the world wore off, we decided to head back to the roller coasters. The entire day

there was only one ride that we had to wait in a line for more than 10 minutes to get on. We rode every thrill ride in the park at least twice and even finished off the day getting soaking wet at a Popeye themed Thunder Canyon. We were all now pretty cold since the sun had set and we were drenched head to toe. Since we had done everything we wanted to, twice, we decided to walk through HP World once more and then head to the City Walk for some dinner. Katie picked out Bob Marley's Jamaican Cuisine for her birthday dinner. The food was beyond

all of our expectations and it ended up becoming a makeshift tapas meal because everyone kept wanting to try things off each others plates. At the end of the meal, Mike alerted the waitress that it was Katie's birthday and we all got to split a free order of cheesecake. Mike drove the 2 hour drive back to Jacksonville while Katie and I dosed in the back. If the cheesecake at the end of the meal wasn't the icing on the cake, then the ice cream cake that we picked up just before reaching home definitely was. It was no surprise to Katie and she even got to pick the flavor, but she was extremely happy all the same. Exhausted from our full day, we went to bed as soon as our slices of ice cream cake were demolished.

Big Hoppy Monster

Friday came and we set off south. It was time for us to finally make our long awaited arrival in the Sunshine State. After leaving Charlotte we made 2 quick stops at King's Mountain and the Cowpens, both National Monuments and Revolutionary War battlefields. Both were so small that we could take mile long, loop trails that circled each respective battlefield. Compared to the Civil War Battlefields which we were used to, with thousands dead and miles and miles of battlefields, these were both seemingly so small. Still they were nonetheless interesting and it did give us another opportunity to get out of the car and stretch our legs. From here we had planned to got to Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta to visit what is known as the South's Mount Rushmore. Stone Mountain is a granite monolith much like Looking Glass Rock, but into its side there has been carved the portraits of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. We were both mildly looking forward to this and it seemed to us on odd bit of southern culture that we could not pass up. However our planning skills failed us and we quickly realized that we would be unable to make it to Stone Mountain by its closing time, 5 p.m. Instead we headed to Athens Ga, to visit the Terrapin Brewing Co where we decided not to take the tour but still got to sample all 8 of their beers. After leaving Athens we drove straight to Jacksonville to stay with our friends Mike and Erin who would be our hosts for the next week. We drove for about 5 hours and didn't arrive until 1:30 a.m. Once we got to their place we stayed up all night playing games and talking with one another, not making it to bed until 7:45 a.m. the next day!!! Who says 5 hour energy drinks don't work??? ;)

Saturday we all woke up around 1 p.m. and headed over to Mike's brother's house who was having a big BBQ which included fried okra, wings, BBQ pulled pork, 3 racks of ribs, and corn muffins. All of which was homemade and all of which was amazing. We spent the day playing yard games, enjoying the sweet Florida sun, and stuffing our faces full of barbecue. On Sunday we were all still tired from our all nighter two nights before and again spent half the day in bed. We went for a late lunch at an awesome seafood restaurant called Clarke's on the waterfront, being sure to sit outside and enjoy the sun. The rest of the day was spent playing euchre and watching movies until Mike and Erin had to turn in early in order to get up for work the next morning.

On Monday we again headed north into Georgia to visit the beautiful town of Savannah. We had no real plans for visiting the city but we had heard from everyone along the east coast that Savannah was a city that we just couldn't miss. After consulting our guidebooks, we had a rough plan for the day but we were still counting on looking things up when we got into Savannah. By the time we pulled into town it was about noon and we decided to start off the day with some food at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Co before exploring the city. We couldn't find any parking that let us have more than an hour so inserted the max amount into a meter and headed off to lunch, planning to refill the meter before walking around the city. When we got back the the van, 3 minutes after the meter expired, we already noticed that we had a ticket, so we decided that are spot was good for a while and began to walk around the city. We spent most of our time in Savannah by the water on River Street, window shopping and occasionally peaking our heads

in to see what the stores had to offer. After a couple hours we went back to the car and began to

make our way toward the Atlantic ocean. On our way to the water we passed by Fort Pulaski National Monument and pulled in for a visit. While crossing the bridge onto the island we spotted a bottlenose dolphin swimming in the river which we watched for about 15 minutes before continuing on to

the fort. We were almost roped into a tour of the fort but when we heard our tour guide speak we decided to duck out instead of endure 45 minutes of his slow droning. To make up for it we watched a video about the fort then toured it on our own. The coolest thing we saw on

our whole tour was the outside walls of the fort which still bore shell marks from being attached during the start of the Civil War. After a couple hours touring the fort we finally headed to the beach. The weather was a little cold to be true beach weather but still beautiful compared to what was going on up north, and thus we felt no need to complain. We spent the rest of our daylight hours walking up and down the beach, collecting sea shells and looking at dead jellyfish that had run ashore.

Tuesday we again decided to spend our day on the beach in the sun. It's so nice to type that, sitting outside at 7 p.m. in shorts and a t-shirt, then thinking about people back home whose cars are currently covered in snow :) Anyway, Amelia Island is right on the border of Florida and Georgia and this is where we decided to spend our day. It is a stones throw away from Cumberland Island National Park which was our first choice for the day. Upon hearing that it would cost us $40 per person just to get to the island however, we decided to rethink our plans. Cumberland Island and Amelia Island are basically the exact same island except for one has been run over by humans and commercialized as a resort town while the other remains uninhibited, just as nature made it. Currently we decided to put Cumberland Island on hold until the warmer weather creeps a bit more northward, hopefully encouraging the wildlife to

perk up and come out. Therefore... Amelia Island here we come. On our way to Savannah the day before we passed the Budwieser Brewery of Jacksonville. Pressed for time and anxious to explore a new city, we passed up the brewery but today, without having to drive 3 hours to reach our destination, we had plenty of time to stop in and take the free tour. After all the walking and beer sampling we had both worked up quite an appetite so we made our way to Amelia Island in search of food. While browsing the island's one city, Ferdinadia Beach, we noticed a sign for a place called Karibrew and decided to check it out. It turned out to be an awesome, family owned, cafe that just happened to serve some homebrew on occasion! We had the rotten luck of catching them in between batches and ended up only having one option to choose from; lucky for Katie it was their stout. Our hunger now

curbed, we headed for the beach. We spent the afternoon walking for a few hours up and down the beach, just at the water line, sometimes allowing the tide to rush in over our feet. We walked with our heads bowed, intent upon the sand, ever searching for

new and different shells and creatures that were being dragged in with the tide. About an hour before sunset, as the sun dipped below the trees and left us without her friendly warmth, we headed back to the historic downtown to walk around and do some window shopping. Along the way, we came across

a bar that featured a wine tasting that night, only a few hours away. We took a mental note of this place and made it a point to come back once the tasting had begun. It started off slow and Katie and I feared that we would be the only ones in this small town that were interested in this sort of thing. But within an hour of the start of the tasting there was barely any table room and definitely no seats available. Since Katie and I were the first ones to arrive on the scene, we had a spot right up next to the serving table and we made fast friends with the pourer who we spent the night talking with and getting to know. Time flies when you're having fun, and before we knew it, it was time to leave. In the evening, once back at Mike and Erin's place, we watched the MSU - Ohio State basketball game, then played a few rounds of Fusion Frenzy before the man began to call and they had to go to bed.

Wednesday was a long awaited day for all of us. It was the last day of work for both Mike and Erin until the following Monday. It was the beginning of their mini vacation and meant that we would be visiting some of the best theme parks in the world within a few days. The day was full of anticipation. None of us could wait until the 5 o'clock bell rang and we could really start to have some fun. Mike worked from home most of the day which added to the anxious atmosphere already present. After each conference call he would hang up the phone and wish

out loud that the day was over. It reminded me of our college years, procrastinating homework, and grudgingly studying for tests when we just wanted to party. Katie and I deliberately made no plans for the day. To show our appreciation to Mike and Erin for both hosting us and taking time off work to vacation with us,

we decided to cook them dinner. After checking the cupboards for sufficient cooking utensils, we headed to the store to pick up the food. We had agreed upon one of Mom's famous recipes, beef and bean enchiladas. We spent the afternoon preparing the meal and about a half hour after everyone was home from work we were enjoying our meal. We made it an early night because of our big plans the next day to visit the newly built, Harry Potter World!