John Pennecamp State Park, Florida & S. Carolina BBQ

 We decided to stay in Key Largo, Florida one more day.
The sunrises and sunsets were captivating, the warm water was luring and wearing bathing suits, sandles and discovering new creatures each day was captivating.
We all couldn't resist.
So our day consisted of a wonderful breakfast made by amazing father and husband Captain LOL.





We hastily headed to John Pennecamp State Park which was just 4 miles down the road. http://pennekamppark.com/
They had glass bottom boat rides, scuba tours and snorkel gear that you can rent or buy.  We decided to do snorkeling right off shore.  Next time we visit we'll do a tour of the live coral reef which is 3 miles out from shore.



We spent the day on a guided tree walk learning about native Florida trees.  Then we snorkeled for several hours and swam in the 70+ degree water.  Oh the cool things that underwater views lead your imagination to.  TLC13 said, "there's a whole other world under there."  In fact over the summer she started writing a story about an underwater world that was inspired by her fresh water goggle views.  Maybe this Florida water experience will feed into her continuing her story.










We met some wonderful people along our way.  We found this great ice cream shop with a super friendly owner.  If you're ever in Key Largo be sure to stop at Mr. C's Ice Cream they have two locations on either end of Key Largo and all the ice cream is made on-site.  Yummmmmmy!  "No shoes, not shirt, no problem."

As we pack up to depart early the next morning, some feel ready and some of us feel resistant.  Knowing that as we head north we will need to put on layers.  I held on as long as I could wearing a wool sweater and sandles, until I was pumping gas and my toes were shivering.

Honda Fit carried a family of 4 comfortably!

We drop 12ish hours that morning on our way home.  We knew we'd have to stop to sleep for the night,  but we were out on a limb as to where we'd stay.  Well, thanks to our new smart phones we were able to estimate our ending time an location.  Find hotels in that area and make some calls to find out price and availability.  Thanks to Capt. LOL we found a Comfort Inn for a wonderful price with the most friendly staff.  They had a pool, a fitness facility and a laundry room.  Perfect!

Now for dinner, we are in the Carolina's, we have to eat Carolina BBQ.  Oh my, if I could describe the deliciousness of the food we discovered, I just can't...  You have to check it out yourself.  I'll tempt your taste buds with a picture.  It was a wonderful buffet style with super friendly Carolina folks.  I downed two plates and regretted it later, but oh my, ribs, chicken, fish, hush puppies, rice with chicken and gravy, sweet coleslaw, peach cobbler and of course sweet tea.  A wonderful last night to our return destination...HOME!

We found the sky line that ended the sunny climate and began the cloudy, cold climate. This may not be factual but it was our joke anyway. 

 

Paradise in Key Largo, Florida

Florida Nature Viewing App is the bird app that my wonderful husband put on my phone.  Check it out if your ever in Florida and have an interest in birds.

Day in Paradise!  Literally we found paradise!
First thing, to kick off the day, was coffee, but then we went kayaking.  We had complimentary use of kayaks at the Sunset Cove Beach Resort in Key Largo, Florida www.sunsetcovebeachresort.com.






There were two tandem kayaks we had use of.   So we set off on yet another treasure hunt.  Little Dotcom created mini aquariums with various creatures she found. Among them, a tiny sea star, a jelly fish, a baby horseshoe crab and a huge sea slug that tall TLC found.







Little Dotcom really wanted to bring these little creatures and their ecosystems home and create a salt water aquarium at home.










We saw an invasive exotic species, green iguana. I thought they were a native iguana until I read at Pennecamp State Park that they were invasive.

As we continued to kayak and observe sea and land life along the Buttonwood Sound.  Dotcom reached into the shallows to collect creatures for her water ecosystems.  She found a Cassiopea jelly fish and she attempted to pick it up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopea







Do you know what happens when you try to pick up a stinging sea creature?  More than likely your going to get stung.  Well that's what happened to this little curious girl.  She was shocked and slightly disappointed, that she suddenly dropped it.  She tried to retrieve it again with a paddle but it was too slippery. She finally decided that she would leave it be.

After our amazing kayaking trip we attempted to drive towards Key West.  We stopped at a beach called Annie's Beach.  We saw a small octopus about 28"-30" in diameter.  What an amazing sight, right on the beach, hidden under a rock, an octopus.  It became a little angry after it was being poked at and grabbed from it's dark, hiding lair.  It eventually released it's ink and it changed it's color from brown to green then pink.  It became one angry curled tentacled, beaked, inking sea creature.  Not to be reckoned with.  We all just observed from this point.

After a short time of walking in soft, squishy white sandy goo that shaped each toe crevice.  Both girls were stung by something hidden in the watery, muddy depths.









So we drove back to our paradise to watch the sunset.  To our surprise there was a manatee (AKA: sea cow) right off the dock.  So amazing and exciting.

A sea cow coming up for a breath after munching on sea grass.

That evening after dark we cold see below the lit up docks.  We saw a blue crab swimming, a horseshoe crab crawling and a lobster walking.

What a wonderful filled day with lots of live treasures.

A cute, quick lizard that was in the screened porch of our cabin.

The beautiful turquoise water of the Keys.

Good night sunset!

Alligators Galore

As we left our wonderful cabin in Everglades City, Florida.  We ventured along Rte. 41 through the wild Everglades.  We saw tons of birds that I can't identify. Captain LOL downloaded a Florida bird app.  Such a cool helpful app.

 We came upon several back country access roads and some had camping. I'm not sure how comfortable I would be to sleep in a tent with alligators, snakes, lizards and goodness know what else is out there.  We found a great place to stop about half way across the Everglades Park.






There a was Big Cypress National Preserve where there were 50+ alligators of all sizes for us to observe.  They were both swimming and sunbathing on the banks of this area.  A nice place to stop with a wonderful helpful national park ranger.

We stopped in Homestead, Florida along the main road there were farm stand vendors that were selling fresh mangos, bananas, papayas, avocados and many other things.

Little Dotcom decided to prepare us a wonderful fresh fruit plate.  







We trecked our way farther south to Key Largo. We found a wonderful cottage with a kitchenette right next to the beach, with live music and tiki huts to relax under. Sunset Cove Beach Resort.  It's affordable, in walking distance to a CVS, 4 miles from Pennecamp State Park and about 4 miles from a raw, fresh seafood restaurant and market.

Our adventures continue.  I don't want to depart this sunshine paradise.