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.