Day 14
The travel from Orlando to Key Largo was relatively
uneventful, though once we reached the Keys we realized we had actually entered
a sauna – more to come. Hung out at the
beach and camped at Pennekamp and can only say that Key Largo is a beach
tourist DUMP!
Lesson Twelve – One
more Sandal Outlet store could sink Key Largo.
Day 15
Traveled to Bahia Honda (the Middle Keys) today and were
pleasantly surprised! First stop – the
Sea Turtle Hospital. Fantastic place – only 12 of these types of hospitals in
our country and we learned SO much about all the different hardships these
turtles have to endure. Worst of them
was Bubble Butt syndrome when a boat hits the turtle and air gets trapped under
the shell. These turtles actually live in the hospital for the rest of their
lives, since they have to wear special weights in order to retain neutral
buoyancy. Loaded up with sea turtle
paraphernalia (I mean how can’t you buy souvenirs when you know the profits go
to helping these turtles). The girls
have gotten their first sarong and many different folding fashions are to
follow. Checked in to Bahia Honda and
were again crazy pleased about how beautiful the beaches were here (with at
least 3 sea turtle nests – though no hatchlings). The girls got on their snorkel gear and
started tooling around the shore. Lots
of cool fish to see here. The night was HOT, so very hot! Sleeping was like taking a hot shower, since
you woke up wet – not kidding. If we had known, we would have rented a hotel –
definitely next time.
Lesson Thirteen – Just
because you are within spitting distance of the ocean doesn’t mean you cannot
still sweat yourself silly.
Day 16
Went to Key West today to go snorkeling. Checked out the southernmost point in the US,
found our “Blue Pearl” icon, and had the most fantastic Cuban sandwich and
coffee. Ended up that our sailboat
captain turned us away from snorkeling – thankfully! The waves were just too high and he didn’t
think the kids would enjoy it at all.
Tomorrow it will be! This gave us
more time on the Bahia Honda beach – YAY!
Key West is just as built up as you would expect. Really it seems more
like a place for people who like to party – I would choose the Middle Keys over
this any day.
Saw Manta rays swimming
along the snorkeling beaches, saw more blue pikefish (not sure if that is their
actual name, but it does describe their appearance), and some old brain
coral.
Spent a pretty night watching the
sunset over the lagoon that we were camping around with tarpon jumping into the
still water, a loggerhead turtle swimming up to say “hi”, and crabs scurrying
out of our way.
Lesson Fourteen – Eat where
locals eat, speak like locals speak.
Thank yeeewwww!
Day 17
OK, the heat, the heat – it is starting to drive us
mad. I know it is good to bake out the
toxins, but this is getting ridiculous and a bit too much like an overlong spa
tour. We wake up in the morning and
decide that the only way we are going to eat anything is if we sit in an air
conditioned car. That is right, we sat
in our car looking out over the lagoon with the air conditioner blowing on us
full blast! Now this we can handle. The tarpon (really large fish that look like
very small dolphins when they jump out of the water) put on a great show for us
with a finale of 9 tarpon, 4 jumping to the right, 4 to the left, and one
jumping towards us in the middle, all at the same time. It was like we were at Sea World – really
cool!
Girls spent the morning snorkeling
on the beach again. Carol and Jamey spent
the morning reading books in the shade of the picnic shelter. Went back to Key West to go snorkeling and
had a FANTASTIC time. We took out a
beautiful 60’ sailboat with just a couple of other people to the 3
rd
largest reef in the world. Boat ride was
great and the girls took to snorkeling like they had done it all their
lives. The waves were almost nothing and
the water crystal clear. We saw soooo much, but our favorites were the yellow
sergeant majors, the green parrotfish, and the blue tangs. The coral and seaweeds were also just
amazing. It is now time for the girls to get scuba certified and me to renew my
certification. I forgot just how awesome
it was to dive and snorkel! As if we
hadn’t done enough today, we explored a little of Key West. That is because we had to find the best Key
Lime pie shop around – Kermit’s. Tart
and tangy does even explain how awesome the slice of pie was. The girls had theirs dipped in Belgian
chocolate – YUM! A little out of order,
but we decided we were still hungry, so we went for more Cuban sandwiches –
though mine involved chorizo and chimichurri sauce. I could eat like this all the time.
Lesson Fifteen – Strategic
usage of car A/C is not a luxury, but a necessity.
Day 18
OK, something different – we slept well and it wasn’t
blisteringly hot and humid. JUST
KIDDING!! Woke up so hot and sticky we
were all grumbling as we packed up the tent.
Really, this place is unlivable for any extended period of time in the
summer, though we all still agreed that we didn’t really want to leave. Drove out today to Rainbow Springs with a
stop at Abuelo’s – a restaurant chain that we found on our trip last year that
has good chile rellenos. The drive was
uneventful, though Carol saw a cattle egret hanging out on a cow’s back for the
first time – pretty neat.
Lesson Sixteen – Weather
in the Keys is easy – 90 degrees in the day, 80 at night, daily downpour for
every key at some point in the day.
Day 19
Actually had a great night’s sleep with a breeze and had to
cover myself with a sheet – YES! Checked
out Rainbow Springs and though the waterfalls were beautiful we decided to wait
to go swimming until we got to Saint George. All the manatees have left for the
summer, so the ocean beckons. Apalachicola
area is indescribable. Saint George Island is a 9 mile beach with the best sand
that we have seen the entire trip (and we have seen sand from every state at
least once). It also has the prettiest
dunes on the East coast – quite striking.
Carol found a fully intact sand dollar within the first hour and the
hunt for another began. The girls got
lots of half dollars, but alas no intact.
Of course, they were so busy playing in the waves I am not sure how they
thought it would be any different. Went
to a local restaurant for our first po’boy.
Sat along a bar on the back patio with an open window looking out over
this gigantic estuary. Ate our po’boys
while watching a turtle swim by, a pelican fly by, a flying fish hop by, a
laughing gull perched, a beautiful sailboat riding by, and pretty houseboats
all moored. It was spectacular!!!
Lesson Seventeen –
There are still places that are magical and human-centered. They tend to have great sunsets too.
Day 20
OK, Saint George doesn’t have enough of a seabreeze to make
sleeping comfortable. There wasn’t even
a drop of dew all night in a place with almost 90% humidity.
We headed out to Cloudland Canyon with a long drive ahead. The only thing to break up this long drive was a stop at Saw’s Soul Kitchen – this was true Soul Foof – cheesy grits, turnip greens, pork, and fried onions with a special Alabama BBQ sauce – FANTASTIC!
Lesson Eighteen – If <this
place> really were paradise, then everybody would already live here.
Day 21
The nights were cool, but the day is sticky. We went for a beautiful hike through the
canyon, looking at a couple of waterfalls and climbing oh so many stairs. Then we went on the steepest railway in the
U.S. with a 72.9 degree angle – the Incline Railway of Lookout Mountain. We told the kids we were getting them ready
for the funiculars in Europe next year. Bri
was a little nervous at first, but we all had fun in the end. Back to camp to relax and play games for the
rest of the night.
Lesson Nineteen – When
the locals complain about the weather, it’s not just you anymore.
Day 22
Today was the day for Eiley!
We headed out to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg to see the wonder that is
the tourist heart of the Smoky Mountains.
Actually, we were here to experience the Penguin Encounter at the
Aquarium of the Smokies. I can honestly
say that Eiley is still smiling, hours later.
It was fantastic! The entire
aquarium was filled with tunnels under the tanks – even better than
Cincinnati. Later in the evening, the
girls went through their first haunted house – we still aren’t sure if that was
water or blood squirting on us as he chopped through the head.
Lesson Twenty – If parents
are into even the cheesiest attraction, then the kids will be too.
Braved Ripley's Odditorium this morning. The picture here was just on the outside of the building - it got distinctly more odd as we went through. I mean what place can you go to and see a two-headed goat, torture devices, a shrunken head, and dinosaur bones - ODD! 
Kept going up the Blue Ridge and were incredibly impressed with the Folk Arts Center. The local Community College had a degree program for crafts and they created some of the most beautiful furniture, clothing, jewelry, pottery, and wood crafts I have ever seen. 
Went on several hikes, but our favorite was Craggy Gardens. We walked through tunnels of rhododendrons that were just dripping with blooms and ended up at the summit with a 360 degree view. Only issue - the entire summit was filled with these little flying bugs that looked just like ticks. They were crawling all over us, we would brush them off each others' backs and 30 seconds later there would be 20 or more on our backs again. Very creepy!
