Saturday, December 21, 2002

Leave Pensacola 6:40 am (Central)

Arrive Cedar Key 3:30 pm (Eastern/2:30 Central)

CEDAR KEY is a cluster of gulf coast islands a few hours north of Tampa. Cedar Key is the #1 producer of farm-raised clams. Because of the clam harvesting, the shallow waters surrounding the islands is constantly muddy. In the 1800's, is was the 2nd largest town in Florida, and the #1 producer of pencils in the world! We camped at the Sunset Isle RV park for $16. Can't beat that!

Sunday, December 22, 2002

Leave Cedar Key 11:00 am

Arrive Crystal River 12:00 pm

CRYSTAL RIVER is a popular hang out for Manatees because of the warm water discharge from the local nuclear plant. Manatees are large, blubbery, slow-moving, friendly mammals, weighing around 1,000 lbs. They are an endangered species, meaning you can't harass, swim after, feed, or otherwise bother them. However, if they come up to you, that's another story. 

    They trip started off by renting a jon boat from a local outfitter. After watching a mandatory video on manatee do and don'ts, we located a popular hang-out on the map and heading slowly there. At one point, the engine cut off and the boat drifted to a stop. Christina was scanning for their first manatee spotting, when she spied what looked like a huge rock in the shallow water as the boat drifted directly over it. Except that it was in the shape of a manatee! They we saw another one, and another!

    We carefully dropped anchor and put on our snorkel masks. It wasn't long after we got in the water that the curious manatees drifted over to us. They got right up next to us, so we scratched and petted them. Their skin is soft like a humans, although a few of the manatees were slimy from the algae. They would even roll over to have their tummy's rubbed. One of the manatees liked Dan so much it followed him when he turned to leave!

    We had the boat for up to 4 hours, but after 1 hour we had seen plenty of manatees, and the water was chilly! So we headed back to the marina and head on to Clearwater/St. Petersburg/Tampa.

Leave Crystal River 2:30 pm

Arrive Clearwater/St. Petersburg/Tampa 5:15 pm

We drove through CLEARWATER BEACH, which looked like a lot of fun. However, our destination was Treasure Island Beach, which is situated between Clearwater Beach and St. Petersburg Beach. We stayed at the Thunderhawk Beach Resort and spent lots of time in their hot tub. The beaches are filled with shells, and we mistakenly walked on them barefoot. Ouch! Below is a picture of the view from our room, Dan in the hot tub, and of us on the beach.

Monday, December 23, 2002

Leave St. Petersburg Beach/Treasure Island Beach 9:50 am

Arrive Miami 3:30 pm

We took Route 75, otherwise known as "Alligator Alley", through the upper part of the Everglades. Although we didn't see any alligators, we did see lots of birds, trees, and marsh grass.

MIAMI BEACH/SOUTH BEACH was a zoo. People everywhere, and parking was a pain. Basically, the South Beach strip is all hotels, and each hotel has its own open-air restaurant in front. Between the beach and the strip of hotels is a nice park and grassy area. But it was so crazy that we decided we saw all we needed to see and headed on to the Florida Keys. Below are some pictures of Miami Beach:  

Leave Miami 4:30 pm

Arrive Fiesta Key 7:30 pm

Leaving Miami, we hoped on Route 1, which would (eventually) lead us to the Keys. Unfortunately, Rt 1 goes through every little town in South Florida, and it took us forever to go hardly anywhere! But we finally made it to the FIESTA KEY KOA, which is 70 miles east of Key West. This a very nice campground and we highly recommend it even. We camped out here for the next three nights, enjoying the large heated pool, hot tubs, walking around the marina, snorkeling off their beach, and rollerblading around the campsite. On Christmas Day, we enjoyed a nice dinner of turkey and stuffing made by the KOA staff.

Dan found a fallen coconut and decided he would cut it open. Picture 1: Dan uses a hatchet to try and cut open the coconut. Picture 2: The coconut doesn't want to give the hatchet back!

Picture 3: Dan finally cuts is open, but most of the coconut juice ends up on the floor. Picture 4: What a coconut looks like on the inside.

Picture 5: Does coconut juice from a real coconut taste like coconut?? (Yes) 

Picture 6: Christina slices some coconut.

The question: Does coconut from a real coconut taste like coconut?? No! (Hint: maybe because the coconut was not ripe. See the pictures... it's green, not brown. Oh well!) 

Our plans including taking a snorkeling (Christina) and scuba (Dan) trip out to Loou Key, known to be an excellent reef. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It got cold, rained, and the the winds picked up. Check out the wind-blown palm trees below:

So the diving trip was canceled, and instead we headed into Key West for the day. First stop: Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, of course! And what did we have? Margaritas, tropical fruit, and Key Lime Pie, of course!

Next, we walked all over Key West (it's a big island!). Here's some of the things we saw...

... Ernest Hemingway's House: We skipped the tour - it was $10 per person, and you weren't even allowed to pick up the deformed cats!

... Key West Harbor (where the cruise ships dock): beautiful turquoise water

... Route 1 Mile 0

... Southernmost House, and Southernmost Point, in the US!

Thursday, December 26th, 2002

Left Fiesta Key 9:00 am (Eastern)

Arrived Pensacola 10:00 pm (Central/ 11 pm eastern)

We cut our vacation short (we originally planned on stopping at the Space Coast and Walt Disney World), because we ran out of $$ (that's what happens when you plan these trips spur of the moment!). So I guess next year we will go to the Kennedy Space Center and visit Mickey Mouse!