Florida Part 2

 Monday was an amazing day. Months ago when I was planning our trip I had found this list of the best beaches in the Keys and one of them listed was Dry Tortugas. I looked it up and found it is a national park that is only accessible by plane or boat. I thought going on a seaplane would be awesome so I emailed them and they were all booked. I was really disappointed but they put us on a cancellation list and we hoped for the best. Thursday, while we were doing our city tour of Miami, we got an email saying they had a spot for us! I was so excited. 

So Monday we drove down to Key West and spent the day. We started off by going to the Zachary Taylor State Park to check out its beach. We didn't have a lot of time but we walked around and decided it was a good one. It had cool trees right on the beach and there wasn't too much sea grass. I would have liked to have more time there  but I'm glad we at least got to see it. Then we went to the southern most point of the continental US. There was a huge long line to take pictures with this famous landmark so we cheated. 

 

Then we had to get going to our flight. It was one of the coolest things I've done; I loved it so much. The flight was about 40 minutes and we only flew at 500 ft so we could see down into the water. We saw tons of sea turtles and some dolphins and two shipwrecks. I loved being over the water and seeing all the colors of the water and how it went from shallow to deep. Then we got to the Dry Tortugas and it was beautiful. There is a half-finished fort the army abandoned back in the 1870s and a pretty little beach with such clear water. We sat on the beach for awhile and then tried snorkling again since they plane people gave us gear to use. I thought I might like it more being close to shore and just going around the moat wall but I was having issues with my gear and kind of panicked a bit so I was done. Josh went out a bit but didn't see too much. We swam for a bit and then we walked around the moat wall and explored the fort for a bit before we had to catch our plane back. The time went by so fast. It was so beautiful and remote and such a special and unique experience. I loved it so much and am so glad we got to do it. Our pilot was super nice and didn't even have shoes on the entire time. What a life! 

 

 

 

   

  

 

 

 

We got back and decided to go to Smather's Beach and we sat there for awhile sitting under a palm tree talking about flight experience. The water isn't super enticing when it is shallow and you have to wade through sea grass to get out there but it was a nice beach and I loved having palm trees to provide shade on the beach itself. Then we got hungry (no food or really any kind of service on Dry Tortugas) so we went into Key West and found a cute restaurant for dinner. I didn't end up loving my burger but the sweet potato fries were good. Then we walked around and shopped a bit, took lighthouse pictures for Michelle and got key lime ice cream for me and key lime cookies to bring home for the kids. We still had an hour drive back to our resort so once it got dark we decided to head back. It was perfect timing for when Curtis was playing in his division's championship game so I had my in-laws texting me regular updates. Unfortunately, they lost by 2 after some kid on the other team got five three-point shots. That was a bummer. However tonight they are playing in the county championship game after another round of playoffs this week and it is going to be a rematch so hopefully tonight we'll pull it out!  

 

 

Tuesday was our totally open day to finish up whatever we felt we had missed. So we decided to go to the last two beaches on my list and then head back to Miami. We stayed in our resort room until we had to check out though just soaking in the view and then headed north. 

 

We passed a dolphin research center and Josh was curious to see how much it was. We decided it was too much and got moving again only to see a huge plume of smoke ahead of us and traffic totally stopped. We found out a tour bus had an engine catch on fire and it was blocking the bridge so we turned around and went back to the dolphin research center to hopefully let traffic clear a bit. I am glad we did because it was really cool to see so many dolphins and be so close to them. We watched a presentation about how they play with the dolphins to keep them engaged and that was cool. Then we learned about how they prepare for hurricanes and the training they do to make sure the dolphins are safe. There was one dolphin that just kept staring at me; apparently he really likes eye contact. Josh loves dolphins and we met a nice older couple there and it was a nice way to spend a few hours. Josh had also on our drive down to the Keys asked me if I had ever watched Flipper (I hadn't) and told me he thought it took place down there. It was kind of a joke all week and then I joked with him when he decided originally it was too much money that Flipper's grand daughter probably lived there and we should go. Turns out when we decided to go back that  I was a generation off. The two dolphins who played Flipper had a daughter and she was there at the research center. We laughed about that for awhile. There were also a ton of iguanas; one climbed down a tree I was standing in front of and then thankfully it saw me and crawled right back up. 

   

 

We had hoped traffic would be clear but with one road all down the Keys, it was still backed up. We sat for about 30 minutes before we started moving and then it was slow going all the way back to Key Largo. The other two beaches were both pretty disappointing so we went and got key lime pie ice cream and free chocolate samples and then headed back to Miami so we could have dinner there. 

Josh talked me into a pizza place he had heard about on one of his pizza podcasts and it was pretty good. It was in the financial district of Miami so very high end and fancy. By this point I was feeling kind of sad that our fun was over and then we had a hotel issue that made Josh sad too. But we had a good sleep and a relaxing morning with a free breakfast and headed to the airport. We had an easy flight home but a super annoying time trying to get a rental car to get us home so we were late and frustrated but we made it home. Emma and Brandon were happy to see us, the big kids not so much. They loved having their grandparents here and they had a great time so that made me happy. My in-laws said they had fun being with the kids too and that it was easy to take care of them. Mostly just a lot of driving and cooking--yes! That's my life. :) With lots of piano and cleaning in there too. 

I had decided to get Josh a new TV for his birthday and my father-in-law is super into electronics so I asked him to pick one out while we were gone. I asked him to set it all up too so that Josh could just walk in and have it all taken care of. He did a fantastic job and researched and bought us a great TV, then spent hours hooking it all up and all of Josh's speakers (which haven't been hooked up since we lived in our old house) and it is amazing. When we got back I told Josh I had a surprise for him and then took him down in the basement and started singing happy birthday. It is a month early but I had to take advantage of having my FIL here to do it all for me and it worked out perfectly! He was happy to have a project and Josh LOVES the new TV. We went from a 42 inch to a 65 inch and the picture is super nice. It is so great to have it all hooked up and not be any work for Josh so that was a wonderful surprise and brilliant idea well executed. Win, win! 

Thursday Josh went back to work and I did grocery shopping and planned out the week and got Curtis ready to leave on a two-day camp out. It was rainy and cold but he had a great time and got back Saturday afternoon only to turn around and go to a Wizards game with the Dorns. Friday Josh was off and the kids were off so we hung around with my in-laws and then that night we made dinner for the WARMS program. I had never served before so that was a new experience and we took Brandon and my MIL with us and it was good. My mini cheesecakes were a big hit and my kids have been praying for the homeless all week so I know it had an impact on them and it was a good service to perform. Saturday was a pretty chill day and then my in-laws left Sunday morning. This week has been busy with the county basketball playoffs. Josh went to Curtis's game Monday but then Nola was so nice and picked up Emma from dance for me so I could go to his game Tuesday night. He had one of his best games ever with 10 points and some awesome defensive plays. It is amazing how much better he has gotten over the season and I'm so grateful for a good coach. Emma also has her play, The Lion King, this weekend so she has been after school every day rehearsing and tonight is dress rehearsal. I saw a few minutes of it when I went to go pick her up the other night and it looks amazing. The costumes alone are pretty astounding for an elementary school production. I'm excited to see it for real this weekend! She is the only dancing bird in the ensemble and has her own bow at the end and everything. 

Back to our trip, it was such a special week for many reasons. First, just being with Josh and having his full attention was amazing. We really love each other and have so much fun together. It was great to just worry about each other and to lay around or explore or do whatever we wanted without work, church or kid responsibilities. He's my very best friend and favorite person in the world and that time together was such a gift. Second, the weather was amazing. I needed that dose of sunshine in February and may need to make a Florida trip an annual thing in February. The warm sunshine and blue skies and palm trees really just do make me a special kind of happy. Third, it was so fun to do something new and explore. It can get so easy for life to feel repetitive and sometimes I feel kind of stuck by our responsibilities so it felt amazing to break free and challenge my brain and do something new and be in a new place. I love being in new cities but at first it felt overwhelming because I am so used to my quiet little county but I reminded myself that I love cities and had to pep talk myself into being myself again. It was good to push myself to try snorkeling and ride in a sea plane and try different foods. It is good to see different kinds of people and learn about history and new areas of the country. I told Josh after our sea plane ride that when I was folding laundry on Monday I was going to be so sad at how different it was from that Monday adventure and he said how much more of an enriched person I will be folding laundry because I did go on that adventure. So I did tell myself many times how blessed I am to be so in love with my husband, to have the means to travel and the health, for wonderful in-laws who took care of my kids and for 20 years of marriage worth celebrating.  It was an amazing and fun and enriching and happy experience and I'm already thinking about our 25th anniversary trip!