Well, it’s been a while since we last posted on here and I thought I’d pick up where we left up. When I last left you, we had just arrived in the Florida Keys, where we ended up spending the next ten days.
Our time in the Keys was relatively uneventful. We spent a lot of time lounging on the beach, snorkeling, fishing and reading. It was time well spent and was the first time on the trip that felt like a real vacation. I know most people hear that we are on a three-month honeymoon and think “Wow, that must be so relaxing.” And while at times it is, for the most part, we have “real life” stuff to do. We have to make sure the van is clean and the fridge is full, we have to fill up our water tank and empty our toilet, and we have to make sure that the battery is charged and the van is functioning well. For life on the road, these are the “real life” things we do almost every day. But in the Keys, things were a little different.
We arrived in the Keys and after a quick stop at the grocery store, we drove over the Seven Mile Bridge to Bahia Honda State Park. I don’t think that we were fully prepared for the adventure ahead. Crossing bridge after bridge, over beautiful blue water, we were blown away; it was like driving to the Caribbean! It was absolutely magical!
That afternoon, after settling into our campsite, we walked down to the beach and hopped in the water for a quick snorkel. We weren’t expecting to see much in the turtle grass off the shore, but again, our minds were blown. While in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t the best snorkeling we have ever done, we did find a lot of sea life hanging out about fifty yards offshore. We saw some of the largest lobsters and crabs we have ever seen and a lot of juvenile fish. We were pleasantly surprised. And made a plan to wake up first thing the next day to go out and see more.
First thing the next morning, we woke up, moved the van to the day use area and hopped in the water. We spent a couple hours in the water, made lunch and hung out on the beach all day. And then we made our way to Curry Hammock State Park.
Curry Hammock State Park is a small campground on Marathon Key with about twenty-five campsites and right on the water. And that is where we stayed for the next nine nights. Curry Hammock became our home base in the keys for over a week and we could easily have spent months there. It was one of the most amazing campgrounds we have ever stayed at. We spent our days lounging around and exploring the islands.
On one memorable day, we headed down to Key West. We parked the van and set out on foot. We saw the southernmost point in the US and Ernest Hemingway’s house. We had Piña Coladas and conch fritters. And after a couple of hours, we decided to stop at the grocery store and head back to the campground.
We spent Christmas Day at our campsite at Curry Hammock, lounging and enjoying pancakes and the beautiful view. I can’t believe it, while it was so wonderful to be soaking up the sun, we were missing our usual chilly and damp Northern California Christmas.
And then all of a sudden, our time in the Keys was over. We made the very sad drive north to mainland Florida. We said goodbye to beautiful Caribbean blue water and headed to the constantly-under-construction freeways of Florida as we made our way to Tallahassee, where we made a short stop before heading east across the country to Southern California.
Well, that about sums it up. Until next time,
Emma
Emma and John by Van 