Paradise lost, Paradise found

Mark has been wielding his sarcastic pen again after we had our expectations crushed by an abundance of heat, humidity and no-see-ums at Bahia Honda. We all realize that the tropics can have some uncomfortable areas but this was ridiculous. Mark now calls the park “Bahia humbug”. We started our adventure into the Keys by spending the night in a Kmart parking lot where we found the New Zealand family that we had met in the Everglades. They wanted to go to Bahia Honda so we all met at there. We spent a lovely day at the beach and then they got a campsite that was one of the non reservable sites for 2 weeks. At first we were a little envious but didn’t want to be tied down anyway. That night after a lovely dinner we all went to bed. It was about 94 degress and 99 percent humidity and the bugs were hungry. I spent a very uncomfortable evening taking refuge under the covers until I was drenched in sweat then throwing the covers off to be eaten alive. Mark seemed unbothered by the whole situation. Needless to say I was a bit grumpy the next day when I had no sleep but realized that here I was in the beautiful Keys and the sun was shining just like I had asked for so I took a shower and washed my bad attitude away. Mariah had a similar night so we comforted each other and enjoyed the day. We went snorkeling and exploring. It was too bad there was 3 feet of sea grass piled up like a speed bump on the beach and there were Man ‘o War floats all over but we had fun none the less. That evening I was determined to be prepared so I took an ice cold shower before bed and slept in a long sleeve nightgown and threw a light weight shirt over my legs and I slept great but Mark was the bugs dinner that night. I felt for him but he had been warned. I swear he had 3000 bites all over him. He looks like he has the chicken pox! All he wanted to do was leave the keys but we convinced him he had to see Key West (which he was calling Flea West) so off we went.

We love Key West! The drive was gorgeous with all the water and the islands everywhere. We went to Fort Taylor and found the best beach in KW and played there in the morning and then rode our bikes around town that afternoon. There are tons of quaint houses in KW and Duvall St is full of bars, stores and restaurants. We saw Ernest Hemingsways house and had dinner on the harbor. The full lunar eclipse was occurring so we watched that and then went back to our truck camper. The park had closed but one of the gates was still open so we went back and loaded the bikes and headed out. Whoops, they closed and locked the gates in the interim and we almost spent the night in the park by ourselves but the grumpy lone ranger came and let us out. There are certainly worse places to sleep than the western most point of Florida on a beach! We wanted to see Duvall St. at night so we headed downtown and parked at the city hall lot and wandered around. It was full of people and everyone was having a great time. We had heard that you shouldn’t take kids there after dark but there were lots of families and only a few instances of akward questions (Mom, why is that man dressed like a woman?, well honey why don’t we just “Let the mystery be”). It turns out Kenny Chesney was filming a music video that night at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Bar so we watched the crowd for awhile. It was an invitation only event but that didn’t keep the crowds from hanging around outside. There was a rumour that JB might show up (he didn’t) and so we stood around until Olivia passed out and we took her back to the camper. When we got back Mark suggested that Mariah and I go play on the street with our instruments (busking as it were). We made $36 in half an hour, I got to play a Jimmy Buffet song on Duvall St and get paid. Just like the big guys! It was so fun. After we had sweated enough and I mean that literally, we went back to the camper and Mariah begged to go see Kenny Chesney so I went with her and we stood outside till some drunk started telling us about what a fake it all was and I told him to not crash my 14 year olds trance. He told us that if we wanted to see KC to go around the corner and look at his bus, so we went to get away from the drunk. It is funny how things work out sometimes. We were on our way back when Kenny came around the corner and almost bumped right into Mariah. Needless to say she is still walking on cloud 9!

We decided to stay right where we were and spend the night and it turned out okay. We spent the next day living in KW. We did laundry and Mariah did school. While she did school we checked out a boat show where Olivia took a fishing class and got a free rod and reel and tackle box for her efforts. She is now the casting queen of the family. Later in the afternoon, Mark, Olivia and I checked out a 120 year old light house, lots of steps and very interesting. Great views of KW from the top. We spent the evening on the White St pier where Olivia went fishing. I had to explain to her why they call it fishing and not catching. We stayed another evening in lovely downtown KW. Before we left we went in search of a secret garden that a friend recommended and after finding it and appreciating the lovely orchids we headed to Bahia Honda to dump tanks and shower and pick up our can opener we left when we fled away. Off to Naples to pick up our Airstream and head north.

Don’t know when I will get to write again so I will tell of this last adventure. We decided to drive to Naples in one day which isn’t a big deal. We arrived late to find out that the refridgerator in the Airstream doesn’t work without a battery and frozen chicken doesn’t last long without it’s heat removed. YUUUUUCKKK! I spent my night cleaning the fridge but bless Mariah’s heart she stayed up and read to me. Who says teenagers are troublesome? Are not! Hugs to all from sunny Florida