I decided to fly down to Florida to check out the employment opportunities and living environments. Also, the idea of some fun in the sun didn't hurt either. The day before I flew out, we got bombarded with snow. I believe we got over 16 inches in that one day; of heavy and wet Michigan snow. I even went onto the roof (with crampons) and shoveled the snow so I didn't have to worry about it caving in while I was gone. Here is a pic of my house with the snow on the roof.
The day I was supposed to fly out, the snow turned to freezing rain and I was delayed a day. Fortunately, the next day the weather broke and I was able to make it to Orlando, FL. On the way, I got a really cool pic of Detroit from the plane. You can make out the Renaissance Center, Detroit River, Windsor Casino, and the other surrounding landmarks (if you are familiar with them.)
The first leg of the trip took me to the Canaveral National Seashore. I had rented a blazer for the time I was down there, and ended up renting a kayak for the duration of the trip. I kayaked in the mangroves of the seashore for a couple of days and saw all kinds of waterfowl. If you get the opportunity, this area is very beautiful, just watch out for the oysters; they are VERY sharp! From inside the park, you also have a pretty good view of the NASA launch pads. I found out that I had just missed the launch of a rocket by about two days. Bummer. After Canaveral, I drove up through Daytona Beach and checked that area out. Too touristy for me. I only stayed the day; ended up kayaking in some of the big waves, being mercilessly capsized and tossed around several times. To warm up and dry off, I ended the day by playing some great beach volleyball.
Next, it was on to Jacksonville. I visited some relatives in the area and checked out the town. It is a big enough place for a computer geek, almost too big. The people didn't really seem too friendly though, so I went kayaking with my cousin at a park called the "Jetti's." We ended up kayaking around on a river and in a lake at the park. Across the river was a Naval base with a bunch of destroyers and an aircraft carrier. That was pretty cool because you could paddle up within about 50 yards of them. It is pretty amazing how huge they really are!
I then went down to Blue Springs State Park. There was supposed to be several manatee in the area, so I kayaked around for a few. While kayaking, there was a big splash near the shore, and I saw a "V" in the water coming towards me. After I figured out that the splash was an alligator, I started to get a bit nervous because my kayak only sat around 3 or 4 inches out of the water. Not too much of a leap for any creature. It swam out until it was about 3 feet away from me and then turned to swim parallel with my kayak. We both just checked each other out for a few and he went off on his merry way. Later, I asked a park ranger that evening about the alligators and he said that there had never been any reports of alligators attacking a kayak. (I told him that was because there wasn't anyone left that could tell someone, and we both had a laugh.) Anyway, the park had wonderful scenery, very green and calm (except for the occasional kayaker screams while being attacked by alligators...) There were some manatee in the area, but they pretty much stayed in their sanctuary, which was off limits to swimming, snorkeling and kayaking.
No worries though. I knew there were better areas to hang around with the manatee; specifically, at Crystal River, on the west side of the state. On the way to Crystal River, I stopped at Silver Springs and spent the day kayaking around the rivers there. It was really great, there was all kinds of wildlife including many different varieties of fish, birds, otters, and even rhesus monkeys! I know that this isn't their location of origin, and I am not really sure how they got there, but there were all kinds of them along the rivers. I am guessing that someone let a couple of pets loose, and they spent too much time watching the rabbits. I was later told that they were from an old movie set. Supposedly, there were several Tarzan movies filmed in the area. A few of the monkeys from the set got loose and now there is a thriving monkey population there.
That evening, I had my second "Oh @#&$!" experience. (The first was the alligator incident at Blue Springs State Park.) As a side note, I believe a vacation becomes an adventure when you run into at least one "Oh @#&$!" situation. It is usually when you are so wrapped up in your environment that you neglect to notice that maybe you climbed a bit too high without ropes, or in this case, you kayaked a long distance in alligator infested waters and was so pre-occupied with all of the wonderful wildlife and scenery that you neglected to realize it was dusk already; and you were far from your starting point; and didn't have a flashlight. Now you have to try to find your way back in the dark, with only the moonlight to guide you. Now that's adventure! With regards to that wonderful moonlight, it became overcast and started to drizzle. Once again, nobody died, so it was still a good day. It is pretty easy to have a good day when you keep your expectations low... ;) Seriously though, make sure you are well prepared for any exploring before you head out. You never know what conditions you might encounter, especially if you are adventurous like me. I did have enough food, water and other supplies with me where I could have camped out somewhere, but felt confident in my abilities to make my way back.
The next day, I made it out to Crystal River. I went out early on my kayak to try to beat the other divers, but to no avail. It was Martin Luther King day and the place was packed. The manatee were pretty much overwhelmed by how many people were around and they went straight from the sanctuaries out to the deep lakes. I couldn't really blame them, there were hundreds of adults and children about. Most of them were obviously not certified scuba divers, as they were thrashing about in the water; squealing whenever a manatee was spotted. Frankly, I'm surprised the manatee even left the sanctuaries at all. It was quite disappointing. I drowned my sorrows at the local bowling alley. Whoo hoo hoo, nothing better than drop-in bowling on a Monday night, across the country in a flea speck town! (Yes, that's sarcasm.) Actually, it was pretty fun, and I met some really nice people. Many of which lived in the area and had never snorkeled with the manatee. I always chuckle when I meet people that live near a great attraction, but have never seen it themselves. Some of those who had seen the manatee, found them to be a nuisance. They didn't want to slow their boats down for the several months that the manatee congregate in the spring waters for the winter. I find it both amazing and sad how some people aren't able to appreciate the wonders of their surroundings.
I went out early again the following day, and what a difference! Since it was now a weekday, I had many of the areas all to myself; and the manatee were absolutely fantastic. They were quite curious and would usually swim right up to you, nuzzle you, and generally just play around. There was a particularly friendly little calf that day. He was with his mother, who was sleeping along the bottom. The little calf did not want to sleep, and came over to play for a while. He would swim around me, swim beside me, and if I put my hand out, would come right up and let me pet him. Every so often, he'd go back and check to make sure Mom was still asleep. When Mom did wake up, he went by her side, and they swam off together. They are such wonderful and timid creatures. A truly unbelievable experience. I really want to go back again sometime.
My next destination was Clearwater Beach. This is also a great area. Pretty touristy, but I met some really cool people. I parked and rollerbladed around the town for a bit, and found the main beach in town. To my surprise, there were a bunch of lit volleyball courts, and many of them were still playing. I jumped in and played a bunch of great games. We ended up finishing at 12:30AM, on a weeknight. It was fantastic! I spent the next day kayaking around the area and checking the city out. Dropped in for some more volleyball that night, and then was on my way to the Everglades.
I must admit, the Everglades took the prize for the most unexpected experience of the trip. First off, the mosquitoes were horrible. You could not even be out near the waters edge for more than a few minutes and had to be secured in your tent after about 4pm, or you were a major blood donor. I was told that this was the best time to visit, and that the mosquitoes were horrible in the summer. Since this was WAY worse than the mosquitoes EVER were in Michigan, I don't even want to think about visiting in the summer. The second nightmare was navigation. Since you are low in the water in a kayak, and traveling through mangroves that all look alike, it is extremely easy to lose your bearing. I had both a topo map of the area and a compass, and I consider myself to be pretty adept at navigation, yet I still ended up in different places several times. Be very careful if you are planning on traveling in this type of environment. Another disappointment was the water, it was a rust brown color and there were many signs that warned of mercury poisoning. Very sad. Overall though, the Everglades were a great place to visit. The scenery was beautiful, and the wildlife was everywhere. I recommend walking on the Anhinga Trail to all skill levels, it is a boardwalk that goes through several types of environments that is just bursting with life. Everything from birds to alligators. Here is a pic of the wetlands in the Everglades.
This is a pic of what the mangroves look like. If you are planning on canoeing or kayaking in the area, get used to this sight, because this is what it will look like, all day long. Just a maze of mangroves.
Here are a couple of pics of alligators. I was able to get some pretty close shots as one swam right up to my kayak, and the other was one I came across while hiking.
I love to see animals in their natural habitat. You notice more things, like how the Anhinga doesn't have the oil on their feathers like most other waterfowl, which allows it to swim underwater. I find it interesting to see how animals behave in the wild, and to see the details about them that you would otherwise miss on TV or in a zoo. Like the webbing in between the alligators toes, and to count how many teeth they have as they attack they kayak...
My next location was the Keys. Here, I explored many of the keys. By rollerblading along Duvall street in Key West, I found out from the friendly neighborhood police officer that rollerblading is prohibited on Duvall street. Although you can rollerblade on any other street, I felt that Duvall is pretty much the only happening street on Key West. A couple of other cool sights were: watching the F-14's fly maneuvers from the Naval base off of Boca Chica Key, viewing the small key deer off Deer Key and No Name Key. Watching numerous sunrises and sunsets off different keys. Viewing the coral fossil formations in the limestone of the keys (or "Keystone" as they call it.) Kayaking along the shore and through the small mangrove keys off-shore. Unfortunately, the wind was constantly blowing which made the ocean side too rough to go kayak and snorkel the reefs off-shore. Here is a shot of one of the sunrises off of Key West.
The last leg of my journey took me to Miami Beach. Here I checked out the town, and the scenery on the beach (and some beautiful scenery there was!) Then I traveled through Cocoa Beach, and visited Ron Jon's surf shop. For the last several days before my return flight, I went back to the area around Canaveral National Seashore and did some more kayaking. It was a fantastic trip. I don't know if I could live here, the land is a bit too flat for me. I think it would be a great place to stay for about 6 months to a year; to see the sights and do some water sports.