Kicking it up in the Keys

well, the day didn't start so well. We drove down to Pennekamp and where highly disappointed. There is no beach there. Nice park for snorkeling, but we weren't there for that. We were there for beach which didn't exist. There is only a fake beach area like a lagoon, but it was creepy and really crowded. While there, I realized that I was actually thinking of Bahia Honda, when I was remembering a gorgeous beach. Bahia Honda's beach was voted one of the country's top 10 in 1992. I was there in 1997 and it was lovely. Pristine white sand, really large beach. Gorgeous...even by this life-long Floridian's (i.e. beach snob's) standards.

Unfortunately, alot has happened since 1997. Namely, hurricane Wilma. Came through and eroded 2/3 of the beach. In some places, the entire beach was gone. VERY disappointing. What's worse, what beach that was left was covered in seaweed, as you can see from this picture. I figure that's a function of state of fla. budget cuts. Luckily, we had fun anyway. The water was nice and warm and crystal clear. It was shallow really far out and with no Atlantic waves/undertow, so T could splash around.

Took her a while to get acclimated. She didn't like "that dirty beach" or "that sandy floor". She didn't understand why the bottom wasn't concrete like the pool. So, Dot and I sat in our chairs, with rain umbrellas to hide from the sun, similar to those old sci-fi vampire movies. T played in the sand. Then we were out of there.

Drove back north and went to an all you can eat seafood buffet that was yummy.

The other big news of the trip: T lost her 3rd tooth while crossing the 7-mile bridge. Dot played tooth fairy and upped the ante on me. Crazy woman left a whole 5 bucks. T added it to her stash, and we were off to Target for her to buy something. She chose aqua sand. Google it. I can't explain it. Other than to say its a big mess and alot harder than the commercial implies. Typical.

So, that was our big day. Felt like I was on vacation.