Adventures in the Keys

Do you know why the keys are called “keys” and not islands? I did not until I was there. A neighbor once told me that it was because there was no water found on the islands, that it all had to be pumped in. This is partly true. However, the largest difference is that islands are formed from volcanoes and keys are made of coral and sand. How cool. 43 little coral islands connected by 42 bridges and all accessible to us.

While we were on these large pieces of hardened coral, we did a little of everything. We walked to explore the natural beauty, observing how the landscape changed during high and low tide. We swam in the blue water, snorkeling to see the ocean life. We fished, watched the sunsets, grilled out and did our school and work. But we also had a few adventures. Actually, we packed them all into one day to make the most of good weather (and playing hooky from work and school).

Adventure 1: Parasailing

Okay, so I’ve been to a zillion places that offer parasailing, but I’ve never been one to say, “Dangle in the air by a string 300 feet from the ocean.” Seriously, I cliff jumped in Jamaica and bruised my behind because I landed awkwardly in the water. I was not trying to break bones (or worse) by falling from a parachute. However, I do not wish to put my own fears onto my children and we all have to practice what we preach when it comes to bravery right? So, bright and early one morning we drove down to Key West and got the “early bird special” with Sunset Water Sports. We were on a boat with just one one other family. Jackson was psyched! He could not wait to fly above the shoreline. He and Ben went up first and Sloan wanted to chicken out. She is my daughter. I harnessed my inner warrior and reminded her that she was braver and stronger than she knew and up we went. It is something amazing, not too scary and very peaceful. You kind of glide through the sky and you can see coral reefs so clearly in the blue waters below. Unharmed and happy, we left for the next adventure.

Adventure 2: Jet Ski Tour

We had about an hour to kill before our next tour began, so we stopped at a little surf shop to get Jackson a new pair of flip flops. Very touristy, just like the “Sunsations” shops in Ocean City, MD. Thirty minutes later, we left the store loaded down with taffy, sunglasses, flip flops and other unnecessary items and headed to the jet ski tour. Sunset Water Sports takes you on a 1.5 hour tour around Key West. It starts on the gulf side and takes your all the way around, through the Atlantic Ocean and back again. We loaded up, Sloan on the back of Ben and Jackson on the back of me. We started out slowly, my little creature finder Sloan pointing out a swimming iguana as we went up the canal. The tour guide asked, “Who wants to go fast?” and whose hands do you think shot up? Now, I may dislike heights, but I do not dislike speed. We had the best time speeding through the gulf along the coast of Key West. The water was like glass, smooth and easy to navigate. Every so often our tour guides would stop us in a group to talk about the surrounding area and fill us in on the history of the keys. Jackson held tight to me screaming, “faster” and “go zig zag” the entire time. At one point you stop at a sand bar and can hop off to take a dip – definitely do that. We swapped partners there and, of course, that is where everything changes. The sandbar happens to be right where the gulf meets the ocean. What does the ocean have? Waves, lots of waves. I am no stranger to waves, I rode jet ski’s on the choppy Chesapeake Bay and up the Chester River when storms were coming (not smart, but it was done). However, my 10 year old daughter is the size of a small adult and we were both soaked from our dip. So we slipped and slid along as I tried to keep up with the pack. Sloan had been screaming “faster” when she was with her dad, with me she was just yelping at the bumps and hoping not to fall off. At last we turned a curve and went slowly through the Key West harbor until we again reached the calmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Fun again. We returned the jet skis with huge smiles on our faces and adrenaline coursing through our bodies and headed off to lunch.

Adventure 3: Lunch

I call lunch an adventure, not because of the food but because of the animals. We ate at a little spot nearby called, “The Stoned Crab.” Lunch was good, but the scenery was better. As soon as we ordered the kiddos were off to visit the parrot on the front porch. Then they stopped at the lobsters in the tank. While we ate we watched herons and pelicans land in the canal in front of the restaurant. As we left, we visited the various species of turtles living in large cages in the parking lot. Little bit of an unexpected adventure during lunch.

Adventure 4: The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory

Okay, so again, maybe not a true adventure. But all the same, it was something new and different. This is something that was on Sloan’s list from our first visit to Key West the Saturday before. We promised we would come back when Roxy was not with us. Ben and I were exhausted at this point, but we wouldn’t be returning to this part of the keys during our trip, so while we were there we decided to visit. Butterflies of all variety are hatched in the conservatory. It also boasts several species of exotic birds. The space inside is small and quite warm and humid (for obvious reasons). We spent about 45 minutes here just looking at the butterflies and birds. Sloan got excited as a butterfly landed smack dab on her derriere and Jackson had some land right on his fingers. Ben sat on a bench to observe and promptly fell asleep for an afternoon siesta. I was in love with the flamingos. Never had I seen one so close. It was mating season for this couple and watching the male perform his ritual was captivating. They are beautiful, they are also a bit goofy looking, reminding me of Alice’s croquet mallet in the cartoon version of, “Alice in Wonderland.”

After that, we were done. Time to go back to the camper and call it a day. We enjoyed all of our time in the Keys, but that was truly a great day.