Florida Trip with Mars – Oct 25

29 October – 1 November

I had a trip to Disney World with Mars scheduled but they decided that they would rather do something in nature, so we flew to Miami, rented a car, and visited 3 National Parks.

Boat trip out to Dry Tortugas

It’s a cool old historic fort on an island

Big storms broke through the wall

Could just barely see Loggerhead Lighthouse from up on the battlements

Geology at work 🙂

The island is also great for swimming and snorkeling

Headed back 🙂

Cute local place with really good seafood

And of course, key lime pie

Stayed the first two nights at the Garden Inn in Key West. Drove out the next morning to Biscayne National Park

Here’s where we are on the map

The seas out here were quite choppy. Felt a little bit sick snorkeling.

Then we moved into a sheltered area next to the mangroves and that was much nicer

Quite a current though so it was tough getting back to the boat

Stayed at the Hampton Inn Naples South that night and the next

Nice view of the alligator lake next door

Loved the pool! So warm 🙂

Kayaking in the Everglades

Had a great guide who showed us lots of cool things

Started to get narrow and hard to navigate

That evening we went out to Naples Beach at sunset

On the last day we went to Big Cypress and the walk along the Oasis Visitor Center where we saw TONS of wildlife

Egrets

Lots of crocs

Turtles

Had an incredible time!