Dixie and Joan made a breakfast feast for us this morning: pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. We said good-bye to Islamorada, made our way to the ICW, and turned northeast.
I had heard on one of my podcasts that the Florida Powerboat Club was having a poker run from Miami to Islamorada while we were there... we saw plenty of the go-fast boats, adorned with bikini babes. These are the 100+ mile per hour boats that burn 80-90 gallons of fuel per hour! Well, they were heading north about the same time as we were. Imagine yourself on a bicycle being passed on both sides by roaring motorcycles... well, toss in the big wakes that they kick up. Actually, it was kind of fun to see the fancy paint jobs and see the different variations of these gazillion dollar speedsters.
We continued cruising, turned out of the ICW, heading towards a cut through Key Largo. There were some fancy homes along the cut, housing some big boats.
Once into Largo Sound, we made our way through the markers, into some mangrove openings, and found the marina at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. It took a while to get tied off to the tall docks, and then we started exploring. This park is best known as America’s first underwater park, with great snorkeling and scuba diving. The water temp is around 72º, still a bit chilly for our tastes, so we decided to take a pass on the snorkeling. We walked to the visitors’ center, taking in a very nice aquarium and a movie about the undersea life in the area.
From there, we hiked along a mangrove trail to see some of the other stuff in the park. You can rent kayaks and canoes, powerboats, take a glass bottom boat ride, sailing trips, and of course, excursion boats out to the reef for diving. One trail took us to an observation tower that overlooks some of the non-power waterways.
Here’s a shot with the four adventurers at the top of one of the towers.
We also walked by a couple of the beaches in the park; it’s a very pretty area with lots to do - all of it based around the water. Here’s a look at one of the beaches - looks pretty darn tropical, huh?
Then it was on to an area dear to my heart: the showers. We don’t need ‘em today, but we will in the morning. It’s probably a 4 or 5 block walk.
Soon it was time for sundowners in the cockpit of Discovery. We visited with the couple on the sailboat next to Discovery... we have certainly met some interesting people on this trip.
As the sun went down, our appetites came up. We discussed eating onboard and decided to try a BBQ place that a marina worker told us was “really close.” Rib Daddy’s (as in: who’s your Rib Daddy?) was about 8 blocks from the marina. “Close” is one of those perspective things... and close by car is different from close on foot. It was worth the trip - easily the best darn bar-b-que I’ve had in a long time. Big portions, too! Leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
We spent some time checking our charts and deciding whether to spend another night here or move on. No one seemed too commital, so I suggested we head north towards Miami. The weather is supposed to be nice for the next couple days, so the cruising should be good.
Best wishes,
Jim B
mrgreen
