road trip day 50: apalachicola, florida

Despite not being able to pronounce it, Apalachicola was one of the highlights of our trip. This small gulf-side town is located in Northern Florida and harkens back to the past. It is the "old Florida" that we often heard people reminisce about and long for. It is as beautiful as it is decaying, which adds to its charm. You feel as if you are walking around in 1920, not 2014. 

 Because Apalachicola is known for its oysters, we had to grab lunch.  We ate at a restaurant with its own fishboat that delivers fresh seafood right onto the back deck. Talk about fresh! Gulf oysters were pretty good, and ended up being a close second to Washington's, but the shrimp took the spotlight! I've never eaten shrimp that tasted as good as it did in Apalachicola.

road trip day 49: sanibel and captiva to homosassa springs

Outside of Naples, Florida are two small islands called Sanibel and Captiva. They are picture perfect. Situated on the gulf, each island is known for its incredible shells. So we did what the locals call the "Sanibel Sloop" and roamed the beach for shells. Its hard to do these islands justice with words, but i'm pretty sure the people who live on them have life figured out.  I imagine they walk out their door and spend their days either in the water or on the beach and walk back at night to their quaint little cottages.

florida | My new trip on florida

After the islands, we drove until we were tired and hungry, stopping at the nearest state park, which happened to be Homosassa Springs. In the winter, Manatees swim up the rivers to get to these natural springs located in central Florida, where the water stays a consistent 72 degrees. We unfortunately did not see any manatees, but we did see "watch out for water moccasins" signs,  which sufficiently creeped us out. As for the state park, it was ok but nothing to write home about.

road trip day 48: the day we found a bar in whole foods

As we pull into Naples, Florida I had the oddest feeling of deja vu. It didn't occur to me until later that Naples looks as if it it sprung out of the pages of Better Homes & Gardens, or Martha Stewart Living. This place is scrubbed clean and manicured to the nines. After multiple state parks and grubby towns, it felt nice to be somewhere that was so, well, clean. It wasn't until we parked the Nugget that I realized that we were way out of our league. The Nugget was parked next to a BMW and we, being dirty travelers, were now walking alongside people impeccable attired in business casual. I did what I usually do when I feel out of place and pretended I looked great (ripped jean shorts and all). We went strolling the streets and wandered our way through the mansion lined avenues towards a huge swath of white sand beach.

One of the many mansions:

I always feel at home on the beach and I had a hard time leaving it, but hunger was calling and we couldn't afford to become hangry. We hunted down a Whole Foods and as we walked through the sliding doors into an air-conditioned food wonderland, I spotted a bar! A bar in Whole Foods! Seattle has three whole foods, and not one of them has a bar. I don't know why this made me so happy, but I was frickin' ecstatic! We both picked out dinner amongst the food bar and then sat down to a nice glass of wine, all without leaving my happy place. It was the BEST DAY EVER! (And Naples wasn't too bad either).

The beach right in front of the mansions:

road trip day 47: from the florida keys to the everglades

Did you know that there are miniature deer in the Florida Keys? We had no idea what miniature deer might mean (we are used to big white tails in the upper left, USA) so we spent our last day in the Keys trying to stalk them. Lucky for us, the Keys have a little deer nature reserve and we were able to drive right up to one. The weren't kidding on the size. The deer are about the size of a dog and are extremely endangered. Feeling privileged to see one of these little fellows, we decided that was as good of an exit as any, and we started to drive North for the first time on the whole trip.

We made it to the Everglades, and apparently crocodile alley. There were gigantic crocodiles sunning themselves on every yard we drove by. Brian, being the little kid that he is, was so excited to finally see a croc that he made us pull over in the middle of no where and walk up to a shanty that said "Buffalo Tiger's Florida Everglades Airboat Tours." We were in for a treat.

Smiling through my fear...
The brave ladies we forced to sit up front
After six of us boarded a tin deathtrap, our guide, a crazy young guy took off at full speed and saddled right up to a croc. He proceeded to taunt it until it the thing was practically in our laps. I of course was having a heart attack and planning my escape route if the boat happened to flip (basically there was none). It was intriguing to be so close to things that could rip your arm off in one bite, and I vowed never to find myself near any body of water in Florida  again.

Our crazy guide

 There were raccoons involved

Somewhat ironic

road trip day 46: bahia honda state park

Located at mile marker 37, Bahia Honda State Park is 500 acres of pristine water, beaches, and sunsets.
One of my favorite things about Florida on this trip so far is the beautiful state parks! They are scattered throughout the state and always beautiful. At Bahia Honda you park right on the beach (or tent).  The only downside is the expense. State parks in Florida are anywhere from 30-50 dollars a night, which isn't cheap if you are on an extended road trip. Nonetheless, if you do opt to stay at state parks, make sure you hit the ones in the Florida Keys!

Dinner on the beach

Part of the old highway at Bahia Honda Key.

 

road trip day 45: key west

We drove the Nugget straight down from Islamadora Key to Key West. The drive took only about two hours or so and it was amazing to have all of our windows rolled down and to feel the warm breeze! Once we arrived in Key West, we hopped on our bikes and started to explore the little town. I loved the backroads and small alley ways dotted with tiny cabins and huge trees. It almost felt like we weren't in the states. What we didn't love was the center of town. It was pretty cheesy, but since it was hot and sunny, we were happy to stroll along with a hundred or so other tourists.

 

Tourists taking a photo of the southernmost point in the USA

road trip day 43-44: miami to the florida keys

We left Miami for the quaint neighborhood of Coral Gables. It was here that we spent an amazing day laying by the most stunning public pool i've ever seen. For $15 we received two day passes and pool chairs right on the water's edge. In the summer the pool is emptied and refilled everyday via a natural spring and is the largest fresh water pool in the country. Needless to say, after a month of being permanently freezing, we were in heaven to put on swimsuits and just relax.

We left Coral Gables kicking and screaming and sat like wet lumps in the Nugget for a few hours until we hit the start of the Florida Keys. Once we saw the beautiful blue water, our spirits were again lifted.  We made a pit stop in Key Largo, at our first Piggly Wiggly store of the trip (a Southern grocery store chain) and bought some tamarind pods to snack on. After fueling up we kept on heading south until we reached Islamorada. We pulled over and stayed at a great little motel, which was conveniently cheaper than camping in the Nugget!

road trip day 42: miami, florida

Arriving in Florida finally gave us some reprieve from the chilly weather that followed us as far as Savannah. But, we were tired of sleeping in the cold and wanted even more heat, so we drove most of the day on Florida's east coast to Miami.  Our first stop in Miami was Little Havana. I was expecting a network of small roads with people outside selling everything from tropical fruit to cigars. What we really found was one long two land road that led through a part of town that looked strangely deserted. There were no colorful stores or people outside speaking Spanish. It was just a small neighborhood outside of Miami with nothing more identifying then tourist shops advertising Cuban cigars. Despite our disappointment, we followed our guidebook to an outdoor food marketplace where Cubans congregate to eat ropa vieja and arroz moro and drink fresh sugar cane juice. We pulled up to "El Palacio de los Jugos"  in the Nugget and immediately felt out of place, so we knew that El Palacio was legitimate.  I had to use my haphazard Spanish to order Brian and I both tortas. It felt like we were back in Puerto Rico and it was amazing to imagine ourselves somewhere a bit more exotic that the United States.

After eating our fill, we hopped back in the Nugget and headed straight for South Beach. We parked and got on our bikes to ride the boardwalk through crowds of rollerbladers in teeny tiny bikinis. South Beach is exactly what we imagined. Full of hotels and crowds, restaurants and pretty people. It is lively and we couldn't wait to sit down, drink mojitos and people watch. 

 

 

road trip day 41: st. augustine, florida

Located in Northeastern Florida, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the United States. It was founded in 1565 by a Spanish admiral and occupied for over 200 years by Spain. The Spanish influence is evident to this day. The streets of St. Augustine reminded me of walking around in Granada, Spain, where I studied abroad during college.

There is a great walking street in this little town with tons of bars and shopping, but what I really loved is the hotel turned college.  The Ponce De Leon hotel was originally built by an oil magnate to attract the wealthy and elite to Florida. The hotel was later decommissioned and is used to this day as Flagler College.  It is stunning and i'm pretty sure if I was 19 again,  I would be hightailing it here to go to school.