Florida

So while we were in Florida, we spent some time basically everyday at some point hanging out on the beach. The water was so warm I was very surprised! There was just one problem...there were lots of jellyfish! We had gotten some snorkel gear so that we could go out to where there were some little coral reefs. (I think they were man made). But we didn't make it very far because I really wasn't a huge fan of swimming with the jellyfish. I got stung on the back of the leg once and it stung for a while. We put on our goggles and stayed right next to the shore, Damon saw a crab and there were these really cool little white fish that would swim up right next to your fingers until you moved and then they would dart away. They were fun to watch! You could also see huge dark spots while looking at the water. So we put on our goggles and took a peek and it turned out to be a huge school of fish swimming around that was cool to see as well. The water was super clear and really blue-green, it was pretty! Well I guess it was only clear until about Wednesday though. We were there while hurricane Irene was passing through. I think it passed by on Wednesday evening, or Thursday but it was about 150 miles off the coast so we only saw fairly strong winds and rain for most of the day. After that the water was not clear anymore and there was some really strong currents and rip tides. But we still played in the water a little and had some fun. We also made a giant face in the sand it was awesome and we could see it from our room until the tide got super high and washed it away.

Also before the hurricane we talked to a local lady that said there was some awesome snorkeling around this little island that was between the main land of Florida and the island that we were on. The little island was called Peanut Island. The lady said that there was a ferry that would take you across and back. So we drove around and found the place where the ferry was and had an interesting conversation with the guy that drove the ferry. He said he would feel bad taking our money and dropping us off on the island because there was jellyfish like crazy over there. He even showed us a video he took of a bunch of jellyfish floating past. So he told us a few places that might be cool to check out and maybe snorkel if the jellyfish weren't bad. He said that the jellyfish had been there almost three weeks and he said it was like an epidemic and he didn't know what this world was coming to. The people around there were really friendly and talked to you like thy had known you forever! So we took his advice and went to find those places he told us about. The first place was a little Sea Turtle Museum. They had all this information and then you could go out back and see the turtles that they had found and were rescuing. Next to each turtle they had a little plaque that had the turtles name and what what wrong with it and what they were doing for treatment before they released it again.




Then there was a beach back behind that place we took a walk and looked around. There were reports of jellyfish there too.

So after that beach we went north a little farther and found a little place where the water came into a little pocket. We were swimming around there but there was nothing to see. On the way out of this little pocket I looked around and saw a big jellyfish heading straight for Damon on a current. I grabbed him and he jumped out of the way. Instead we went to the next beach over and played in the waves for a while. There were some surfers there and it was fun to see those guys catch the really big waves that were starting to come in from the hurricane.
Our Florida adventure included going to Walmart a few times of course, I mean what trip is complete without Walmart either before, during or after?? We also went and ate at a couple of places. A homeless guy came up to us and asked us for money. It was crazy. Then of course we spent time in the resorts pools and hot tubs! It was an amazing trip! The Saturday we come home was an extremely long day but it was definitely great!!! I would recommend Oceana Palms for any Florida trip! Gosh it was AWESOME!!!