Snorkeling

snorkeling

me snorkeling

Hi, this is Grace writing again.  Yesterday we were in Key Largo and the highlight was snorkeling.  I loved being on the boat ride. I haven't been on a boat in forever and it was amazing! After about a half hour, they anchored the boat and we went snorkeling. 

We saw several striped grunt. It was yellow with turqoise stripes through it. We also saw barracuda. They pretty much left us alone but they still made me uncomfortable. We saw these periwinkle tangs, emerald green butterfly fish with odd splashes of yellow through them, these checkered colored ones, and even this big black fish. We saw a spiny lobster, a sea urchin, and tons of coral! The current was pretty strong and the water was only four feet high in some places and the coral sometimes two feet high. This wouldn't be a problem except that you weren't allowed to touch the coral or anything else on the reef. 

barracuda

When we went home from the boat ride we checked out Key Largo. To tell you the truth it wasn't that amazing. The best part was Mrs. Mac's restaurant. It was a family restaurant that served beer and everyone showed up dressed up. The food was good though and we bought a key lime pie. Did you know that the key lime pie originated in the keys do to shortage of cows? With the invention of sweetened condensed milk the people of the keys mixed their limes with the milk and thus the key lime pie!  We also spent $3.50 on whipped cream. It was really tasty whipped cream! 

visitors center John Pennekamp

The next day was mostly spent around the area. We saw the visitor center.  It had a huge aquarium where we could better identify the fish we saw snorkeling.  I also learned the difference between the american crocodile and an alligator.

Jumping off the dock

After we packed up, we spent an hour going to Marathon. Its really great here! We went over to a little beachy area where there was a dock on the ocean and it was fun jumping off. There were two other kids there.  They happened to be from the Philadelphia area. We went for a walk on the old 7 mile bridge and watched the sun set.  

view in Marathon

pool at Sunset Grille

On our walk back to the campground we came to a place called Sunset Grille. It had a pool so the kids could swim while the parents enjoyed their drinks. It was so much fun and the water had these lights that changed color! Today was so much fun. So far, loving Marathon. Plan to write again soon, from Grace.