This was a super, duper, fan-tan-tab-ulous day! We planned to leave our hotel by 7 am so we got up, got ready, and rolled out around 8 am. Better late than never, right? (:
We paid extra to have a hotel with "a complimentary hot breakfast." Well here is a PSA... Hot to me means eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. Hot should not mean bread, bagels, cereal, and a waffle machine. That is a "our hotel is too lazy to cook" breakfast. My waffle was yummy but still, bacon would have been delicious!
After we checked out, Ricky took me on the top secret adventure he planned. BOY oh BOY I was surprised and excited when our honda bee bopped into the Silver Springs Florida State Park. He had a great idea.
After a celebratory fist bump, we purchased tickets to take a ride across the Silver Springs on a glass bottom boat. We arrived just on time buddy because we shared our boat with only about 5 other peeps. Later, we saw a boat where little sardine people were squished together and barely had enough room to stretch their little legs. The fish were handsome! There were catfish, bass, shad, and bluegills in the springs and we got up close and personal with them!
On our glass bottom boat, we also saw a sunken canoe that dated back hundreds of years. Also under the water was a sunken row boat used by the Spanish. Time had taken it's toll and covered the boats with eel grass and debris. Finally, we were able to see three sunken statues that were placed in the water during the 1960s while my friend Bill Cosby was busy filming I Spy. No words were given as to whether Ol' Billy enjoyed any jello while he was there. (: Many other films/tv shows, including Tarzan & The Creature from the Black Lagoon were also filmed there.
After our glass bottom boat ride, Ricky was ready to head out. I lead him to the kayak rentals and convinced him to rent a tandem kayak and head down the canal which led to the springs. I was ready to pitch a mini fit if he said no but thankfully for both of us, he quickly agreed. Another celebratory fist bump, a few squirts of sunscreen, and a good push off later and we were OFF!
Now, remember when I said Ricky was ready to burn the road up? Thank goodness we did not because the kayaking was the coolest adventure we've had so far this week! It was a little treasure we found that we will absolutely revisit! First off, the photographs we captured are just stunning! It's hard to believe the pictures were even taken in America! The trees dip over the water and create a beautiful, spectacular view. It was picture perfect!
During our travel, we also encountered a lot of animals in their natural habitat. As we were kayaking through the canal, we probably saw 100 or more turtles. They were mossback turtles which basically means that they looked pretty dirty. We were also very happy to see many types of birds, especially cranes. They are fast little birdies! They would be flying by or sitting on the bank and all of a sudden, bam, down into the water they went and then out of the water they came with a fish in their mouth. It was pretty awesome. We were also very surprised to see another wild animal... Alligators! The first one we saw was only about 2 feet long and as soon as we saw him, he jumped in the water and swim away. We saw about three more on our way and it was absolutely amazing! Fun fact: At a gas station after we left, we even saw little, teeny, tiny baby gators. I almost wanted to put one in my Bahamas bag that I had and bring him home. :-) I don't think that the state of Florida for the state of North Carolina would appreciate that!
After our wonderful day in the park, we decided to go ahead and start heading towards Miami. On our way out, we passed The Villages. I immediately thought of all my WPO peeps! Shout out to all my friends who are holding it down and call The Villages often. This is that retirement facility that you may refer to as Florida's friendliest hometown. I have called them many times searching for information for clients when I worked as an elder care consultant. After what felt like forever, we finally made it to the turnpike. I have learned on this vacation that turnpike equals money. Seriously, Florida? How in the world do you sleep at night knowing that you charge people so much money to drive on your highway? First, we were forced to fork over $1.25. This wasn't so bad until the third time. Then it really got cray cray. The next toll charged us $15.60!!!!!!!!!!! Can you said OMG?! We had a stack of cash that had $25 and by the time we made it to our hotel, we had $3 left. I am over paying tolls, Florida!
Once we reached Miami, we wanted to stop somewhere and get drinks for our hotel room. We came across a Target so we decided that might be the best place to stop. Once we reached Target, we realized that there is a major issue in Miami. A major issue! I am not talking about the fact that there are only businesses on the left side and we are driving down the right although that was kind of weird. The major issue is that y'all in Miami don't know how to put your buggies away! It is an extra two steps to put it in the buggy return. For some reason, people in Miami like to just leave their cart wherever they unload. There were literally hundreds of grocery carts all over the parking lot. Apparently, the people in Miami are used to this because they would just park right beside the loose carts. That was complete culture shock! Check out the pictures below.
We did make it to Miami and a little further. We are currently in a hotel in Florida City, Florida. It should only take us about three hours to make it to the Florida Keys. When we make it to the keys, we hope we can go snorkeling. We hear that there are crystal clear waters, beautiful fish, and beautiful sites. It is going to be a fabulous day!
Thanks again for reading! We will update you soon!
Amy & Ricky
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