Mile Marker –1 and goodbye Keys…

Well we stayed in the Keys for 30 days and we decided that on our last day we really needed to splurge a bit and take a boat ride out into the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic ocean. We had met a really interesting person Captain Victoria who is a true Conch as she was born in Key West and has lived her entire life there. Her husband and first mate is Art who is a fascinating fellow with many stories to share about Key West having moved there 50 years ago as a Marine at age 17. What better people to go out into the waters with as they provided us with so much history and knowledge of the Keys and their surrounding waters.

    

So our last day started in the morning with us putting things away for our departure on Friday. At noon we headed over to mile marker 5 and met Captain Victoria at the wharf. We loaded our gear aboard her boat and set off four a four and one half hour adventure. We snorkeled at three or four different reefs in the Atlantic ocean side of the keys near where the Gulf of Mexico water mixes in with them.

A slight current allows for drifting along snorkeling and seeing a wide variety of hard and soft corals along with a large diversity of fishes. Some of the highlights we saw were a massive brain coral, a pencil urchin, a hogfish, a 2 foot long puffer, several nurse shares (including one up to 10 feet in length), lots of very large stingrays, and several turtles. We moved around the sea until we had completely circumnavigated the island of Key West. Looking back at Key West there was a cruise ship docked which dwarfed Key West

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We completed the adventure at around 5:00 and we had our last happy hour at the Hogfish Bar and Grille.  Then Captain Victoria and Art came by for the evening where we shared stories and Sharon treated Captain Victoria to a handwriting analysis session. We had some good laughs and the day ended on

what was definitely our most memorable day in the Keys. If you ever travel to Key West you must get out on the water, and I can recommend wholeheartedly that Captain Victoria is the one to go with if you can.

Friday morning came early as we stowed the remaining gear and left Bluewater Key with a tinge of sadness but we know full well new adventures lie ahead. Travel this day was 328 miles where we find ourselves at Wickham Park in Melbourne Florida. We will stay here anywhere from 2 to 10 days depending on what we find to do in the area. Goodbye Keys… Hello Melbourne…