Life's a Beach

I have to begin this blog post with a disclaimer: 

If anyone does read this, you may hate us or at least be green with envy once we tell you what we had to endure for the next section of our travels.  Sunshine, salty water, beaches, and boats would become our norm for the next few stops or as Karl put it “a vacation within our vacation”.  The agenda includes Dry Tortugas National Park, Biscayne National Park, and even a trip to the Caribbean to set foot on St. John National Park in the Virgin Islands.  Jealous yet? You may stop reading here if you like.   Like the waves in the ocean, there were ups and downs and I promise to include the little failures we experienced as well so as to not rub it in the fact that 'Life is a Beach" too much. (Plus, those are usually the lesson learned or funnier stories anyways.)

To begin, we start with a pretty epic failure. Our usual down fall was not planning far enough ahead (yet again) but in our defense that is hard to do when you live out of a car and don't know where you will be days, let alone weeks or months in advance. To get to the point, even though the NPS site for Dry Tortugas says that camping out there is on a first come first serve basis and that there is plenty of room, you have to get out there. There is only one boat, Yankee Freedom, that takes people out (day trippers or campers) and of course they have a capacity.  Yet, the limit for the number of campers they take out per day is 10 people. Not 10 campsites, not 10 groups, but people. So a family of 5 going out for a night of glamping already takes up half the slots on the boat, even if they are all staying within the same tent.  And those 10 camper spaces booked up months in advance. Oops.

A day trip to it is. 

But, not having the privilege of spending the night out there meant we needed to find somewhere closer to Key West to call base camp while we day tripped it and that is where our failure to plan ahead turned for the worse.  South Florida, especially anywhere near a key, sucks when is comes to actual camping. I get it, there isn't much land and camping usually is not the typical past time for those who find themselves down near the Keys. Any established camping area is full on hook-up villages for RVers that are attraction destinations in themselves, and the prices are extreme. Trying to make the best of it, we attempted to follow in my parent's footsteps because they would rave about how much they enjoyed camping at KOAs back in the day. Well, just say that KOAs must have changed A LOT since then. We got a "primitive" campsite (which included being told to just go find a place to pitch our tent in a back wooded area) where even though it was on the boarder of their land was still shaking with the noise of the Jimmy Buffet-like cover band that was playing as the live entertainment that night.

In our blissful ear plugged attempt at a good night's sleep, some interesting things happened in the middle of the night. A large family decided that they liked where we set up our tent (even though there was a whole field to choose from) and set up their awkward Coleman tents less than 3 feet from our front zipper! Side stepping was necessary to get out of my own tent.  Oh, and by the way... people can park their cars where ever as well therefore not only did we have the closest camping neighbors ever, they also completely blocked in Ele. To make waking up predawn in order to go catch a boat even better, try waking up to that.  Admittedly, we were pissed and kinda acted like assholes to vent our feelings by making as much noise as physically possible in the early dark hours while getting ready that morning, letting our doorstep squatters know that personal space and camping etiquette should mean something.  GRRR

As it should already be known, Karl is an awesome driver.  He is just good with cars. But, the way he was able to squeeze Ele out of her cramped space without scratching her, bumping the other cars blocking her in, or running over any tents required major maneuvering skills and he should be given an award. I would also like to award myself a pat on the back for not screaming at the doorstop tent people to MOVE.  Bet none of this has made you jealous yet (don't worry, we will get to the good stuff soon) but first, are you curious about the price for this insane camping experience at the KOA? $72 dollars (after taxes"). That is like a whole weeks worth of our food budget for a shitty stay, Thanks KOA!

Reset, refresh, and realize we are about to visit our 44th National Park. Dry Tortugas here we come!

Back in the 1500s, the now endangered sea turtles were densely populated around the archipelago, giving it the name "las Tortugas" (the turtles).  Years later the word "Dry" was added to warn mariners of the islands lack of any fresh water, and the Dry Tortugas were named.  As the waters became popular shipping lanes a need to suppress piracy and protect the trade routes was needed, so Fort Jefferson was built.  Well, they began building it but even after decades the fortress remained unfinished...

Unfinished or not, this fort was impressive and still is quite to sight to see.  

From fortress 

to prison

to a quarantine station

to a wildlife reservation 

to a National Monument and finally to a National Park, this place has quite a history!

So, Karl & I take a self guided tour through Fort Jefferson for a few hours, checking out the details, becoming a Jr, Ranger, and chatting with the Rangers (hearing their stories about the people who typically camp there was pretty hysterical).   In my usual style, I would rather let the photos speak for themselves rather than try to get the words right in describing them. 

After a quick lunch, we escape the Fort and enter the water. 

Utilizing the snorkel equipment offered by the boat, we spent the afternoon splashing around those famed waters. 

Side note: We somehow forgot to put a battery in our GoPro, so no underwater photos. Again, Oops. 

The day trip was a wonderful teaser. Yes, teaser... meaning that I already know I want to go back and CAMP on this spectacular spit of land, having the whole day and night to just be there and absorb it all in. (And maybe see a turtle the next time!)

In a perfect world I would get to say that the next topic would be the next park, but no. Of course, due to the previously mentioned lost credit card (if you have no clue what I am talking about, read our Southwestiness Hospitality blog post) we had to hang around the Keys waiting for the replacement card to be mailed to a post office where we could pick it up.  AND we had to wait until said post office was actually open.  Don't worry, we didn't just waste 2 days driving up and down the Florida Keys waiting for a credit card... we ate the best seafood (two days in a row) at the same place: Mrs, Mac's Kitchen. Delicious. And made the waiting worth it!

Next bump in the road trip was something we could not predict.  But before that, remember the majority of Biscayne National Park is underwater. 

Water and sky overwhelm the scene in every direction and if you don't have a private boat or have a scuba certification, you will miss the majority of it. We accepted this fact long ago but there are a few small stripes of land that you can take boat rides too. Done, we wanted that.  We were going to camp on one of those keys! Nope.

The NPS and their old concessionaire were having a spat, so those boat rides I mentioned were cancelled. Once again, unless you had a personal vessel, there wasn't a way to spend the night. Thankfully, they were working with a new guy that had sailboats that would take people out for day trips.   And I repeat: A day trip it is. 

When you just make the best of what you have, you can be greatly rewarded. Even though we were yet again doing another day trip in a National Park and not able to camp like we wanted, the trip we booked ended up being perfect for us. There were 7 people, including the captain on this sailboat making the trip more personal and entertaining, especially when we were asked to help sail!

Karl made quick friends with Captain Derek, as they reminisced about their boy-scouting days at Seabase.  

After about 2 hours of sailing we made it to Boca Chita Key. 

And what a tiny little key it is! After the Adventure was safely docked Karl & I took a leisurely stroll around the whole thing, checking out the old structures that were made with coral rock, the beaches, the distance views, and the wildlife.

After that, we took Captain Derek up on his offer of using the SUPs (Stand Up Paddle Boards). 

The wind was quite strong, so the waves were something to contend with but it was still a lot of fun as well as a workout. For it being only our second time ever attempting to SUP, I am either decent at it naturally or my paddle board was just epic because this was one activity that Karl was struggling to keep up with ME instead of the other way around!

The 2 hour sail back was a breeze (bad pun intended). Yet again though, we agree that one day, especially if we ever get scuba certified, we'd come back to give this park more of our time.

Although 2 day trips to National Parks was not in our original plans, we made the best of it. But, we were a bit sullen with the fact that we didn't get to camp at either of these places of paradise. 

We wanted to camp on a beach, gosh darn it!  (picture me stamping my feet in mock tantrum here).

Which brings us to our next park, which is the true vacation within our vacation escape and will make up for our lack of island camping: The U.S. Virgin Islands! 

Long ago, we realized that if we wanted to reach our goal of so many National Parks in a year, we would have to make difficult financial decisions about going back to Alaska and securing one of the parks we missed (Glacier Bay, Lake Clark, Kobuk Valley, or Gates of the Arctic) or flying to Hawaii (Haleakala or Hawai'i Volcanoes), American Samoa, or US Virgin Islands.

Honestly, it wasn't that hard of a choice because it all came down to what we could afford. We skipped those parks in AK because one can't drive to them and bush planes them would cost a lot. And the cost of the flights to Hawaii are just insane, but if we were to pay the price to fly there I wouldn't want to just stop at just one of the parks and it could get very costly.  National Park of American Samoa is another 6 hour expensive flight FROM Hawaii, so that was certainly out of the question.   PLUS, we would be hanging out in southern Florida, which is the jumping off point for flights to the Caribbean. 

Fate would have it that March 2017 was also USVI's 100th year anniversary of the Danish West Indies becoming the Virgins Islands of the United States, why not help celebrate by visiting? It also helped that Spirit Airlines had a sick deal on flights from Fort Lauderdale. 

Oh, woe is us, we just HAVE to go to the Caribbean now. Feel bad for us yet?

A flight, a ferry, and a few insane taxi rides later (I was not warned that they drive on the other side of the road, yet the wheel of the car is still on the left), we were on St. John, 60% of which is a National Park!

We booked our stay for a whole week at Cinnamon Bay Resort and Campground. They had options from cottages, to eco-tents, to platform tenting, to a plain good old bare site. Big surprise, we went with the bare site where we had a whole wooded area to ourselves, with a picnic table and a huge tarp already secure in the trees, so that we won't even need to use a rainfly (and it was STILL cheaper than the stay at that damn KOA and we were on a remote island!) 

Oh, and by the way, access to the beach was just a few feet away and looked something like this:

Sunsets resembled something like this, and afterwards we could meander up to our tent and just let the waves lull us to sleep.

With our first full day, we took a taxi into town with the intentions to stock up on food (aka ramen) and rum (and caffeine free coke) at the local market. This was a much cheaper option than eating/drinking at the resorts restaurant and bar. Before we gathered our supplies, we stopped at the Visitor Center and took a hike along the Lind Point Trail where it rained liquid sunshine and wild donkeys took over the trail. 

Back at the market, loaded with supplies, we walked around and 2 funny interactions with strangers happened. The first, while I was watching (and of course taking photos) of baby chicks digging around in the dirt an older guy comes boldly up to me and says, "I came here to check out the chicks too." Awkward looking me up and down all the while... Thanks creepy dude. 

The second, while looking at the trinkets and crafts spread along tables in the market square a young local boy (probably around the age of 4 or 5), comes up to me and tugs on my dress. As I look down at him, he asks "Are you a boy or a girl?". Resisting the urge not to laugh, I answered, "I'm a girl." And without missing a beat, he asks what he is really curious about, "Where is your hair?" 

Smiling, the best answer I could come up with on the spot was, "Well, I cut my hair off because I thought it was OK to be different." With wide eyes he lets go of my dress and just nods, then runs away. After that, every time he saw me he would wave.  It was pretty adorable, Thanks cute kid.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying Cinnamon Bay Beach since it was essentially our backyard. 

Also, it became clear that the shower/bathroom building nearest our campsite was the "dump zone", and I mean this in the best way ever.  People traveling to the island, bring or buy more than they need and decide that they don't want to (or can't) take the items home with them.  So, leftovers get stashed all along the wall of the building. There was everything from beach chairs to fuel to bug repellent to nearly every food you could imagine. We kinda became obsessed with checking it out each time we passed by, just in case. It paid off because we didn't need to purchase any fuel and were stocked up on bug repellents and citronella candles for the whole week! Plus we utilized many other throw away items and what we would begin to call "bathroom food", saving us a lot of money. More on that topic later...

The next morning began with Karl being a realtor for a solider crab. By the way, solider crabs are the exact same thing as hermit crabs, just with a different name here. And they are everywhere! You always had to watch your step because a solider crab or a lizard would be underfoot the majority of the time.  But, back to Karl being a realtor... Near our campsite he found a solider crab that had a very broken shell that he was living out of.  Karl picked him up and brought him to camp because who ever may have stayed at our site previously left a whole selection of shells and lined them up around the perimeter of camp.  Selecting one of the nice big intact shells, Karl placed it and the crab on the ground right next to each other and we backed away and waited to see what would happen.  

Slowly the solider crab began checking out the new space... Giving it a full inspection.

Satisfied that is wasn't occupied and that is was much better than his current abode, a transfer was made!

And into his new and improved home!

With this one he was able to hide completely inside the shell and not be exposed like he was in his broken one!  Much better.  Crabs weren't our only company at our campsite, we also had many birds hanging out with us 

(one of which kept trying to steal our banana peels out of our trash pile!)

 and lizards too. 

You know you are on island time and completely relaxed when hanging out for hours at your campsite with the local critters in the morning is a perfectly acceptable way to start your day.

Once we did get moving, we were going to give ourselves quite the workout. Can you tell we aren't just sit on the beach type people?  Most visitors pay for a taxi between locations on the island, but we are not most visitors and we wanted to risk it... I mean, hike it. Keep in mind that it is miles between beaches or historic sites, especially from our campsite and walking along the roads is not usually encouraged because they are some crazy ass twists, turns, ups and downs. Just say it was quite the experience! 

With the intentions of walking 3 miles along North Shore Road to visit the Annaberg Sugar Plantation, we set off.  Along the way, we got distracted by the Cinnamon Bay Factory Ruins.

And by the spectacular sight of gazing down upon Maho Bay (which is a designated Sea Turtle Nesting Beach).

And then by taking a detour to walk along the cobblestone remnants of a historic Danish Road (roads like this used to join different estates).

Once back on the main road, we walked along a section of mangroves that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Those were only some of the distractions along our way, other included exploring the ruins of the Annaberg County School, crossing the street to avoid one of the most dangerous trees in the world, the manchineel tree (google it... the Spanish have a name for it that translates into "little apple of death"), and speaking of crossing the street... it takes some getting used to. Think about it, in the US we are so used to checking both ways by going "left, right left". Funny, how such a simple habit is so hard to break!  Finally reaching the Annaberg Sugar Plantation, we strolled along the historic trail through the grounds with some sneaky mongooses as company.

The view of the British Virgin Islands from the plantation grounds was pretty spectacular as well. 

In order to utilize our attempt to see as much of St. John as we could, we decided to take a different route back to our camp and found ourselves birding along the Francis Bay Walking Trail for a while.

Attempting to find shortcuts back to Cinnamon Bay from the Francis Bay Walking Trail just led us into awkward situations since the NPS land is mingled with private ownership. Not being the ones willing to trespass on an island we are not too familiar with while on vacation, we had to back track the whole way back the way we came. Oops.

Over 10 miles later, we ended back at camp. 

The next morning was spent with me having a photo session with a stunning local couple.

The iguanas were hard to miss, but I assume my extended snapping of photos did draw more attention to them. Not really a bad thing, but I do admit my past zoo employee self came out when children (who were at first very nice and watching the animals at a distance with me) started daring each other to try chase and catch one.  My "DO NOT HARASS THE ANIMALS!" serious voice came out.  Some high and mighty mom gave me a nasty look and asked who I thought I was. Ohhh and the lecture on how this is the animals natural home and we are the visitors here began, all of which I directed to the children, not her.  After that all the kids kept asking me questions about iguanas! As I stumbled through was few things I knew about iguanas keeping the kids attention on me instead of the large lizards, the pair was able to get away safely. 

That afternoon we signed up for a Ranger led snorkel in the waters of Salomon Bay. What a cool experience! It was us, one other couple, and Ranger Alanna, who took us on a short hike to the beach and once we were all in the water would point out different fish and coral to us! Another example of how awesome the NPS Rangers and the Ranger led programs are.

If I was asked what was one of the most memorable hikes during my entire trip, I would be hard pressed to give a definitive answer but the Reef Bay Trail would certainly be a big front runner. 

I'll put some descriptor words down, but the photos will really portray why.

Beginning with our stubborn nature of insisting on not paying for a taxi, we hiked the steep and spidery Cinnamon Bay Trail up to Centerline Road were we walked for about 4 more miles to the trail head.

Over 5 miles under our belts and we haven't even technically started the real hike yet. But the next 2.2 miles would be so worth it. Walking through impressive tropical plants.

And old ruins.

To taking a side trail to check out petroglyphs carved into the rocks around the shady pools of fresh water that is fed by a natural spring.  

At the site of the petroglyphs, a sign encourages you to splash some of that fresh water onto the rocks to make the designs pop.

Some of the images will reflect perfectly in the water of the pools, causing an interesting and perhaps completely intentional mirror effect.

With such a precious fresh water source, the dragonflies were in their glory too.

Exploring past the pools, Karl found a dry waterfall... 

Now the challenge, can you find Karl in the photo?

As if all of that wasn't enough to make the hike memorable enough, consider that we haven't even reached the namesake of the trail yet, the Reef Bay Factory and Sugar Mill.

Even approaching from a distance, I knew I would enjoy snapping photos of these ruins because there was so much machinery still around making an intricate industrial contrast to the usual ruins we've been seeing being taken over by the island.

But, then you enter the dilapidated building allowing your eyes adjust to the dark dusty atmosphere, your ears pick up the sounds of soft scurrying from all directions informing you that you are not alone.  Hundreds of solider crabs, EVERYWHERE.

And of all sizes, from smaller than a ring to larger than a softball!

But wait... then you look UP!

Between the rays of sunshine bursting their way through the gaping holes in the roof, clinging to aging wooded rafters there were BATS!

Jamaican fruit bats just chilling upside down, snoozing.

Or gazing at us groggily (FYI: these guys are the only native mammal on the island! All the other mammals were brought here by us humans).

SO INCREDIBLE! We've been wanting to see bats at all the caves we visited, but we were always there at the wrong time of their migration.  And then here we are in the ruins on a islands with groups of bats to hang out with all to ourselves!

After a long while, Karl had to pull me away from the sugar mill and my solider crab and bat friends or I would have stayed there all day.

Onward through the brushy overgrowth, we headed towards the water of Genti Bay and a long stretch of beach all our own. 

For the next few hours we explored the underwater world of waving sea grasses and coral reef barriers with our snorkel gear again.  

To add another wildlife viewing surprise to the day, we even found a Lionfish! 

Each underwater area we've snorkeled at warns you of their dangers and what to do if one is sighted. But honestly, we never thought we would actually see one in the wild!

Lionfish are an invasive species and apparently, quite a pain in the ass with their 18 venomous spines, no natural predators, unending appetite (they have been known to eat 90% of the other fish species on the reef), and prolific reproductive tendencies. 

So, we took note of its location and marked an area on the beach to show where we entered the water and later that night reported the sighting to C.O.R.E.  Duty done.

Time to retrace our long route back and head to camp.  Fiddler crabs kept us entertained as we walked along the Reef Bay Trail.

Plus, back along the Cinnamon Bay Trail, there were nice views looking down at what we have been considering our backyard.

A day like that deserves a cold one, so we had a beer at the Rain Tree Cafe back at Cinnamon Bay.

Cinnamon Bay Resort & Campground had fliers posted with special events that were occurring each day of the week, one of which just happened to be asking for volunteers to join Friends of USVI with giving back to the National Park. Sounded pretty cool to us, so early in the morning we met up with the volunteer coordinator that was running this gig and 4 other guys in a van and we were off to do some trail maintenance.  With an afternoon of hard work, our small crew built 2 sections of steps and created a water run off ditch, both utilizing massive rocks and boulders. No photo evidence, but the satisfaction of a job well done and giving back to the park was enough for me!

Afterward, our crew leader agreed to drop us off at Maho Bay for the rest of the afternoon. (Remember I mentioned earlier that is beach was a sea turtle nesting site?) Well...

And I am pretty sure I actually squealed with delight through a snorkel mask while underwater because this is where we got to swim with the sea turtles for the first time! 

I could load way too many more GoPro photos of turtles, but I'll leave it at that for now and just say it was another really good day.  Celebrating that, and capitalizing on the bathroom food where someone left oil, sugar, and a bottle of corn kernels Karl made us... you guessed it: Kettle Corn! DELICIOUS!

If trail maintenance, turtles, and kettle corn doesn't make you happy, I don't know what will! 

With one full day left on St. John, we had an early start and set off up the steep Cinnamon Bay Trail again because at the top where the trail met Centerline road there was a bus stop. What better way to really get to know a local culture and see the sights than by taking the public transpiration, right?

While waiting for the bus that would take us to the opposite side of the island, Karl & I played a game we made up called "Not a Jeep".  Like the end scene of UP where Mr. Fredricksen and Russell call out the colors of cars, Karl & I each looked in different directions on the road and would count any vehicle that was NOT a jeep coming that way.  Our highest count (in a row) was 5 non-Jeeps. It was a fun and memorable way to pass the time.

Finally, our bus made an appearance and for a buck each, we were whisked off towards Salt Pond Beach and Ram Head Trail.

Our hike along the rocky beach and up onto the cliffs provided numerous details to take in and strong breezes to be cooled by.

On top of Ram Head, one had a 360 degree view of the restless ocean all around and the crashing waves below us.

Back into the water with our snorkels one last time, we swam out far into those waters and were mesmerized by large antler coral looming beneath us, swaying forests of sea fan coral, stingrays stirring up the sands, and even an octopus' garden in the shade.

Exhausted from the longest time of snorkeling without breaks that we've ever done (not to mention the earlier hike) we took the bus back to camp to relax for the night.  Rum and cokes seemed a good cheers to a week well spent. Plus, we of course had to finish our bottle of rum before leaving the island.

The past week or more felt like a whole separate escapade, removed somehow from our other travels so far. Probably because we have been traveling by boats or airplanes instead of Ele. Guess it is time to get back to her... 

Thanks for the escape USVI, I am sure we will be finding sand in everything for the rest of our trip.

Life is quite a beach for us, huh?

<3 S