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aruanI apologize, I apologize, I apologize.
So it's humid. So it can rain an awful lot, and rather randomly. So the bug-to-human ratio down here can be closer to four million to one. So there are old people on the freeways and we're not nearly as cool as the most developed part of the state ought to be.
But. We can also drive to Key Largo in an hour and a half and take a boat to go snorkeling at some of the world's most beautiful coral reefs.
For $26 plus the cost of gas, you can take I-75 to the Turnpike to the Overseas Highway and be in a place so far removed from the tacky urban vibe of SoFla that it feels like another world. You can watch the sea fans sway with the current, frolic with Sergeant Majors and smile goofily along with the Parrot Fish, and free dive down not five feet and be eye-level with a wholly unique ecosystem where color is always in and laissez-faire is the mindset.
We also have beautiful beaches. Palm trees grow in our highway medians. I never knew just how unmerciful being *truly* cold could be before I left. We have an abundance of seafood restaurants that serve every kind of fish and sea critter you can think of, and mean it when they call it fresh. It may rain, but it's usually in random, fitful spurts, and the resultant cloudscapes that accompany our afternoons and sunsets are worth getting a little damp. I love that we went on field trips where we trudged chest-deep in the Everglades and spent Grad Nite running around Disney World from midnight until six in the morning. And while we're not exactly what one would call a cultural hub, we have our own style and plenty of that tropical paradise joie de vivre. Nobody's here who doesn't want to be, but really, where is that untrue?
Today was a lovely reminder of that.
So it's humid. So it can rain an awful lot, and rather randomly. So the bug-to-human ratio down here can be closer to four million to one. So there are old people on the freeways and we're not nearly as cool as the most developed part of the state ought to be.
But. We can also drive to Key Largo in an hour and a half and take a boat to go snorkeling at some of the world's most beautiful coral reefs.
For $26 plus the cost of gas, you can take I-75 to the Turnpike to the Overseas Highway and be in a place so far removed from the tacky urban vibe of SoFla that it feels like another world. You can watch the sea fans sway with the current, frolic with Sergeant Majors and smile goofily along with the Parrot Fish, and free dive down not five feet and be eye-level with a wholly unique ecosystem where color is always in and laissez-faire is the mindset.
We also have beautiful beaches. Palm trees grow in our highway medians. I never knew just how unmerciful being *truly* cold could be before I left. We have an abundance of seafood restaurants that serve every kind of fish and sea critter you can think of, and mean it when they call it fresh. It may rain, but it's usually in random, fitful spurts, and the resultant cloudscapes that accompany our afternoons and sunsets are worth getting a little damp. I love that we went on field trips where we trudged chest-deep in the Everglades and spent Grad Nite running around Disney World from midnight until six in the morning. And while we're not exactly what one would call a cultural hub, we have our own style and plenty of that tropical paradise joie de vivre. Nobody's here who doesn't want to be, but really, where is that untrue?
Today was a lovely reminder of that.
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Date: May 28th, 2003 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 31st, 2003 08:02 pm (UTC)As far as manatees, no sightings because they're not found out in the open ocean like that, more in the intracoastal waterways and within Everglades preserves (they can swing both fresh and salt water). Definitely not coral reefs either as there is none of their food supply out there. We did see barracuda, lots of fish big and small, and pretty, pretty corals.
Oh, and the trip to Key West? Might actually end up being 3 1/2 - 4 hours after all. We'll discuss that more later. But there's stuff to do on lots of keys before and inbetween that and the mainland, which I never really thought about.