Thursday, October 11, 2018
We left home on Wednesday and own as far as St. Augustine’s for an overnight.
On Thursday, Alan drove through lots of hard rains, and some pretty slow traffic, but we got to Deerfield Beach in time for lunch and went to Whale’s Rib Restaurant – it had been featured on Diner’s Dive-ins & Dives and I wanted to give it a go. The food was good, the atmosphere very seaside, and service very good.
From there we drove to Miami and stopped at two malls in a search for a bathing suit for me. I found something that I liked and we finally got back on the road.
We made to to Key Largo before dark, and after settling in, walked to Skipper’s Dockside for dinner. Yum!
Friday, October 12, 2018
Before heading out on a cruise, we decided to stop over for a few days in Key Largo. The primary reason behind this decision was to get some scuba diving in so we could maintain our diving certifications; we had not been scuba diving since April of 2016 when we dove the Great Barrier Reef.
On Friday, we chose Rainbow Reef Dive Shop to go out with and we were not disappointed. The boat wasn’t overcrowded, the crew were attentive and thorough, and the day was great! Perfect conditions. We did two dives – the first at Woody’s Ledge, the second was an exploration dive on the French Reef with a lot of swim-throughs.
We cleaned our big gear in Rainbow Reef’s dunk tanks, then cleaned the rest of our stuff in the shower at our hotel – which sits right on the bay where our boat went out. This hotel is very diver-friendly, which made us happy. They put us in a balcony room overlooking the docks on the bay. Nice.
Lunch was at Mrs. Mack’s – one of our favorite restaurants here in the Keys – where we had alligator bites for an appetizer. After lunch we drove over to Caribbean Water Sports to make reservations for Saturday. When we got back to the hotel, we did some walking around then rested. Dinner was more seafood at Sharkey’s – a good meal, and just a quick walk from the hotel.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
This morning was an easy, carefree morning. After a healthy breakfast, we got ready and drove over to Caribbean Water Sports to go on our first ever parasailing adventure! I wasn’t very nervous, and Alan was not nervous in the least. We went out on the boat with one other couple, about our age, and had fun chatting up. They chose to go first since she was more nervous than the rest of us.
Then it was our turn. Nick, the crewman, had already gotten our rigs on us, and some life jackets, so we stepped up to the back of the boat and sat down while he snapped us onto the parachute. After a little bit the captain got the boat going faster and oh-so-slowly we were lifted, ever gently, off the back of the boat. Before we knew it, we were well up in air being pulled along behind the boat – probably about 100 feet up. It was so peaceful and beautiful, an experience we would probably enjoy doing again.
After about 12 minutes or so, we could feel the tether line being pulled back in and soon we were nearly on the boat. I stretched my toes out quickly to just barely touch the water before tucking up to land onto the boat deck. What an awesome adventure!
We got back to the hotel and walked over to Eco Eats for lunch – I had the curry chicken pita and Alan had the smoked turkey wrap, and an awesome tasting peanut butter shake.
For all the reservations I had about going on this trip, it’s gone smoothly and so wonderfully so far. Tomorrow we head to Miami to grab a cruise that will take us to Cuba, Mexico, Belize and the Bahamas. More adventures to come!