Tag Archives: road trip

The Road Trippin’ Map

I am attempting to contact local businesses and non profits in an effort to showcase their business or organization on the blog.  If anyone has any contacts that may be interested please pass on my information!  I would love to visit and volunteer with them for a day. 

I’m trying to find an app that allows you to customize a map so followers can interact and view information and photos where I will be, ect.. Google Maps will do in the mean time.  So without further adieu, I give you my Travel Map! Click on the markers to see the description where I am stopping… I will be updating the map when I know more pit stops to visit… I wonder if there as an App with a realtime map?  I’ll look into it. 

True Florida

My Introduction here.

So I plan to help break the stereotype that Florida is just the state where you’ll find theme parks, wet t-shirt contests on South Beach, unintelligent voters who cannot use touchscreen voting booths, drug addicts (zombies) and the home to every retiree  in the US. While this may partially accurate, there is far more to our state than what one is led to believe. I jump at any opportunity with the mindset “I may never have the opportunity to experience this EVER again.” Needless to say, this tends to lead me to many random and spontaneous events. What is the next trip? A solo drive down to the Florida Keys through the everglades backcountry on a road far less traveled by daily commuters to stay with someone I have not yet technically met in person who graciously offered her home in exchange for a few days of volunteering as dive master aboard a 50′ catamaran snorkel charter she works for. I have decided to showcase my travel and put a spotlight on places in Florida that most may have never knew existed.  I hope to dedicate my spare time with local non profits and explore the national parks right here in my home state. So what sparked this random decision to pick up and leave for a week by myself? Allow me to explain.

the Florida Spiny Lobster

Every summer since I was but a gleam in my father’s eye, my family has traveled down to the Florida Keys for the lobster season to harvest fresh spiny lobster and enjoy paradise as our home away from home during the summer months. We would spend our time on the water from sun up to sun down. Needless to say, I have a long history and love for the untouched Florida eco-system and especially the Florida Keys.

I have missed out the past 4 years with my family due to other somewhat unplanned, yet extremely important, endeavors; unexpected surgery, a new job, traveling Europe and most recently, a new house. I did slip down for a quick trip in 2009 with my friend, Katie, where we had the pleasure to attend Fantasy Fest. What is Fantasy Fest? It is the Mardi Gras of Key West which is held the last week of October where all the nudist of the world flock to show off their goodies through creative expression. Enjoy the following photos of our experience..

Oh, and besides for fantasy fest sightseeing, we also enjoyed the vast perfection of the Bahia State Park’s sands and waters.  This particular trip I talked Katie into go snorkeling with me. She eventually agreed, even though she is not the biggest fan of sea life. We came to find out it was moon jellyfish spawning season and as soon as we jumped in, it was like being smack dab in the middle of the Jelly Fields from Sponge Bob Square Pants. No exaggeration. They look just like them too.

At one point, Katie ended up on my back panicking from the amount and size (larger than cantaloupes) of the jellyfish that were swarming us. I now know why you may have to knock someone unconscious if you are conducting a drowning rescue. So long-story-short, Katie somehow ended up with sting welts all over her arms and legs and I didn’t have one. Sorry Katie! But still one of most memorable moments of the trip,that and the unwanted viewing of bare bottomed old men.

So back to why I’m going this week solo. Everything I am passionate about I can find in the keys. I love scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing, lobstering, kayaking, paddleboarding, hiking, wildlife, photography, ect. And 4 years away from my home away from home is far too long. While traveling Europe, the majority of travelers were surprisingly traveling solo and convinced me experience it sometime. The reasoning being you get to plan what you enjoy doing without the stress of satisfying your traveling companion’s needs and emotions. So why not give it a shot? …and also mostly because it is hard to find a travel buddy to get the middle of the week off unplanned from work. But this will not deter me from still taking the trip.

My plan? There is no set plan. For now I know I will be going this Wednesday – Monday and I will be traveling via car down 75 to US 41 (Tamiami Trail) and stop at local businesses and parks that really highlight what Florida has to offer. A couple stops I know for sure: I will be stopping at the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters and also to kayak through a 3.5 mile alligator infested mangrove trail in the heart of the Everglades National Forrest. The rest is to be determined. Then I will be joining my friend Jen in Key Largo, work with her on a snorkel charter a few days, then make my way down to Key West for a day or two and maybe help with the Special Olympics and visit with family friends. Who knows what this week will unfold. Do you have a recommendation where I should stop on the road trip? Place to eat? Oddity? Activity? Let me know! You can leave a comment at the bottom of this post 🙂 In the meantime, I will be making a map and a more detailed analysis of possible planned activities which I will post before I leave Wednesday.

My goal is to share my love and passion of my home state in hopes that it will inspire others to sometimes travel down the unbeaten path to find some of the greatest treasures this state has to offer. I always want to bring awareness to the conservation and preservation of our eco system and marine life. Florida is the only state in the continental US with living coral reefs. I hope to give back to organizations that work relentlessly everyday for this cause whose work should not be unnoticed.  Giving back to what I enjoy most is living a life worth living for.  

Here’s to new adventures, new friends and never letting an excuse keep you from enjoying what life has to offer!

Until next post,

Sarah

ps- to see past photos in the keys (including my 3 year old cute self with chubby cheeks) and other recent trips, visit my past adventures page