Meeting Friends in Miami

The day after Christmas it was time to hit the road again. Key West is amazing, but we were meeting friends in Miami. So we drove all the way back up the Keys 138 miles to Larry & Penny State Park. I had a pretty hard time figuring out where to stay while we were in Miami. It's a huge city and there aren't many (non-ghetto) options. If you are ever in the area, the state park is for sure the way to go.

There was some pretty serious weather happening around this time - not where we were - but Porter's friend and his mom ended up getting stuck in Texas. They had been scheduled to arrive on the 27th, but didn't get in until the evening of the 28th. Yuck. Seriously, what is it with air travel these days?!

Porter was beyond excited to spend time with Tristan though, so I drove him into downtown and he stayed the night with them. The next morning they all went deep sea fishing and had a blast, although we did find out that Porter gets sea-sick (not a blast).

Porter and the fishing charter guy with P's fish

After they were done fishing, Hudson and me met up with them at the Everglades Holiday Park. Honestly, I couldn't believe how busy it was! I guess we were there during "Christmas Break" time of year, but wow.

I make this look good

We went on a jet boat ride through the Everglades and saw lots of fun things.

This cute little guy swam RIGHT NEXT to the boat

Another picture?

Why does Porter look so OLD?

The next day we headed back down the Keys. I love them, but holy traffic! It took us double the GPS estimate. Apparently everyone had the same idea as us :) We stopped over at Robbie's Tarpon Feeding. I don't know about you, but I'd never heard of a "tarpon". It's a really, really big fish. For a couple of dollars you get a bucket full of fish parts and you can stand on the dock and feed them. It was really fun, those fish are super serious about getting fed!

After feeding the fish, we decided to have a quick bite to eat at too. The Hungry Tarpon is an outdoor restaurant that overlooks the water and is part of where the fish feeding is. We sat down and had a drink but ended up having to get our food to go.

The entire reason we had come down was to hit up Seamonkeys Watersports in Islamorada. Porter had wanted to go snorkeling for his birthday, but we decided to wait until he could go with Tristan.

So ready

The water was CRAZY choppy that day. We went a few miles out to where there is a reef and there was 3-4 foot waves. Let me just preface all this by telling you that have a pretty good fear of the water. I can swim, but there's always a small amount of panic happening if I can't touch the ground.

When we first got in the water? I pretty much knew that I was going to die. Seriously. I made the guide hold my hand for a good 15 minutes before I could get myself in check.

But after I did? Wow. Just, wow.

One of the pics Porter got with his GoPro

Even with a near panic attack? It was so, so worth it. And to watch Hudson, who has a good bit of my wariness for the water, snorkel around and enjoy it? Amazing. 

That night Porter stayed over at the hotel again, and the rest of us just relaxed.

So tired you guys

On the 31st it was time for us to start traveling again. I wanted to see the Southbeach Boardwalk so I arranged to pick up Porter there. It was pretty, but packed.

Not that you can tell from this picture

Goodbyes are the worst

Porter was super bummed to have to say goodbye, but was so very happy for the time with his friend.