A Low Key Day in the Keys

Here's a picture of our site at John Pennekamp State Park - it is a much larger park and there are a wider mixture of ages. We're seeing some families with small children, young people in their 20's as well as people our age and older. As you can see, the campsites are closer together without the same kind of privacy that we had a Curry Hammock.

The beach is about 3/4 of a mile a way - so you have to walk or ride your bike to the water versus having it right outside the back of your campsite!

We decided this would be a good morning to make pancakes.
After breakfast, we did some laundry.

 After a lazy morning, we rode our bikes over to the Visitor Center and spent some time in the Aquarium where there was lots of information about how the Keys got formed as well as the current ecological concerns that are impacting the Keys - primarily caused by humans!

We got to hear a talk about the amount of garbage that gets into the ocean - particularly distressing is all the plastic that is floating on the ocean - some of which ends up in the mangroves that border the shores in the Keys.

After we spent time in the Visitor Center, we had a chance to walk on a Mangrove Trail. We also checked out the kayaking options and are planning to go kayaking tomorrow morning.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at one of the beaches here - you can see from the person trying to lay down her towel that it is still windy. We really enjoyed our time, though - I'm reading a really good book about Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth back in the 1570s. Love that historical fiction!