A Day at the Capes

Posted on June 13, 2019 by TheJessicaness

It’s still raining when we reach North Carolina, but the coastline lacks the crying clouds, so we’re able to spend the day exploring two capes — places we lived close to for years while stationed in Norfolk, but somehow hadn’t found the time to visit. Cape Lookout National Seashore has locally inspired art from the surrounding schools — elementary, middle, and high school — in the visitor center. Outside, the Canadian geese are on holiday, soaking up the sun undisturbed.

There are two short trails, just over a mile combined, where we see a dozen wharf roaches (that are edible but bitter), a crab and his alien sibling (like a squash spider had sex with a miniature squid), a Common Buckeye butterfly (a symbol of good luck in many cultures), a female Eastern pondhawk dragonfly (known for their voracious hunting of mosquitoes), and a venomous red caterpillar. The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center is closed for renovation.

There are a series of ferries with a drive in between, on the mainland, or someone wishing to visit Cape Hatteras next can take the long drive around. We had time and didn’t have to worry about the reservations required option, so we took the drier route. The beach is beautiful and totally worth a visit, but I would suggest the state stop letting people drive onto the beach, as it deters more wildlife from living there. We stay until dark, and then set up camp.

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East Coast of Florida

Posted on June 12, 2019 by TheJessicaness

We awake near Lake Okeechobee and drive to Haulover Canal to gaze at the manatees and dream of one day getting the chance to dive with them and linger until someone else shows up and breaks the silence. The canal got its name from Native Americans, explorers, and settlers who hauled their small boats and canoes over the narrow strip of land between Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River. The first canal was dug in 1852 for steamboats and cargo ships until the railroad arrived in 1885.

A new and deeper canal was dug and has been maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers since 1927, who added to the dimensions and included a basin for launching boats. We stop in St. Augustine for lunch, and would have done some shopping had it not been for the rain; not the typical three-minute afternoon delight, but a downpour that would follow us north through Georgia and part of South Carolina.

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Da Keys

Posted on June 11, 2019 by TheJessicaness

We planned this detour of our route from San Diego to Norfolk to get in some diving with our new gear. We took Nitrox tanks out with Lost Reef Adventures to the Cayman Salvage Master and Joe’s Tug, where we saw a shark. Having reached depths of 91 and 66 feet, we weren’t under the water more than 38 minutes on the second morning dive (which is why I want to be on a liveaboard and spend the majority of my time diving, snorkeling, and eating).

We return to the dock to pick up the afternoon divers and visit Sand Key and Western Dry Rocks with our dive buddy, Sarah, because no one should dive alone. We got to spend plenty of time on the bottom and also saw a shark, but not before I started to panic. I was having trouble equalizing the pressure in my ear on our descent, and I’m usually the slow one, but it was starting to hurt. I felt so bad for holding up Sarah, as Caleb already knows what he’s gotten himself into.

One of the staff told me it was ok and I could use the anchor line to go down hand-over-hand, which is exactly what I did, fighting the pressure until about fifteen feet when my ear finally relaxed. This might have been a sinus issue, but I had no other problems, or I would have had to forfeit my dive. The next day, we’re back at it and visit Haystacks and Cannonball Cut. Caleb’s regulator o-ring breaks before the first dive, and he has to use company gear. I’d rather use someone else’s mouthpiece than have trouble equalizing. Caleb took this as a sign to be more prepared next time, which is always good advice.

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Everglades to Key West

Posted on June 9, 2019 by TheJessicaness

We awoke in Murder Bottom, aka The Everglades, and hurried down to Key Largo. We always look forward to cruising on the “Highway that Goes to Sea”, the 113-mile stretch of the US Route 1 that connects the Keys with 42 bridges. We visit John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. We go out with Scuba Fun to Molasses Reef in the afternoon and see a shark. Then we dive Wellwood and see eels, rays, a crab, a shark, a lobster, and barracuda. We arrive in Key West after dark.

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Pensacola to the Everglades

Posted on June 8, 2019 by TheJessicaness

In the darkness of last night, we had missed the Gulf Islands National Seashore, which is still available to civilian visitors (minus closures for wildlife protection, restricted access around facilities and docks, and occasional closures for management). Fort Barrancas and the Advanced Redoubt are not available outside working hours, but we weren’t going to wait around, so we explored what we could — the Trench Trail, the Woodland Trail, and Fort Walk. This is roughly a mile and a half to cover the boundary of this park.

The Advanced Redoubt was built between 1845 (with enslaved workers) and 1870 (by free citizens) to protect the Pensacola Navy Yard from land-based attack, and the fort guarded the harbor entrance. They were able to stop a Confederate attack during the Civil War. Depending on whose side you’re on, I either tried to stomp a cactus to death or its spawn viciously attacked me and attempted to put my sandal in my foot. Either way, I pulled the tiny weapon out without impaling the skin under my fingernails, and we made our escape.

We drove over 650 miles, which wasn’t the plan, but when we arrived at a closed state park, it kept us driving later, again. This is the cost of adventure, but it put us in a situation we said we wouldn’t dare do again — the mosquitoes of the Everglades. We each grabbed a can of DEET, and I had a citronella candle that saw a bunch of the bloody bugs burn in the flame as we set up the tent. I learned that Google has an offline Dinosaur Game you can play that reminds me of Mario, but it’s a T. rex, and the screen switches between night and day in the desert.

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