I went to Florida. Florida is a strange place; in some places it seems paradise with fast boats and tiki drinks. Other places it is salt scummed, rotted and run down. I suppose that’s the same everywhere, but being from the desert, the good and bad are just a very different types of clean and dirty.

We spent a few days with Graces parents. Their family dynamic is very different than mine, it’s interesting to watch, but it does make me feel like an observer more than anything. The very first day we got on jet skis went all over the bay near their house. I put on The Chats – Get This in Ya and ripped it up. If you ever have the chance, try them out again on a jet ski, it bangs.

The next few days we mostly relaxed with them before heading into Tampa to catch an Amtrak to Miami. Amtrak trains are funny because they really are half-assed. The trains go half the places you would want, in twice the time you wish, with half knowledgeable employees giving you twice the travel stress you want. I’m fine on public transport, and will certainly keep using trains, but they could(should) be better.

The next few days were go go go. From Miami to the Keys, we hit 3 national parks in 3 days. Everglades Thursday, Biscayne Friday, and Dry Tortugas Saturday. While none of the national parks we went I hit in exactly the same way I would normally, I honestly failed to really understand just how different they are. For starters almost none (~5%) of the parks are even dry land. Almost all of Everglades is under a marsh, or part of the River of Grass. And Biscayne and Dry Tortugas are both off the coast, only with a few small keys in their borders.

Everglades: We took a fan boat through the River of Grass, a huge water slough that flows at a crawl to the see. Saw several wild alligators here and also had a nature show with gators and crocs.

Biscayne: We kayaked through the mangrove coast and got to see the coast and fish.

Dry Tortugas: This park even among these strange Florida parks stood out. First of all, it is past Key West the furthest key, by several hours by boat. When we came upon the park a few tiny islands only feet wide were the first we saw, until Fort Jefferson a huge red brick fort appeared in front of us. At the fort we learned of the miserable prison like conditions that the solders experienced, until finally the fort actually became a prison. Read stories of red hot cannon balls and maggoty bread. From the top of the fort we saw big skates, tarpons hunting, and my favorite guy’s barracuda. Shortly we went past the moat and snorkeled around the entire island swimming with tropical fish, catching a sight of cuddle fish and only jumping out in panic once it was clear the jellyfish numbers were just going to grow.

Like most national parks, I could have done with several days more at each but exploring the new world was alien and new.

Florida may certainly not be for me but to visit the Jimmy-Buffet-Disney-Retirement-World will never fail to be interesting