I'll try just about anything once!
We often don't realize what we're missing until it's gone. Or until we discover it! Me and Jess's first trip to Florida together/ my first time ever.
Our Visit to the Turtle Hospital
Dolphin Research Center
Big Florida Adventure!
Sunday, November 19th, 2023
Terry: So we were visiting my in-laws for Thanksgiving, and since this was going to be my first flight, a couple of days leading up to our flight to Florida I start researching what is and isn't allowed on the plane. I realize there is a lot of restrictions. Understandable. We all remember 9/11 among other situations. I continue researching and my wife and I realize we might as well pack carry on only. So we plan it and make it happen. As we get to the day before our flight departs, our ride to the airport tells us they didn't realize they had to work. So we scrambled to find a ride. I start going through the rolodex in my head. I think of a couple people and contact them. One person says not available, the other person is my cousin, who I haven't seen in awhile. Doesn't get back to me right away.
I start looking up Park n’ Ride places near the airport, and go through the Lyft stuff. Order a ride, and then two or so hours later my cousin calls me back saying he's game. So I cancel the Lyft ride (thankfully); although cheaper than airport parking by a lot, it’s still expensive. Cousin shows up and we hang out.
Jess: We’d had this trip planned for literally months now– my mom talked about getting us tickets to see them for Thanksgiving maybe a week or two after the wedding– and what does my body go and do? Get sick for all the month of November. Some kind of cold or flu got a hold of me after Terry was done working sound for a musical up in Alma, and I blame one of the cast members that was sick. And when I get sick, it likes to DRAG OUT for as long as it can. Needless to say, I had spent the last two weeks on the couch, barely able to see, fighting a fever for three or four days. I almost canceled the trip altogether, but after talking things over with Dr. Mom (my mom’s a retired surgeon), we decided the symptoms I still had were manageable (I was down to some congestion and a cough, and it had been long enough since the start of it that I wouldn’t be contagious anymore). My friend made me panic for a second when he admitted he hadn’t thought about having to work the day we were leaving, but at least he could still watch our cat Spike. After some scrambling, we got Terry’s cousin to come out as our ride. I had never met this guy before in my life, but Terry trusted him, and he’s family now, so . . . that’s how I got to meet my new cousin Blade.
Monday, November 20th
Terry: The next day we get up and head towards the airport. Upon arriving at the airport, the sprawling expanse of people and commotion is overwhelming. With time to spare (thankfully), we find ourselves in the exploration mindset. We look at the information board and see a coffee shop (not Starbucks!). We go to get coffee. Of course, airport prices; $5 for a 12 oz americano! Common Grace’s coffee is on the fruity side, but still good.
After boarding the plane we have an uneventful trip (in this case that's good) landing in Nashville Tennessee, where we traveled around the airport checking things out. We realize the prices are even crazier here then back in Michigan! So we chose to wait for snacks. Although I offer a recommendation of bringing protein bars or something with you. I got a coffee at 8&R coffee Co., next to the D gates, where the coffee is fruitier, although not overpowering.
The connecting flight to Florida definitely seemed worse, not sure if it was the weather, or what was the issue. But we sat next to a gentleman and talked the whole flight.
Upon arriving at the Florida airport, we walked through the door, and bam! The trip back to the house was uneventful. We started in Michigan with frost on the pumpkin, and ended in Florida, where we walked out of the airport and into a furnace.
We slept alright. I was excited to see what The Keys and Florida have to offer. I heard there are a lot of coffee shops around. The canal where we are staying is right outside the door. It looked like a cool place. We made it there at night, so I wasn't able to see what things looked like.
Jess: Blade is a colorful character, and same goes for his driving and his car. The fact that this Michigan junker has held together for this long, let alone for this trip, is a miracle of God himself. Terry was amazed that I could hold a conversation with Blade at all; he couldn’t hear him, so I had to translate for him every once in a while. I will never play side-seat driver for my hubby ever again after this; I was doing the same thing I did when I was being driven around Bali, and touching a part of the car in the back seat, saying a little prayer over the vehicle and everyone in it. But you know what? We got there safely, and that’s what matters. Right? Right.
I had decided I would wear a mask in the airports and on the planes because of my cough, not because I thought it would protect against disease itself, but out of politeness to all the strangers that might otherwise get a face full of my spit by accident. Once we found our gate, we found a little coffee shop, Common Grace. The original plan was for me to just get something water based because of my phlegm (and it’s cheaper), but when I saw a honey lavender matcha, I thought hey, what’s $6 when you’re on vacation, and novelty, and all three of those ingredients are good for you when you’re sick! It reminded me of honey bunches of oats; I think that was the matcha and the honey.
I’m an experienced traveler, but for Terry, this was his first flight. He tried using me as a guide of what to do, but to be honest? This was the first time I had ever gone without checking a bag, and it was kind of throwing me off my game, but we got there. Once on the plane, we found out Southwest does not give you assigned seats. . . hence, seeing “position” instead of “seat” on your boarding pass. Again, this was my husband’s first flight. I wanted to see his reaction, if not record it. But, no. We couldn’t find a single two seats strung together. So in a huff, I point to a window seat, tell Terry to sit there, then I take a seat in the row behind him in the aisle. Terry spent the flight trying to show me things he wanted to say to me via text on his phone, making funny faces at me, and talking to the people in his row. Me? I just tried to calm myself down by reading my book.
Once in Nashville, we found the airport was absolutely mall-like, and a fruit and yogurt parfait for $10 sealed the decision to stick to our power bars and Terry’s Body Armour + Caffeine for the time being. I was just thankful they had a couple exit doors open in the main lobby where we ate; the fresh air was welcome after having a mask on for hours in closed quarters.
I also ended up being thankful I was smart enough to wear a tank top and a sweater up top so I could strip somewhat by the time we stepped out of the Florida airport. My folks were kind enough to offer to take us out to a nice Cuban restaurant for dinner so we could have some real food, but by then the air travel had taken so much out of us, we were barely there. My sinuses were shot from the varying altitudes too, making my cough worse.
Terry caught his second wind by the time we started on our way to my parent’s house, and proceeded to carry the conversation for the 2 ½ hr drive. Mom and Dad had already been on the road for hours from visiting some friends “Up North” (some Michigan phrases die hard!); we were all tired, and glad to get home. Mom, still playing doctor, gave me some cold medicine, an immune system supplement, and a z-pack she had spare, told me to take the first two of the latter right then, and it was off to bed.
Tuesday, November 21st
Terry: As we head towards the grocery store the place pretty much looks like any other place. Publix, and Winn Dixie being the grocery stores of note here. As we drove down the main road through town, Mom mentioned Hurricane Irma in 2017 tore the town up. Looks good now after 6 years.
On the way back, we stopped at Curly’s Coffee. Great place! The guy knows what he’s talking about. He knows how to make coffee, and knows a lot about it. Talked with him at length and then got my Americano. As I sipped, I fell in love: The coffee was earthy, not too over roasted, and the espresso was well made.
Jess: Mom had to pick up some things for Thanksgiving, and since me and Terry had literally made zero plans for this trip, and Terry had never been out of state in his life except for a few years in Chicago, we decided to tag along and get a few things as well. I was surprised to see feral (stray?) chickens in the Publix parking lot; last I knew, those were only in Key West. Mom said their population had really spread lately. Terry used to have chickens, and likes to crow like a rooster and cluck like a chicken anyway, so he had a lot of fun talking to these guys.
Wednesday, November 22nd
Terry: We went to The Turtle Hospital and toured the facility and learned about turtles. I took tons of photos!
Jess: This was the one thing I didn’t do the last time I came down to visit my folks, so glad we could make it out! Apparently they get a lot more crowded on rainy cold days, so if the beach isn’t really your thing, check out the Turtle Hospital in Key Colony! They rehabilitate sea turtles that have tumors and have eaten the wrong stuff, and release them back into the wild. You can also get a sticker for your boat, so if you happen to find a sea turtle in need, you can give them a call, and you get to name the turtle!
Thanksgiving!
Terry: We got to meet a bunch of family friends for Thanksgiving. Not sure what to expect, I was thrilled to find out that we all got along. The friends were super chill and we had a great time.
Jess: It was originally just going to be the four of us, but then my dad being the social butterfly that he is just kept inviting more and more people lol! We ended up sitting at the kids table with a couple from Colorado. The husband is one of those guys that’s built like a tree, and absolutely dwarfed that card table. I feel like I haven’t had a big holiday feast proper in forever– my family’s been doing sandwiches– so this was nice. When dinner was over, Mom introduced us to the game Left Right Center, and we played with some of their friends.
Friday, November 24th
Terry: We then head fishing. We get to the spot and bam! Get some fish. My first catch of Yellow Jack. My dad-in-law caught a bunch of fish, and so did my wife who caught a yellow tail. Mom-in-law caught her own fishes as well. Then the weather changed and we got rained on, and the fish just stopped biting. So head in and get cleaned up. Probably go out again later in the week.
Jess: Dad’s friend Danny used to fish in competitions and run with a charter, and he went out with us fishing in Dad’s boat. I remember Terry being the only one to catch a fish. Danny pointed out the school of bigger fish by the boat were chubs. They’re like the size of bass, and you put a rock that smells like fish over the side of the boat so they’ll go for that instead of your bait. Danny said they’re not very good eating, but I had fun watching them while the boys fished. And we saw some purple jellyfish! We were using Pilchards as bait, and sometimes a few would fall on the floor of the boat and I got to set them free! I never knew a little thing like that could make a sound so big as they gasped for air on the boat.
Saturday, November 25th
Terry: Saturday rolls around, and we got an amazing opportunity to roll out and deep sea fish again. This time with a professional charter, Main Attraction!
We headed 24 miles out hunting for Queen Snappers. Several passes lead to them not being hungry, so we floor it and head to try and get some tuna.
Queens are bottom fish, so we go to the deep reefs and let the line go 700+ ft deep with an 8lb weight to take it to the bottom. They use electric rods to reel because that would be insane to try and reel by hand. Tuna is a fun fish! After making several passes, we caught one tuna, and a shark. Then we went for Queens again. The Queen Snappers turned out to be the best fish of the day! We caught 7-8 of them. I also caught a Yellow Eye Snapper. Interesting catches.
Tuna for dinner. Imagine that! Out of a can, I don't even like the smell. Fresh, I don't hate, still not my favorite, but it was decent.
Later, after bedtime, I experienced this really annoying thing that happened. First walking on land after being in the water all day is dizzying. 2nd, personally, I'm not fond of big wide open water. So going out to sea and not being freaked was awesome. This issue is after going to bed. I usually wake up during the night, and am able to fall back asleep. This time, however, I wake up, and my mind races. Mainly, about the water. Here is the sense of dread. I'm replaying the fun adventures of the day, only to not be able to stop. In that state, I realize I'm kinda freaked. Unfortunately, there is little to do about this. I even opened my eyes and looked around to see I'm in a room. So weird. Still, the fish tasted good.
Jess: So one of my dad’s friends runs with a charter in town, and they were going on their practice run for a big fishing competition the following weekend. And for whatever reason, my dad’s friend decided to be awesome and invite us along! We even got some merch to help advertise for them. I quickly remembered I do not do well on boats for long periods of time– some of us just never get our sea legs! But I sucked it up and ended up being camera girl most of the time. Terry made me reel in a fish, and I felt really bad for it. The poor thing, flopping around, gasping for air. . . and then we take a picture with it. . . but they were tasty!
I don’t remember who, but someone caught a baby shark, so of course I had to sing “Baby Shark” as it flopped around on the deck of the boat, because why would you not?
My other favorite part was watching the pelicans gather around the dock as the guys were fileting the fish. I didn’t know this bird is a protected species (seems to be a lot of protected species in The Keys). The guys will throw the scraps into the water for them, so it’s kind of a win-win for the fishermen and the pelicans– the birds get free snacks, and the guys get help with the clean up! We also saw a stone crab and a manatee under the dock!
Sunday, November 26th
Terry: After finally getting some sleep, we have a lax day. Jess and I go explore the town.
Jess: I think we all needed a day of recovery after being on a boat for the better part of a day, so Sunday ended up truly being a day of rest. My folks offered to let us borrow one of their vehicles, so we took a trip into town, mostly walking down the beach at Sombrero Beach in Key Colony. Terry live streamed it on Tik Tok. We found the teensiest hermit crab you ever saw!!!! It was about the size of a red ant!!!
Monday, November 27th
Terry: Monday rolls around and we head to the Dolphin Research Center. That was super cool. Jess and I headed to Crane Point Hammock. That was beautiful. And for dinner, we had the Yellow Eye Snapper and Mackerel. Mackerel tastes like Pike, but Yellow Eye is good.
Jess: Terry decided to live stream on Tik Tok at the Dolphin Research Center as well, and he had a blast playing peek-a-boo with one of their baby dolphins for a solid 20min! The baby would swim up to the bank, duck its head under water, and peek back up again, and Terry would go, “Peek-a-boo!” and it would duck under water again. Sometimes Terry would hide his face behind a pole and go “Peek-a-boo!” This is one of those places that’s super chill, and you could easily spend an entire day just sitting on one of the benches and talking to the dolphins, but they have presentations throughout the day as well.
Tuesday, November 28th
Terry: Tuesday rolls around, and we decide to go fishing again. This time is with my father-in-law and his friend, Danny. We head out to the big wide open ocean (Atlantic) and we head to some spots. The first way point (gps location mark) is to catch Ballyhoo. The idea is to use them to catch Yellow Tails. We then moved to another two spots casting out for them. With some success we got 9 keeper Yellow Tails. 2nd location I also caught a bunch of Bonitos. We then decided to go fish for a Black Grouper. This fish is huge and difficult to catch. After a while and moving spots several times we manage to lose 4, as they are bottom dwellers and often snag line in the rocks. My father-in-law finally got a fish on (not sure what one) and as he was fighting it, an 8ft shark came by and ate it. This allowed Dad to fight the shark for a while. Then Dad just cut the line. Anyways, we had a pretty good time. The day concluded and we cleaned up and got packed for the trip home.
Jess: By this point, Terry had fully caught the fishing bug, and Dad and Terry and Danny go out on the water again. Me and mom are just about done with boats at this point, so we just chill at home, and do a little shopping. When we came back, we decided to read our books out back, while the dogs tore apart one of their squeaky toys. Mom taught me that there is a little pipe inside the squeaker, and this is the thing about the toy that squeaks. She taught me that by putting the little pipe in her mouth and squeaking it for the dogs. Their youngest was absolutely dazzled by Mom and her ability to sound like a squeaky toy. Kept us busy for hours.
Wednesday, November 29th
Terry: Wednesday is here! The day Jess and I head to the airport to head back to Michigan. Through traffic and 3 hours of driving we get to the airport. Moving ourselves towards Michigan, our aircraft makes a stop at Midway. Then we have a 30 min flight to Detroit.
This whole trip has been eye opening and amazing. I have learned a lot about sea fishing and things of that nature. I have caught tons of different fish, and met some cool people. I’m very thankful for the opportunities this trip allowed.
I thank you for reading and hope you join us for our next adventure as well!
Jess: I think by now both of us were just done with air travel, especially since we had to run from one gate to another as soon as we landed in Chicago. Dad traveled with us so he could visit family back home, and he rented a car for the three of us once we landed in Detroit.
I’m just so happy that I could introduce my husband to The Keys, and now, at least a little bit, all of you as well! Me and Terry would love to take another trip down there sometime. . . just. . . maybe we’ll try a train or driving next time instead!