Charlotte, North Carolina

July 7th, 2010
On the morning of July 7, I awoke in Jackie and Mark’s really beautiful home in Charlotte, North Carolina. I lolled in the comfortable guest bed they had set me up in and tried to relax after the demanding drive the day before. Jackie and Mark were both up early and left for their respective jobs while I still stretched and took inventory of what my new life held for me. I took their suddenly sweet, well trained miniature dachshund, Simon, for a walk around the neighborhood just before midday. Although this seemed like a good idea to me at the onset, Simon made it quite clear within 4 steps out the door that he did not agree. The 97º F base temperature plus the extreme humidity gave us a heat index of about 105º F that stood like a wall of invisible concrete just outside the door. After an abbreviated walk, during which Simon continued to look at me with baffled looks concerning my Homo sapien stupidity for leaving a well air-conditioned building, we hurried inside for refreshment, both panting.

Not long after, I vowed to get out of the house on my own and explore the town of Charlotte, NC because I knew I didn’t have long in the area. Knowing the extreme heat that awaited me, I thought that perhaps taking a leisurely biking tour of the city, with the wind in my face, would be more comfortable than a sweaty walking tour. I loaded up my bike once more on the back of my Corolla and followed the GPS directions to the center of town. I was shocked to see that there were brilliantly tall, modern skyscrapers nicely clustered around the center of the town, a convenient beltway around the city epicenter, and great parking and bike lanes everywhere. Wow! This is what a properly planned urban center was supposed to look like; compact (without too much suburban sprawl) and conveniently centralized (which makes it pretty nice for all forms of transportation) with beautiful landscaping and even space for urban trees. I had seen it throughout my schooling on paper, but never in practice. It felt like a tiny, bustling, state-of-the-art utopia. According to Jackie, Charlotte is one of the only cities which is still experiencing a financial upswing even during the economic downtimes of the rest of the country. Construction, scaffolding, and design plans can be seen all over the city. Charlotte was recently awarded the title of the 2nd largest financial center in the US (just after New York City). Did you know that? I certainly had no idea! Banking institutions such as Wachovia (a Wells Fargo subsidiary) and Bank of America have established their headquarters in Charlotte and are prominent developers of and investors in the downtown area. This explains why I was seeing an overwhelming number of what I considered moronically suited, uptight people walking around in sweaters (obviously for their overly cooled office buildings) during a heat index of 105º F!! It all makes sense now.

Side note of interest: According to the World Economic Forum’s ranking of the top 10 global financial centers for 2009, the US ranked 3rd and Switzerland is all the way down at 7th. I’m shocked!
I parked at a pay-meter along the street near the intersection of Trade St. and Tryon St. (the slightly elevated epicenter of the city, which surprisingly also had bike lanes). Again, I was delightfully shocked to find that it wasn’t necessary to find a frighteningly dark parking garage in a booming city like this. Just in front of the centrally located Bank of America high-rise building, I was met by a mid-day farmer’s market where I bought fresh cantaloupe and blackberries to thank Mark and Jackie for having me.
Then, with fruit in tow, I continued to ride my bike around the center of town and found some cute strips of boutiques, barber shops, travel agencies, some surprising multicultural food (Indian and Jamaican), and pubs where the World Cup was in full swing.
Still on island time, I soon realized that the city was not my speed, so I reloaded my bike and drove to another, more calm part of Charlotte, called Midwood (read about this in Design Sponge City Guide). Midwood is a very chill, laid back, somewhat hippie part of the city with a small section of the main road dedicated to stores such as:

1. Pura Vida - a great world market with fair trade goods. They are moving locations soon, so check them out soon. There, I got a new set of prayer flags for Mom since her squirrels keep taking them for nesting (this is an entirely different and totally hilarious story!).
2. The High Life Store
3. Used book store (never found a name, but I picked up some great kid books for my new nephew in spanish and my soon to be favorite travel book - a 1980s road trip guide by Readers Digest)
4. Reggae music store
5. Jamaican food

and my favorite:
6. Late Night Pawn - a sketchy narrow backdoor with a neon sign boasting the name
above the locked door.

Later, when I mentioned to her that I had gone to Midwood, Jackie also suggested I check out one of the favorite local food joints there called Penguins on my next visit. Jackie and I took Simon for a late afternoon walk at a local park, where Jackie showed me that there was still some hidden treasures of natural areas even inside the developing area.
That night, Jackie, Mark and I went to dinner at a really classy irish pub/restaurant called the Dandelion Market. The restaurant served irish food in tapas form with a really great selection of draft beers. It was not at all what I expected from an irish pub, but completely awesome and delicious! We had the:

1. Fried sage leaves (what? These tasted great and were a great conversation piece, but normally no one wants to eat a whole plate of leaves)
2. Fried pickles (YUM!)
3. Aged cheddar and ale fondue
4. Ale simmered sausage bites with hot sweet mustard (that mustard really had a bite!)
5. Steamed mussels
6. Baby back ribs
7. Grilled lamb lollipops (really good...and I love that they added a new dimension of cute to eating lamb by calling them lollipops!)

Then we had an after dinner drink at the EpiCenter (a very posh, upper deck lounge and club with an outdoor movie theater which is most certainly hopping on the weekends). We were all pretty exhausted, so we cut the night a bit short and headed home for some rest. I was thankful for the shut-eye before the long drive that awaited me again the next day. (Thanks again Mark and Jackie!)
All in all, Charlotte, NC is a really great city. Give it a few years to age out of its slightly arrogant, crazy sophomore party years (I’m exaggerating a little here), gain a little culture, and get a little more settled, and it’ll be a perfect town to put roots down in.

Roadtrip Updates from Nashville, TN

Hello all,

The road trip has almost come to an end. By Sunday, I'll be back in Philadelphia. My awesome brother, Erik, met me in New Orleans on Thursday night and we're driving the last leg together, which is fantastic! We had a great time checking out Bourbon Street on Thursday night and then drove a long long day to Nashville on Friday. We barely made it to Nashville in time to check out a little music cafe that had been highly recommended to me by a couple of folks from Tennessee that I met while viewing prairie dogs in the Badlands of South Dakota. And of course, I took their advice. We were not led astray!! I will need to write out the entire story soon, but let's just say, we heard performances from some of the singer-songwriters that are behind the lyrics of the country songs Erik and I grew up with. AMAZING!

Yesterday morning in Mandeville, LA we saw the largest live oak in the United States...39 feet in circumference...wow!! Then we saw a few awesome trees by twilight in Alabama last night and today we'll be checking out the national champion Atlantic White Cedar in Ohio!! Trees all over the US are feeling loved...lots of hugs have been given.


Toast to the morning with coffee that Erik and I made up:

To the parties in New Orleans
To the Nashville music scene
May we smile some more today
Cuz here we come PA

As I mentioned before, coordinating tree visits, driving long distances, seeing amazing parts of the United States and camping without internet connections make keeping up with the blog very very challenging and I have obviously not been doing well with that. But I figure, I'd rather give you the whole story of the trip in quality rather than quantity, so I will be catching up on the blog steadily once my feet are off the floorboards of trusty ol' Florida (Rudy and I named the Toyota Corolla).

Much Love,
Kristina

Lessons from a Bike Ride through the Florida Keys

The bike ride through the Florida keys is complete and it was so much more than I ever expected. Here are a couple of suggestions to remember if you want to do something similar and for me to remind myself when I do this again in the future (because I certainly want to!):

1. there is a public bus system available from Florida City to Marathon Key (Miami Dade Transit/Monroe Express) and there is another shuttle available from Marathon Key to Key West (Lower Keys Shuttle). So if you need a bus ride for a portion or to retrieve a car on the return, this option is great. It would certainly have been cheaper than renting a car as we did.
2. Marathon Key and Islamorada have a lot to offer as towns. In between roughing it at the state parks, sweating it out on the bike, and swatting mosquitoes, take some time to enjoy the tiki bars, local artisans, and museums along the route as well. It's a real taste of the Keys. Plus, after all that riding and sweating, you deserve a frosty beer...and it tastes so much sweeter!

Here's a map of the things I saw along the way...amazing! Great stops!


View Florida Keys Bike in a larger map

And here are a few things I learned along the way:

1. If you look like a hobo, no one will bother you.
2. Places that look really interesting from a car at 55mph may or may not look as good at 10mph
3. When the condition of the bike lane begins to rattle the bolts off your bike, give up and ride on the road.
4. Release your inner child. The excitement, the curiosity, the wonder.
5. Bandannas double as towels in a pinch (again, hobos really know what they're doing)
6. I could be like MacGyver given unlimited time. Necessity really does breed creativity.
   
7. Chain your bike up everywhere! The 10 pound Mr. T chain scares most people away and it adds to the hobo look.
8. Marathon Key marks the beginning of the international island time zone. Time to start hitting the tiki bars. Enjoy!
   
9. It's nice to have a weight and space restriction, it keeps you from buying random island art and coconuts carved into monkey faces.
10. Saying goodbye is hard, but leaving is not the end. You can see friends and family even from afar if you try. Only death is final, not goodbye. Miss the ones who have passed, visit the rest.
11. Things will go wrong on an adventure. They're supposed to, otherwise it wouldn't be an adventure. Relax.
    

And remember, when you're leaving Key West and driving, slightly hungover, north through the Florida Keys, stop at Baby's Coffee for a little boost. You won't regret it.

Key West, Florida

Friday morning we woke up early...well, George woke up early and went riding around the park, and I woke up when I woke up (I'm still not a morning person). We packed up, parked his car in the marina parking lot, and headed south. The bike paths from here to big pine were lovely. There were many beautiful fishing bridges and lots of great bike paths. As we were entering Big Pine Key, we began to notice that we were on elevated bike paths. This is because the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key harbors a small population of endangered deer called Key Deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium). They are a subspecies of the common Virginia white tail deer that has become miniaturized due to harsh environmental conditions on the island. The subspecies population in the Florida Keys is estimated to be between 600 and 750 individuals. The highway is elevated along a short stretch of Big Pine Key to allow the deer and other species to move freely in their habitat. Apparently, there are 17 federally listed threatened or endangered species that are protected by the National Key Deer Refuge!
As we rode into Big Pine Key we saw two very tiny key deer fawns curiously eating below us. Like white-tail deer up north, these fawns had small white spots, however they were probably only about 2.5 feet tall. So cute! We later saw two adult key deer that were quite a bit bigger. We learned that the locals and tourists feed the deer and as a result the species is becoming larger. Hmmm...does that mean that someday the population will be considered white-tail deer again rather than a subspecies?

Around 10am, once we had arrived on Big Pine Key, we rode north to find a place that had been recommended to me called “No Name Pub.” Along the ride we rode through beautiful, sparsely developed hardwood hammock habitat where key deer thrive. In northern Big Pine we found the pub, but it wouldn’t open for another hour, so we decided to head on. On the ride back to Route 1, we found the National Key Deer Refuge headquarters and some breakfast at Coco’s Kitchen. While we ate, an ominous thunderstorm rolled in and started to pour. In an optimistic streak, we headed out of the cafe during a lull in the storm and started to ride west again. Within less than a block we were rained out and sought shelter under the awning of a CVS pharmacy. Unlike typical Florida storms that last for 20 minutes, this storm was persistent and we were stranded for about an hour. Under the awning we met several locals who were unemployed due to the economy and down on hard times. Sadly, this area was hit very hard by the recession and business is slow to come back, causing high homelessness among the locals.
Once we got back on the road and started splashing through the foot deep puddles, we were ready for some refreshing beverages. Looe Key Tiki Bar was our first find after Big Pine Key. This stop is located just after Torch Ramrod Channel, my favorite named channel on the ride. For future reference, the Looe Key Resort has a great tiki bar, hotel, restuarant, and a pool for use. Apparently, so of the best snorkeling in the entire continental USA is right at Looe Key. Also, bar patrons can use the refreshing looking pool, which would be perfect during a hot and sweaty bike ride. Mangrove Mama’s, a delicious homey local restaurant in Sugarloaf Key was our second stop where we had fruity cocktails served in mason jars. From there, we hit each interesting looking restaurant, tiki bar, or dive bar along the route. If you are ever considering this ride, a little pub crawl bike-ride into Key West is for certain the best way to enter. It is like a small ceremonial parade welcoming you into a city known for its relaxed, island spirit. We spoke to the locals at each stop and got some great suggestions for local stops. The lovely bartender at Mangrove Mama’s asked us if we’d seen the bat tower as if it was a world renowned monument. She actually said "you haven't seen Key West until you've seen the bat tower." Of course, we hadn’t, but our curiosity got the best of us and we inquired about its history. Supposedly, the bat tower had been constructed in the early 1900s in an attempt to use bats as a biological control for the abundant mosquitoes in the lagoons. Unfortunately, the project failed miserably, and the bat population flew away, leaving the mosquitoes to flourish. We felt a responsibility to check out the flopped project and found it to be a random historical novelty.

Our trail also took us to Bobalu’s Southern Cafe and Hurricane Joe’s Bar and Seafood Grill. By this time, we had ridden about 45 miles and had about 5 more miles to get to the rental car place before they closed. The stretch from Bahia Honda State Park to Key West was the longest (about 50 miles with all the diversions) of the four day bicycle ride, but it felt great and very satisfying. We barely made it to the rental car office before they closed, we locked our bikes to a bike rack, and drove back to Bahia Honda State Park to retrieve George’s car. Yes, I know this sounds funny, but we couldn’t think of a better way to get his car back, and it was cheaper than getting a taxi. We had a late dinner at Hogfish Restaurant (a great restaurant off the beaten path) and made it to downtown Key West for last call. Let’s just say, the people watching at Sloppy Joe’s Bar and Durty Harry’s around 2am are fantastic!

Welcome to Key West!! We made it!! What an accomplishment. This was the best trip I have ever taken! Although lots of people had warned me of potential issues with traffic, camping, and strangers, I never ran into any trouble and had a wonderful time. Besides a little bit of saddle soreness, I felt fantastic. The multiple stops, leisurely pace, and the great campsites spaced at about 30 miles apart, made the trip effortless and relaxing.

Bahia Honda State Park, Florida (July 1, 2010)

Bahia Honda State Park is breathtaking. The park has beaches, several campgrounds, concessions, a marina, kayaking, bicycle trails, and many more activities if you're interested. I arrived, checked in, and headed to my campsite...number 79 on the bayside. My friend, George, had left work earlier in the day from Tampa and was heading down to meet me for the last day of riding. He would arrive well after dark, so I decided to wait to set up the campsite until he arrived. He was bringing the air mattress after all, and I was pretty excited to sleep on something a little softer.

So I decided to go exploring. I stashed some of my gear in the mangroves next to the site and rode to the far beach, called Sandspur Beach. It is the most secluded in the park and the most beautiful beach to visit. I was also on a mission to find the two (#1 and #2) national champion silver palms (Coccothrinax argentata) in the park. I felt I was on the right track when I happened upon the Silver Palm Trail. The Florida Silver Palm is, in fact, a Florida threatened plant species. Perfect, I thought, finding a threatened species should be no sweat. How many individuals could there possibly be in this small area if it is threatened. Boy was I wrong again! As it turns out, Bahia Honda is the proud home of one of the largest remaining populations of the silver palm. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by a forest of hundreds of gorgeous silver palms all waving their shiny fronds at me in the wind. How glorious! To have such a beautiful and rare tree growing all around me. The champions are 22 inches in circumference and 33 feet tall at their biggest, so finding them was not an easy task. And I doubt I succeeded. I did hug a few of these trees, hoping at least one of them was a national champ. Then again, they all need love, not just the biggest ones, right?

The Silver Palm Trail dumped me out about 1/4 mile north of the parking lot and pavilion on the beach. The sun was just setting, the water was the perfect warm temperature and I was hot, so I eagerly plopped my gear on the beach, stripped down to my bikini and waded into the water. I would have dove in, but this gorgeous beach stays very shallow for about 1/4 mile out. Although you wouldn't think so, it is actually quite rare to find a beautiful sandy beach in the Keys. Most of the beaches have sharp coral fragments and seaweed piled onto the shores. This beach, however, had sugar sand dunes and the coral reef started about 300 feet out, making for some fun finds. After a short period of splashing and playing, I suddenly realized that this was the first time in my entire life that I had been to the beach alone. No, I don't mean that I had come alone, I've done that many times (working near lots of beaches is awesome!). I mean that I've never been at the beach completely alone. There were no people in sight, no silent sunbathers, no screaming kids, no whistling lifeguards. At first, I wondered if I should be concerned, but there were no imminent dangers in this paradise. So I laid back, floated on the salty waves, and reflected on my situation. I was in heaven. Everything felt so right. I was relaxed, calm, and away from all the stresses in my life that I could control. I had no technology, no place to be, and all the time in the world. For a moment, I came back to reality, and reminded myself that I should stay on task and think about what else I needed to do before the sun went down. I pulled up my mental "to-do" list and found it completely blank. I thought a little longer, thinking that there must be something I needed to do that I was forgetting. After a few more seconds of pondering, it occurred to me that I truly had NOTHING to do. I should have been happy, right? But my first reaction was confusion. I always had something to do. Even if it was little or tedious, there is always something to do. But not this time. Another first. For the first time in my grown life, I had absolutely nothing to do, and it was marvelous. I enjoyed every minute of my to-do list prison break.




Later in the evening, once George had arrived and we had set up camp, we did some night exploring. We jumped on our bikes and zoomed through the camp areas like bandits. We ended up at Calusa Beach, a protected beach along the bay/channel side, between the old and the new bridge (see pictures above). Considering it was still pretty sweltering hot and very very humid at this point in the evening, we decided to go for another swim. In the beautiful moonlight, we swam through the seagrasses in the water here. Within a few minutes, we realized that the water had bioluminescence!! If you've never seen this before, it's basically many thousands of tiny living organisms that glow when you disturb the water. So every time you swish your arm through the water, it leaves behind a slowly fading glow on the surface of the water. In Calusa Beach, on this evening, the combination of the bioluminescence and the moon were magical. We even discovered that if you swam underwater with your eyes open (the salt burned a little, but it was worth it), these tiny glowing organisms would stick to your eyeballs and create lingering bright spots on your eyes. Luckily, they also washed off again very easily.

Upon returning to our campsite, the wind had picked up and it had started to rain. After retrieving our tent (no, we didn't tie it down) from the mangroves where it had been blown, we sought shelter within its dry confines and settled in for the night. What a perfect evening. I was relaxed and happy. George was still unwinding from a hard work week and buzzing with excitement to begin his ride on the trip. As much as I enjoy my alone-time, George is one of the best travel partners I have ever had and probably one of the most laid-back, adventurous people I know. His company was welcome, as always. Plus it was nice to have someone to unload all of my random stories and memories on. I was bursting with the traveling fever and I was very happy to be sharing it with someone.

Treehugger Tour

Simpson's grasspink in Big Cypress National Preserve (Calopogon tuberosus)

As you know, I have embarked on a two month long road trip across the United States. If you didn't know that, come catch up with these links:

Treehugger Tour Video
Tour Logistics
Approximate Budget
Map of Approximate Route
Potential Trees to See along the way (ever evolving map)

I just wanted to let you know that I recently made some edits to the Treehugger Tour Route Map to accommodate a trip to the Badlands in South Dakota and a slight dip into Colorado to pick up my traveling buddy, Rudy.

Thank you all for your support! The outpouring of interest in my trip has been amazing!

I am excited to announce that American Forests has agreed to partner with me on this tour to help me to contact the big tree coordinators, find the most interesting trees along the route, and help me to coordinate tree plantings to offset my carbon emissions. If you haven't already, I encourage you to take a look at their website for information about all the amazing things they do. I visited their office in Washington, DC this past week and I was very impressed with the organization. The National Register of Big Trees is only a glimpse of their efforts to "grow a healthier world with trees".

If you'd like to support my trip with care packages, a couch to crash on, or a financial donation, I'd be absolutely delighted! Drop me an email at heartkh at gmail dot com.

Also, if you'd like to be on the postcard list, send me your name and address in an email.

See you all soon!

Advice on Long Key, Florida

During the planning stages of my 100 mile bike ride from Key Largo to Key West, I got a lot of mixed reviews and unsolicited advice. I am open to all forms of advice. I take warnings seriously, but usually they don't keep me from pursuing my goals. I take recommendations to heart. And I appreciate all forms of encouragement or inspiration.

Here are some things that people said to me about the trip:

1. "Be careful" - Sail Inn patrons, Delray Beach, FL
2. "How do your parents feel about this?" -mother of four on the snorkeling trip
3. "I'm so excited for you! I am living vicariously through you!" -my awesomely supportive Mom
4. "You're crazy" -lots of people
   
5. "It's too dangerous" -lots of Floridians
   
6. "Where did you COME from?" -Fernando, another camper at Long Key State Park. He exclaimed this while I was setting up my tent. It came out sounding like he was asking me which planet I was from, but he was just asking how I got there without a car.
   
7. "Awesome! I've always wanted to do that! Are you writing a blog?" - Fernando, same conversation, after I explained that I hadn't arrived via spaceship. I hope you're reading this Fernando! Thanks for being a great neighbor!
   

And the best quote of the entire trip:

"You watch your butt!" -a word of advice from camping neighbor John at Long Key State Park after I said to him "be careful, take care of yourself" as he drove away in his truck without a driver's side door. It took me a minute to realize that he probably meant to say "watch your back." I think I like his version better.

So if you're out there adventuring too, please watch your butt!

Funny sight at John Pennekamp State Park, Florida

Before leaving John Pennekamp State Park, I captured this picture.

Yes, I am a 16 year old boy trapped in the body of a 27 year old woman. What can I say? I find these things humorous.

Key Largo, Florida

I am officially back from the Florida Keys bike ride and I'm actually already in Maryland, but I will recount the amazing trip for you.

On June 29, I drove my car down to Key Largo, loaded up with my bike and all the gear I needed for the next few days of riding and camping through the Florida Keys to Key West. As I drove south, I stopped for a few provisions at Bass Pro Shop and Target. I needed peanut butter, bread (I already had the blackberry jelly), mace (as demanded by a good friend, thanks Tony!), a new camelback hydration reservoir, water, and some new bike lights (Murphy's Law - mine stopped working the day before).


Once in Key Largo, I parked my car at a generous friend-of-a-friend's house (Thanks Linda!!), neatly packed all my gear on the bike, and hopped on my bike to peddle only 5 miles north to John Pennekamp State Park. Although my trip was intended to ride south, I had to ride north the first evening to the first campsite. I made it to the state park, registered as a camper (I had reserved my spot ahead of time on ReserveAmerica), and was finally able to relax and let all the stress roll off my shoulders by 5pm on Tuesday night.
I gleefully rode to my campsite, which was a nice shady site sandwiched between two massive RVs. Considering it was my first night and so many people had cautioned me against the dangers of this ride, I didn't mind the lack of privacy. Instead, I found myself in the midst of a bustling camping area where many of the campers had made their RVs into homes on the park for over a month already. This was a community. As the new kid, I was eyed up and down, questioned by some, and soon accepted into the pack. I knew that I had passed the test when my lovely RV neighbors, on both sides, took it upon themselves to feed me.
Later in the evening, after some exploration, I was just about to bust into a rustic dinner of PB&J with fresh mangos (more on this later) when I was lured in by beef stew from the neighbors, Gloria and Bud (a sweet older couple who immediately adopted me as a granddaughter). Hmmm...I pondered...PB&J or beef stew. That was a quick decision and before I knew it, Gloria was serving up a brimming bowl of beef stew, showering me with cracker options, and offering me about 5 different types of drinks. As I quietly, yet quickly scarfed down my beef stew, like a stray dog, I listened to Gloria's amazing life. Within 20 minutes I learned that she and Bud had been married for 45 years, had 4 children, 10 grandchildren, how they had met and started courting, where they lived, all the embarrassing things that Bud had done within the past year, their occupations, and their health conditions. As soon as my spoon hit the bottom of my empty bowl, Gloria looked at me with questioning eyes and eagerly asked "would you like another bowl"? Thanks, but I'm stuffed! Without taking a breath, she launched back into more entertaining grandmotherly stories. I felt right at home. Soon, Bud came back from an evening of snorkeling with the kids and having heard that stories were being told of him, he quickly told me his side of each embarrassing story to his defense. I smiled, belly full, feeling like part of the family, and soon excused myself to get some sleep. What a lovely couple!

The John Pennekamp State Park campsite was wonderful. During my explorations, I discovered there are docks here with fishing, snorkeling and diving boat charters available, a concession stand that is open during the day, trails, several snorkeling beaches with a ship wreck, a lime grove, nice bath houses, and even laundry facilities. Prior to the beef stew binge, I explored the property to find the largest Soldierwood tree, which was allegedly on the property. I not only found the lime grove (more on this soon), but I also decided to take a plunge in the crystal clear water on the snorkeling beach.
After a long day of driving, sweating, and stressing about life in general, I found myself floating in the warm water just above the old ship wreck. I heard some snorkelers yell to each other about all the great tarpon, snook, and other fish they saw in the water below me, but I was already floating on my back, exhaling deeply, and enjoying the calm. After a few moments to contemplating the craziness of the past few days, I was able to relax and start taking notice of my surroundings. While I was floating in the super salty water, I realized that I was hearing the muffled clicks and pops of hundreds of organisms below me eating their dinners. I imagined crabs, fish, urchins, lobster (yes, there are Florida spiny lobsters), and clams all feasting in the deep waters. I was pleased they were fed well, but it got me to thinking that I should also probably get some chow.