Day 5 PM - Snorkeling & Kayaking

Nate is notorious for disliking beach trips and only begrudgingly suggested Key West because the boys have been asking for a beach trip for a while, so one of my goals was to make this trip an enjoyable adventure for all of us. Queue this snorkeling and kayaking adventure!

We set sail early afternoon and didn't return until after dark. The guides were great and filled us in on the history of Key West, talking about shipwrecks of the past and pointing out recent ones, too.

We dropped anchor at a shallow spot for snorkeling a ways out from Key West. It was a little chilly in the water, but once we got moving, we warmed up. This spot didn't have quite the diversity as yesterday's, but we saw a lobster, huge ocean sponges, schools of white striped fish and Holden saw French Angelfish

After snorkeling, we sailed over to a mangrove island where the crew unloaded kayaks. The mangrove coves were incredible and filled with bird life. We could hear all kinds of bird calls, it was really wild to hear so much in one spot.

As we came around the curve of the island we were treated to an absolutely lovely sunset as we paddled back to the sailboat for the last ride home.

Back on land we warmed back up and grabbed dinner at a place that claimed to be the "Southernmost Microbrewery in the US." It had good beer, filling pretzels and truly terrible Mac & Cheese. Holden and Nate went head to head for many rounds of tic-tac-toe then we headed back to pack and settle in for one last sleep before rolling out to start the long drive home in the morning.Read more