Last year for Easter we decided to ditch everyone and sneak away and do our own thing.
Adri is the only child who has been to Shark Valley. I had been wanting to take the boys every time we went to Miami but we never had enough time to do it.
Natalie and I went on our first date (that she claims wasn't a date) biking at Shark Valley. Following that she went home to get her swimsuit and we went to the beach until midnight and had dinner on the boardwalk. But it wasn't a date.
I had been biking at Shark Valley dozens of times. We would do day rides, night rides, I rode the loop the day before the wedding with my dad, and we took my sister when she came out for a visit. That was the worst Shark Valley trip ever though. The mosquitos were so bad we had to retreat after just 5 minutes.
Fast forward to 2024 we finally decided to take the kids. We would go to Shark Valley on the way to Key Largo and then stay at the Hilton that Natalie and I spent our second anniversary at.
When we got to Shark Valley it was packed. We had to park out on US-41 and bike into the park. That made the entire bike ride about 17 miles, which we did in about 3 hours. The kids had fun and Zach said it was the best bike ride ever.
After Shark Valley we had dinner at The Pit. It's been there forever and we used to eat there all the time, including on Christmas one year. Zach got the gatordog.
That night we stayed in Florida City then drove down to Key Largo the next morning for the glass bottom boat tour. I wanted to snorkel at Hard Rock but they wouldn't even let Dean on the boat until he's 7. The glass bottom boat went to Molasses Reef. The view was OK but no where close to snorkeling there.
Afterwards we did some kayaking at Pennekamp. I proposed to Natalie at Pennekamp with a ring pop Labor Day weekend in 2008. I had a ring pop because we were supposed to go snorkeling at Hard Rock and I didn't want to bring her ring. Due to the waves from Hurricane Gustav they cancelled all boat rides. I ended up proposing on the boardwalk with a ring pop and gave her the real ring later that night. I guess the better part of the story is even though all I had to show her was a ring pop she said yes. When we were snorkeling we passed that boardwalk, which was destroyed and taped off, I think due to Hurricane Michael damage years ago. Adri is a savage and when I told her that I proposed to her mom there she said she wants to pee on it.
Afterward our kayaking we spent one night at the Hampton before going down to Baker Cay Resort (Hilton). The have two pools there and a nice beach with water activities so we never had to leave the resort. I brought my own mojito which I kept in my tumbler. We did an Easter egg hunt for the kids at the beach. I didn't hear anyone complain that we didn't do the traditional easter.
And of course on the way back we stopped in Pembroke Pines for some La Carreta.
Following my BBL at Shark Valley.
A crocodile by the Hampton in Key Largo. Not nearly as common as the alligators in Florida. I thought I saw a couple off the side of the road while driving on US-1 around Blackwater Sound.
