It is such an amazing experience to visit a town you've visited many times before and stumble into something that you've never seen or done before. I believe that every town has its hidden gems that you have to unearth. How many times have you visited friends and recommended an activity and their response is "Oh! I've always wanted to do that!" We had such an experience visiting Jeremiah's parents in Venice, Florida. They have lived in Venice most of their life but we were able to delve into some very fun and new experiences during our recent visit.
I would say that my favorite day was the day we rented out a boat and drove it down to Cabbage Key - the true home of Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise." It is also the place Steve and Kathleen were married. To get there we had to navigate Charlotte Harbor and there are some beautiful sights to see on the way. I have never seen so many dolphins concentrated in one area. We stopped the boat for a bit to watch a small pod of dolphins play. It was a mother and her two babies and she seemed to be teaching something to them. I was ecstatic when she poked her entire head out of the water to get a good look at us. I definitely have a soft spot for animals so this was the highlight of my day. I could have sat there and watched them all day. As we moved along the intercostal we saw some really cool old landmarks including a decommissioned bridge and watch tower and a sunken sail boat. I also loved our brief moment with an Osprey mother guarding her nest on a sign post. She posed long enough to give me some great shots of her gorgeous eyes. Unfortunately we spent so much time meandering and watching the dolphins that we didn't get a lot of time at Cabbage Key. We did enter the restaurant and bar to check out the legendary restaurant Jimmy Buffet would frequent. When you enter the building there are just hundreds and thousands of dollars taped and stapled to the walls from floor to ceiling with people's names on them. In some places people decided to create dollar chains that are taped to one another, creating money streamers. It is quite an amazing site. Of course the money has all been defaced so it no longer holds its value but it is crazy how many people have left this mark on the building. We were also able to climb the tower and recreate some of Steve and Kathleen's wedding photos so they could have "then and now" picture. Too soon we had to swing the boat around and head home. On the way back the sun even popped out a few times to say hello.
Jeremiah and I have been camping many times, but I can honestly say that neither of us had ever been RV camping until this Florida trip. Our family friends, Tom and Elizabeth, have retired and are constantly traveling around in their cute little RV when they aren't in Florida. It's quite a sight to see it coming down the road with two kayaks and bikes in tow. Being the great friends that they are, they let us borrow the RV for the night to test it out and see how we might like this mobile life. We camped out in Mayaka State Park and had a great time bird watching and biking. We saw tons of GIANT 'gators sunning themselves on the bank. We were sure to keep an eye on Kathleen's little dog Bella. The alligators really didn't show much interest in anything but sleeping and sunning. We did some nature walks and climbed the observation towner that gives you a great view of the park as it stretches out below you for miles. During one of our walks we stumbled across some deer in the marshes, enjoying their afternoon grazing. I even glimpsed one of the rarely seen Roseate Spoonbills on the water's edge. Mayaka State Park is huge and has tons of camping and biking trails to explore. We'll have to come back some day to see more of it.
It was a bit too cold on our visit to swim or beach but we had a great time walking along the ocean with Bella at the dog park and shopping the downtown strip. Venice Florida has so much to offer in culture and history. I am thankful for the many trips we get to make there and the time spent with family.
Currently I write this post from the airport as Jeremiah and I are about to embark on a trip to - you guessed it - New Zealand! I am so excited to continue to post new finds about this spectacular country and photos of the gems it holds.
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