My Life Monday: Spontaneity

Hello beautiful!  How was your weekend?  I announced last week that I would get a little more personal on the blog, so I'm going to take a quick break from crafting and share a little bit about me and what I've been up to this weekend.

On Saturday, John and I woke up at 5:45 and drove down to Key West.  It's takes just about 4 hours-- but only 1.5 hours is on the mainland.  The rest of the drive is so beautiful!  There is one main street that travels through all of the tiny islands called "keys".  You pass over a lot of bridges and the ocean surrounds you on both sides!  Here is the Google map of the Keys.  Key West is at the very bottom and is home to the southernmost point in the United States!

We usually just walk around the island without a plan when we visit Key West.  There are so many restaurants, shops, and things to do-- so it's easy to have a great time and play things by ear.  Yesterday we found out about a sailing, snorkeling, kayaking trip.  John really wanted to go but I didn't have my swimsuit and my waterproof camera was at home.  I told John we would do it next time, but I could tell he was disappointed.  It was a beautiful day-- 82 degrees, sunshine, not too windy.  We walked for about a block and realized I was passing up a perfect opportunity.  I decided to be spontaneous and we began our mad dash across the island.  We needed to buy swimsuits, sunglasses, towels and sunscreen, drop off my camera at the car, and make it to the marina in 90 minutes!  We made it with minutes to spare.

Snorkeling was my favorite part of the trip.  I have wanted to see a sea turtle for the longest time and finally my dream came true!  I floated a short distance away from the group and I saw the cutest baby green sea turtle! He was busy munching on his turtle grass and didn't mind me watching him one bit!

I also saw a barracuda!  He yawned and I saw all of his teeth!  John didn't realize how close he was to him and almost kicked him with his flipper!  Scary!!!  I promise I'm not exaggerating-- we were at most 8 feet away from him.

I also saw a green moray eel, a queen angelfish, snapper, grouper, and so many other fish that I have no idea what they were!

After snorkeling, we sailed to a mangrove island and kayaked around it.  There was a bald eagle in the treetops!  We saw so many birds-- osprey, herons, and sadly many others that I've forgotten their names!  The picture above is from a kayak trip about a month ago in the upper keys-- but it gives you an idea of what mangroves look like.

We watched a beautiful sunset on the boat as we sailed back to Key West.  It was such a lovely day!

How was your weekend?  Have you ever visited the Keys?  Where is your favorite natural place?

xoxo,
Ashley

Image Sources: Sailboat   Sea Turtle   Barracuda