Florida

There is something about traveling that makes people want more, and we couldn’t just come back from NZ and start again, we needed a segue back into society. After 3 short days of sprawling out our belongings, unpacking, washing, and repacking clothes, we left Texas for a trip to Florida.  We packed up the durable Honda Civic with 225,000 miles on it and proceeded east and made our way to Gulf Port MS for a good night’s rest. The next day we arrived at Tony’s brother (David) family’s house just in time for a backyard BBQ dinner. Our jet lag was so bad coming back to the US that we had been staying up until 3am (bedtime is usually be 9:30) and had to do our best to get to sleep by midnight.

                Tony’s favorite time of year to fish in Florida is in September, and he has been unable to take a trip back in several years. Saturday Tony, David, Vikki (David’s wife) and Chris (Tony’s niece’s boyfriend) all fished in a kayak tournament and Tony and Vikki even placed at it, some might say beginners luck!  The next day we packed up the kayaks and headed for a camping trip on the beach. The tricky part of this trip was that the best place to fish was not the best place to camp. Tony’s friend Alan let us park the car at his house and dropped us off at a kayak point with David and Chris. The four of us kayaked out Simpson’s Creek for about an hour to Nassau Sounds, which is Tony’s happy place. Alan met us in his boat and we spent the day fishing and I caught up on some sleep and shell collecting. That evening Alan towed our kayaks to a nice spot to camp on the beach, dropped off our gear, and took Chris back to his truck. We set up the tent, ate some ramen noodles, and enjoyed the stars and the ocean waves. The next day Tony and David set out early to catch some fish, while I caught up on some more sleep, then met them for some more fishing. About noon we had a wonderful surprise when Alan showed up to fish with us and even brought some fried chicken.  We spent the next 2 nights battling the wind and the sand in our tent, food, hair, and other places you would never want sand. After our third night of no showers, we packed up and kayaked out all of our belongings, but Tony had the worst of it by towing an extra kayak full of camping gear behind him.  Due to a complicated parking situation, Tony and I ended up in the back of a pick-up truck roaring down the interstate to get back to my car parked at Alan’s house. There is nothing like laying on your back, covered in sand, reeking of camping, and staring at the Dam’s Point Bridge over your head to put you into your place in the world.

                After a few good days of rest and catching up with friends and family, we were back out on the beach. This time we convinced Tony’s 22 year old niece to join us for the night.  Tony and I had the luxury of getting dropped off on the boat by Alan, while the rest kayaked in.  This time the wind was not the problem, but the lack there of. Not only was it hot and muggy, but the sand flies were out with a vengeance, but after a rough night of camping the fishing was still pretty good. David out beat Tony on Redfish and it was a good day, even if Cortney will never camp again.  Tony and I stuck it out another night and then the rain came. There is one good thing about kayak camping in the rain, everything is already in waterproof bags. After a soaking wet kayak trip back to the road, Alan was there waiting to pick us up and give us back to the car, this time inside. A hot shower never felt so good.

                The next few days we visited more friends and family and made our way back to Texas. We stopped off in Alabama to the Lambert’s Throwed Rolls café and indulged on some southern cooking. Thanks to all the friends and family that let us crash on couches, beds, floors, etc!