This post is a little different than my normal blog posts, but I decided to create a photo post about the fall/winter I was fortunate enough to spend in Florida. I took a seasonal job working in customer service at a swanky golf club in Key Largo, and spending the winter in the Sunshine State was really such a treat.
This was the first picture I took when I moved to Florida in October 2023. This was the dorm I lived in for the duration of my seasonal job.
I often spent my days off at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park or at other beautiful spots in Key Largo. They are plentiful, to say the least!
Serendipitously, my friend Cayla had a trip to Universal Studios Orlando and Disney World planned before I even got the job in Florida, so I got lucky and we met up a few weeks after I moved down there for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal.
Cayla also brilliantly planned her trip so that she was at Disney for the changeover to Christmas, so here we are at Magic Kingdom. Two holidays in two days!
Ocean Reef, the company I worked for, often ran free trips for employees in the South Florida area, so I took them up on a trip to beautiful Bahia Honda State Park. The bridge in this picture was originally a rail bridge connecting the Florida Keys to the mainland; after it was damaged by a hurricane in 1935, they converted it to an automobile bridge, which was eventually replaced as well. The bridge has been closed since 1972.
I was absolutely thrilled when the Kennedy Space Center announced a rocket launch in December, and I immediately made plans to drive up to Cape Canaveral to see it. I went to the museum during the day, and then joined the crowds waiting for the rocket launch that evening. 45 minutes before launch, they announced that it would be postponed for safety concerns. I was wildly disappointed, but at least the museum at the Kennedy Space Center was fabulous (and decorated for Christmas!).
In January, I took advantage of Spirit Airlines being based in Florida and got a very cheap flight out to Dallas, Texas, where my former college roommate and dear friend, Colleen, lives. Our other college friend and roommate, Shannon, was living in Austin at the time, so we had a little reunion! This photo is from the famous Fort Worth Stockyards.
Over Martin Luther King weekend, Julia came down to visit me and we checked off Biscayne National Park while she was in town. This photo is from Boca Chita Key inside the park.
One of the most beautiful properties I've ever seen is the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, "the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in Miami" (per Wikipedia). Pictures don't even do it justice.
I couldn't leave the Florida Keys without kayaking through the incredible mangrove tunnels they have down there. The mangroves help protect the Keys from rising tides (especially during storms) and they provide great habitat for many different species of animals, including manatees!
I made the drive down to Key West one weekend, since it's the gateway to one of the most remote national parks in the whole NPS system. I caught this sunset from Mallory Square in Key West.
I made the day trip out to Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park! I did a tour of the fort upon arrival and learned its fascinating history. Originally built as a deterrent to piracy in the Caribbean, it became quite an important place for the Union to hold onto during the Civil War, because it prevented the Confederacy from moving supplies around the Florida peninsula and into the Deep South by sea (Instead, they would have to cross the Appalachian Mountains to transport goods). During and after the Civil War, it operated as a prison from 1861-1874; the most famous prisoner at Fort Jefferson was Samuel Mudd, had been convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of President Lincoln. The fort itself, which was plagued by hurricanes and yellow fever outbreaks—not to mention the fact that it was 70 miles from Key West and literally everything had to be brought in, including fresh water—was eventually deemed more trouble than it was worth. The Army officially abandoned the fort to the Navy in 1889; the Navy tried to find various uses for it (quarantine station, storage, a fueling station, etc.) but due to the frequent hurricanes, they eventually abandoned it as well.
In 1908, President Teddy Roosevelt designated the Dry Tortugas a federal bird reservation; in 1935, FDR made it a national monument; and finally, in 1992, it became a national park. Additionally, the Dry Tortugas are famously full of shipwrecks and sunken treasure. One of the largest sunken treasure discoveries of all time was made in the Dry Tortugas. In 1985, Mel Fisher and his crew found the shipwreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha. According to Wikipedia, "the estimated $450 million cache recovered, known as 'The Atocha Motherlode,' included 40 tons of gold and silver."
Another weekend, I drove up to St. Petersburg to visit beautiful St. Pete Beach and the Salvador Dalí museum, pictured above.
I went from St. Petersburg up to Crystal River and had the amazing experience of swimming with manatees! It was incredible to get to close.
I caught this sunset at the Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary, which I had read was one of the best places to see the sunset in Key Largo. Based on this photo, I agree!
During her spring break from teaching, Julia came back down to Florida and we went on our first ever cruise! We thought it would be a good test run to book a Margaritaville cruise to the Bahamas, since they're only two nights. We discovered that we are not really cruise-loving people, but we were both glad we tried it.
We had so much fun when I visited Texas in January that my college friends and I decided to plan another get together. I flew with Spirit Airlines again, this time to Austin, and we had another great visit.
One of the things I desperately wanted to do before I left the Florida Keys was to go to a turtle release. The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, FL rescues injured or sick turtles, rehabilitates them, and then releases them back into the wild. On Earth Day (April 22), I got to see them release 2 juvenile green turtles back into their ocean home from Sombrero Beach in Marathon.
I also visited the Turtle Hospital itself, where they treat injured or sick turtles for release, or house turtles that wouldn't survive in the wild. This is a loggerhead turtle named Scooby who spent about two months in the hospital, being treated for barnacles (too many of which cause low blood levels) and emaciation. She was released on May 15th, 2024.
My last day at my seasonal job was May 1st, and then I started the drive home to Pennsylvania, as I had taken my car with me to Key Largo. My first stop was the Summer Discovery Spring Leadership Conference in Orlando, where Julia was also in attendance (so yes, she came to Florida three times in 5 months!) since we both work for SD during the summer. As a special treat, we got to spend her birthday at Epcot!
My next stop was beautiful St. Augustine, where I also met up with my mom. She flew into Jacksonville so that she could do a portion of my road trip home with me. This picture is of breathtaking Flagler College in St. Augustine.
Fernandina Beach Historic District on Amelia Island, FL
Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island, GA
Watching the sunset on St. Simons Island, GA
Coligny Beach at Hilton Head, SC
The Downtown Historic District in Beaufort, SC
Rainbow Row in Charleston, SC
Pawleys Pier Beach on Pawleys Island, SC
My mom's final destination with me was Raleigh, NC. We have family who live there and my aunt Erin flew down to spend some time with us as well. After a couple of days of family bonding, my mom flew home from Raleigh and I continued north on my own.
I decided to cut back towards the coast and I drove up through the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I took the ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke, drove across Ocracoke and then got a second ferry to Cape Hatteras. It was a very scenic day!
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Cape Hatteras, NC
The Wright Brothers Memorial (at the sight of their first successful flight) in Kitty Hawk, NC
I then drove up to my sister's house in Northern Virginia, spent a few days with her, and finally made it home on May 20th. The season I spent in Florida was unforgettable, including the road trip home, and I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to do it!
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