Day 2: Bahia Honda State Park, FL Keys 10/25/08

Waking up has never been such a joy, a cool breeze accompanied by the early morning sun pulled us out of the tent.
After collecting some shells on the beach, that was only 20ft from our campsite, we decided to go back to Marathon and get some groceries.After returning to camp we had a quick bite to eat, then headed out into the water for some snorkeling. The water was cold so we only stayed for an hour, then made our way back into shore. We were excited to have collected a couple conche shells and some other unidentified ones as well. We dried off and went to take showers in the luxurious bathrooms that were provided by the park. We had decided to make a trip to Key West at some point and considering that the sun was playing hide and go seek in the clouds, we figured that this would be the day to do it. Earlier I had talked to a park ranger and he said that there was something called "Fantasy Fest" going on this weekend and there was a parade tonight in Key West. I thought to myself, Fantasy Fest huh? This must be a bunch of Harry Potter and Star Wars weirdos running around Key West dressed in their best imitation costumes. Once we arrived and found a parking spot, which was an adventure in itself, we started walking towards downtown. We came upon a man wearing nothing but a 4inch by 4inch piece of mesh cloth covering his private area, I tried to think of what Harry Potter character this was and my mind seemed to be drawing a blank. I quickly realized that this was not the kind of Fantasy that I had imagined, it was sexual fantasy. The deeper we got into town the stranger the people were dressed and the less clothing they were wearing all together. After Erika and I got invited to take a shower with an older couple we decided that it was time to get out of there.
We stopped by the Ernest Hemingway house, seeing as he is one of Erika's favorite authors, for a quick picture and then decided to grab a bite to eat before we left. We ate fast, and drove north even faster. Getting out of this present day "sodom and gomorrah" was our only thought, so returning to our beautiful, quiet, clothes friendly island was very nice.
The sun had already set but we were tired anyway and only wanted some rest from the days activities. So straight to bed we went with tired bodies and exhausted eyes.