Hey, what's in the water?

Finally a day all about the water! Today was our snorkeling and scuba day! We are a mixed bunch of water abilities. Greg, Elizabeth, and Ryan are all scuba certified. Seb, Mack, Gillian, Audrey, and myself are proficient snorkelers. I’ll preface this recount by saying that a couple days ago our boat company called and said that the seas were forecast to be somewhat rough on Thursday. Yesterday, they called again and asked what we’d like to do. Well, since we are “do’ers” we opted to still go out. There wasn’t a good day to reschedule since we weren’t in the Keys for very long. Better to give it a go and be together, then miss the experience entirely. I stand by my choice and my philosophy.

It was rough. The scuba folks didn’t have any issues at all! We went to two locations and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Snorkelers—it’s a little different when you are bobbing and tossing around on the surface of the ocean. There were pool noodles we could use for flotation if we wanted to. I did. My adult kiddos did not. Why? Why not make mom nervous? Yes, they are strong swimmers, and no they were never in danger or distress. All 5 of us snorkelers went in at stop 1. Started strong. Really incredible things to see under the water! Must say, yes, I’d go in again. But there is only so much sea water you can accidentally swallow from waves crashing over your snorkel until your tummy tells you have a problem. I say this from experience. Gillian, Audrey, and I stayed out until time to move to the next location. Very similar second stop. Gillian and Audrey were in again, so I of course was compelled to jump in. To their point, if your stomach is upset due to the tossing and rocking, you may as well be tossing and rocking in the ocean. Oh yeah, first time for us to snorkel with sharks, but they were way down there and apparently the non-aggressive variety.

After getting safely back to land and cleaning up, we went down to the Islamorada Art Walk in the evening. Saw some fun local artists and walked off our sea legs. BTW, scuba’ers never felt bad at all! Insert large eyeroll here.

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