Everglades Worldstrides Spring Break Trip Day 3

 The Adventure Continues Day 1 Day 2 of Molly's Everglades Worldstrides Spring Break Trip

  Day 3 here we go… Our vacation was already halfway over! Where did the time go?!?!? We woke up tired and hungry. We had waffles and fruit for breakfast at the hotel and

Cuttlefish 

 

took our time getting ready. Our first stop of the day was going to the beach for a snorkeling lesson. Finding the right size flippers and figuring out how to put on the goggles was a small challenge, but after a few tries all of us were ready. We are told to stay close to shore for now because later we will have a chance to go to a real big coral reef. But that wasn’t until we got the hang of it. I dive in and for awhile there is nothing. All there is, is sand and sea grass. But all of a sudden, the sea floor drops. And it is pitch black. The only splash of color I see is a little Cuttlefish swimming in front of me. When I first saw it, it was a light blue color. I blink and look away for a second, when I look back it’s white and then changes to black with white stripes. I motion my friends over to show them. By the time they get there the Cuttlefish is light blue again and swimming away from us. Christina has a waterproof phone case and takes a few photos. The next thing we know Tiana screams and we see a giant Manatee underneath us, I stare in awe until I hear Tiana scream again and I realize she isn’t screaming because of the Manatee, she is screaming because she sees a highly poisonous Jellyfish swimming towards us. We struggle to swim away from it and soon enough we are on the other side of the beach. The first thing I see is a group of old, rusted cannons. We explore there for a while and then head back to the beach to dry off. Courtney and I decide to go get ice cream. I swear that ice cream was that fastest melting ice cream in the whole universe! It was all over the place and we had to throw it away before finishing it.

  We are starving; luckily we go to lunch after. I order a grilled cheese sandwich with a choice of fries or two small crab cakes. I of course choose the crab cakes. It was 

Kary's Grilled Cheese with Peppers and Pesto

delicious. Sierra orders a special mustard sauce and falls in love. She orders two more containers of it to take back to the hotel later. But our day was definitely not over yet. We go to the beach and get into groups. We go “fishing”. Instead of using fishing poles, we slowly go through the seaweed with a net. At first, we don’t find anything. But a little while later Courtney finds a Shrimp! And a few minutes later I find a Puffer fish!! Sierra catches a couple Crabs. We find a couple baby shrimp and snails. Christina puts some seaweed and rocks in to make it look more like the ocean. We put them in a container full of ocean water to observe them. We decide to name them. Courtney names the shrimp Bob. The Crab is named Mr. Crabs and I name my Puffer fish, Bill. I loved Bill! A couple minutes later we find out, in the midst of all the seaweed, there was a baby Puffer fish! We name him Bill Jr. and we decide that Bill is now a girl. Some other groups caught Jellyfish, Clams and Cuttlefish. It was fascinating seeing all the marine animals and learning about how they live together. But all good things have to end. We say our goodbyes and release Bob, Mr. Crabs, Bill, and Bill Jr. back into their home.

  The last thing planned for the day was snorkeling in the middle of the ocean. We drive to the pier and board onto a giant boat where we get new flippers, goggles and a breathing tube. It was an amazing thirty minute journey to the reef. It was all natural and untouched by humans. I jump in and the first thing I see is a whole bunch of crabs at the bottom of the ocean floor. As I kept swimming I see movement underneath me. I realize it is a Barracuda! I could see every detail, every scale, it was fascinating. It swam away as quick as it showed up. Tiana is full of shock and fear but I have the biggest smile on my face. We keep going and reach the reef. We see Rainbow Parrotfish, Blue Tangs and we even saw Nemo!! There were anemones all around, coral of all different colors and the fastest swimming school of fish ever. On our way back, Tiana screams again and is pointing at the sea floor. I look down and in the midst of the sand is a huge Stingray. He or she isn’t bothered by all of us being there. I believe he or she was actually sleeping! After we were too exhausted to snorkel any longer, we went back to the boat to hang out and take pictures. We all ended up jumping off the edge of the boat and having back-flip competitions.
  

Shortly after we took the thirty minute boat ride back we grabbed some Wendy’s to-go and headed back to the hotel. I was definitely tired, so I stayed in the hotel room while my roommates went swimming. I took my shower and listened to some music. A calming playlist I put together consisting of Nirvana, Alter Bridge, Paramore, Black Veil Brides and much more. It’s around 9pm and just as I’m about to doze off, here comes Courtney, Sierra and Christina bursting through the door, laughing their heads off. The first thing they say to me is “Call your boyfriend! He’s funny, and we want to ask him questions!” I ask what kind of questions but I am interrupted by the sound of Sierra making very loud Monkey noises. I realized Courtney is in the shower and Sierra is watching Animal Planet. This is when I realize how crazy my friends are and how crazy I have to be to love them and keep them around! A few minutes later Courtney walks out of the bathroom and tells me the shower door is now broken. She calls up the maintenance guy and for the next hour we stay up while he fixes the door. Once he leaves we agree to never tell our teacher about this and soon we all pass out into a deep sleep.

Join me next Tuesday for day 4...more fun to come. Molly~

I hope you enjoyed day 3 of Molly's grand adventure and make sure to stop by check next week. Until then, Just Cook Something! Cheers! Kary~ Or you can call me Auntie KK like Molly

Are you planning your spring break trip yet?