Diving trip with Sébastien in January 2014
This year my Mom and her friend flew down to her condo in West Palm Beach, Fla. My son Sebastien and I put her car on a trailer and pull it down to Florida with my truck. We took our time but we didn't stop anywhere special. We were a bit in a rush because of the tides schedules and our plans to dive in West Palm Beach.
Key West and the Dry Tortugas
When we got to West Palm Beach the Slack Tide the condition needed to dive at the Bridge was at the bad time either at night or early in the morning for at least a week so we decided to go down to Key West and take the ferry to the Dry Tortugas an island 70 miles to the west in the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico with a historic fort on it that is surrounded by a lagoon for snorkeling, the daytrip with the ferry is a bit expensive but something I wanted to do for a long time.
The Everglades National Park
From Key West we drove to the Everglades National Park and entered from the east side entrance. I had been to the everglades before but on the west side. While paying for our entrance at the visitor center to my supprise I came face to face with a friend from Montreal who was there to go kayak camping for 2 weeks from Flamingo to the west coast of the everglades. So we took the road that ends in Flamingo at the southern tip of the everglades about 35 miles away from the entrance, we took a few stops along the way amongs them at the well known Ahinga Trail where there are a lot of opportunities for pictures, of course you have to watch where you step, I grabbed my son by the colar just as he was about to walk on the head of a 6 foot gator. We then proceded to Flamingo where we were able to take a boat to white water bay a huge bay inside the heart of the everglades we just stop in the channel to look at the bay, the waves were over 5 feet and the wind very strong so we did not enter the bay. We exited the park at sunset and it was quite a day.
November Roadtrip : From Harpers Ferry to Key Largo
This year the plan is to go pick-up my son and diving buddy in Miami at the end of November and to go diving in Key Largo for a week or so, ten drive back home. But since we have around a month before we pick him up we will pass by Harper Ferry in West Virginia where there are some historical site that I want to visit. Then we will set up in the Smokie Mountains of Tennesse one of my favorite places for a little bit.
Harper Ferry and Antietam Battlefield
Harpers Ferry is an historical town in West Virginia at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers, the town is a National Park and an important site of both the revolutionary and civil war. This is where John Brown a fanatical abolitionist tried to capture the arsenal in 1859 and distribute weapons to the black of the region. Although he was captured and hanged his action is considered to be one of the elements thas led to the civil war of 1861. There are a few battlefield in the surrounding area the most important one in Sharpsburgh where the battle of Antietam that is considered the single bloodiest engagement of the civil war happened.
Harpers Ferry
Antietam Battlefield
The Great Smoky Mountains
This is one of my favorite places, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is big enough to occupy territory two states, North Carolina and Tennesse. There are a few small towns nestled in the heart of the appalachians there are full of trails and waterfalls, the locals are full of history.
The best spot to setup in the area is Pigeon Forge in Tennesse.
The best spot to setup in the area is Pigeon Forge in Tennesse.
Key Largo
Key Largo is the first of the Florida Keys, a serie of small island connected with the road us 1 that starts in Key West and ends in Maine. Key Largo is the best diving place in the United States, the reef is the third largest one in the world. Having picked up my son who is my diving buddy in Miami it is clear that diving is our main occupation.
