Front Row Ticket To The Real Florida!

Warning!! This blog post is from an un-apologetic, un-abashed, NATIVE Floridian. Yes, we are a dying breed.

Today we took Walt out for its maiden voyage. Walt is a two person inflatable kayak from Sea Eagle. June and I have talked numerous times about purchasing just such a craft. One evening at Long Point we were sitting outside and a couple went cruising past in their inflatable kayak and we were sold.

I have to stop here and explain that being a native Floridian, I bristle whenever I hear when someone mention Florida and the first thing asked is if that person has been to Disney. I just want to scream! I have gone to great lengths to show June the REAL Florida and all that it has to offer. I will give full credit to June that she has been extremely receptive and patient to my ramblings. We have visited several Florida state parks and have seen numerous wonderful things and learned boatloads, and none of them have anything to do with a corporate rodent. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Anyway, so we took Walt out in the south Brevard area among the numerous spoil islands near Sebastian Inlet. Getting to see up close to the way Florida once was before condos, and hotels, and urban sprawl was extremely refreshing to say the least. Ospreys diving for their lunch. Pelicans fighting over a fish scrap. Mullet jumping right next to us. Clouds of gnats floating on the water (they don't bite). Thousands of thick layers of mangroves along the shorelines. Smelling the musk of the crappy. Seagrass and horseshoe crabs in the water below. Seeing one or two manatee so close that we could have touched them with a paddle. Letting the wind push us as we drift along a water passageway between two islands. It brought back a whole flood of boyhood memories of fishing in places just like this.

I truly hope that June enjoyed today as much as I did. I am beyond happy that places like this still exist and are there to be seen and enjoyed if searched out. Yeah ok, it's not the overblown glitz of Disney or Sea World, or Universal. It IS the real Florida and one that I take the most pride in.

I know, I said I would get off my soapbox.

Mango

Meet the SS WALT

Today was the inaugural voyage of the SS Walt. Yes, another recreational vehicle that has a name. I'm pretty sure you would expect that from us.

Sea Eagle SE 370 ... aka Walt

So before I spoil it and tell you what W-A-L-T might stand for, take a guess. Add it in the comments below. The person that chooses the correct answer gets ... wait for it ... absolutely nothing but thanks for playing. 

We ordered the Sea Eagle 370 right after we left our last camping trip at Long Point. We knew we would get a lot of use with it at home or very close to home. We went back to Long Point this morning and used their boat launch and paddled around the lagoon. It was so quiet and relaxing. We saw many mullet jumping out of the water. Not one of them cooperated so I could capture it on my camera but it was fun watching them. One mullet was a show off with an out-of-the-water 4-hopper. Very impressive. We saw egrets dive-bombing for their lunch but the second best part of the day was seeing a manatee. 

Manatee ahead at 11 o'clock

This guy cruised along right beside us. We thought he was all alone but then noticed another one right next to him. The water in this area is only about 3 feet deep and very clear so we were able to get a pretty good view.

Overall, a pretty good start to our kayaking adventures. Mango manned the foot pump while I assembled the oars and that's about all there is to this. We were in the water within 10 minutes. We bought a dry bag to carry wallet, keys and cameras and that worked well. Lots of leg room and good back support. Add a little sunscreen and go. 

Mango is busy typing a blog entry too so I'll let him tell you more about the environment of today's trip. 

So the kayaking thing? 2 thumbs up. I loved it. And the name? Water Access Leisure Toy. Did you guess correctly?

And best part of the day? Hanging out with Mango, having fun and making memories.

If you like this post, sign up to be notified of new posts. It's easy to do, just hit the "Want to get notified of new posts" on the home page. 

Til next time. 

-June

12 miles down the road

March in central Florida is wonderful. Warm days, mild evenings and it's not yet bug season. The perfect time to camp. 

We've been wanting to try Long Point Campground, a nice little county park in southern Brevard county. A couple weeks ago while out for a drive, we stopped in to check on availability. We were able to string 4 nights together on the same site. Perfect. Edna hadn't been out in a while and Mango's been itching to go.

 Foot bridge to Scout Island

Long Point is mostly filled with snowbirds. I think ours is the only Florida license plate here. We are right on the water (Indian River) and can hear the gentle waves all day long. A nice sunny spot and a fire pit have been perfect to host family and friends who have visited. 

Today, we took a nice walk to Scout Island, which is across a foot bridge (the only other access is by boat). All natural Florida here so a nice walk among the mangroves, Australian pines and other flora was relaxing. Again, no bugs and not too hot. It doesn't get much better than this. We both had our cameras and took lots of shots. On our way back across the footbridge, we spotted a manatee working it's way along the shore. 

This is the perfect spot to have a kayak. We've been considering a Sea Eagle 370 since we retired two years ago. It's inflatable which means easy to store and travel with. We would get a lot of use right here at home. Haven't ordered it yet but on the way back from Scout Island, there were 2 kayak life jackets for sale at a neighboring campsite. Yes, we bought them. I'm guessing that means we'll soon be the proud owners of a kayak.