Florida Wildlife

I had planned a Florida vacation that included camping and snorkeling and lots of interaction with nature. Unfortunately, Mother Nature intervened and it rained really really hard while I was there. My friend Michelle and I ended up enjoying the local sites around the Florida Keys instead. Most memorable was Fantasy Fest in Key West. We had not heard about it until we showed up in Key West to take the ferry boat to the Dry Tortugas National Park. It is a two week long festival that includes a Mardi Gras style parade, 'costume' contests, lots of liquor, and nudity. Well, not complete nudity. The website for Fantasy Fest says specifically that "Nudity is illegal. Key West city code specifies that body paint does not constitute clothing." So we did see women wearing pasties and men wearing a sock (not on their feet).

The kicker of it all is that we saw these not-completely-nude people walking down the street at noon. And they were definitely not in their 20's or 30's. Many of them looked like they were hippies in the 60's which would make many of them in their 60's or 70's. That's right. We saw 60-year old practically nude men and women walking down Duval Street around lunchtime. Yes, I have pictures. No, I'm not going to post them.

To round out the wildlife sightings, we also saw some alligators, crocodiles, and an iguana in the Everglades; and a dolphin and flying fish in Biscayne National Park. And of course, lots and lots of birds everywhere.

Here are some of my impressions of South Florida: