After paddle boarding beside a group of playful dolphins and a friendly manatee, and witnessing a giant sea turtle coming to shore to lay eggs, I figured not much else could happen on our vacation. Several days later, we took a boat 45 minutes out in the ocean to Passage Key, otherwise known as Naked Island.
The naked people were old, skinny and out of shape, so we constantly found ourselves diverting our eyes. Oh let’s face it, if they all looked like The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, we would all be staring wide-eyed.
A Bronwyn selfie.
Cellphone selfies were hard to capture because everywhere we turned, there was some naked person in the background.
As a rule, people are not allowed to walk onto the island to protect the birds’ nests. Visitors can walk the perimeter, which we did in hopes of finding a view that didn’t include naked senior citizens.
An island surrounded by naked elderly people presented obvious reasons for why we didn’t stay long at Naked Island.
Our next stop was Egmont Key, an abandoned island that held a working fort during the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.
There were several other boats anchored a distance from us, and after our experience at Passage Key, we hoped everyone was wearing some form of clothing.
I scanned the water near and far for signs of mega sharks. Once satisfied that there were probably none around, I jumped in. The water was warm and clear. The ocean floor was soft under my feet.
We were a loud, happy group.
In the midst of all the splashing and laughing swam a huge old manatee who swam close to our group.
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Our new friend Jared videotaped the manatee on his GoPro. We were very thankful Jared was able to capture that moment.
Our boat ride back was full of laughter, some rain, mostly laughter, though.
We left the Gulf Coast after a vacation of amazing experiences.
The Egmont Key Manatee, image by Jared.
A few weeks later, Byron and I found ourselves on a mountaintop in Boone finding more happiness at The Art of Living Retreat Center.
Check back with my blog so I can tell you about our experience with The Art of Happiness.