Dive and Hover in Key West

So, I'm in Florida, staying at Rani's parents' house in Bradenton. It's a great spot, with a nice pool in the back yard.  The weather is beautiful, if hot, and I've been running through the sleepy neighborhoods here to try to get over the jetlag; I'm told there are houses that PT Barnum built specially for the little people in his circus nearby, but I haven't found them yet.  The second day we were here, we had a nice party with a bunch of her extended family where we cooked ribs and made salads. It was a great get-together, if a little overwhelming on my second day in the states.

The next day, we set out with Rani's parents and an aunt and uncle for the Florida Keys, an 8-hour drive through the southern part of the state. We arrived at the end of Highway 1, got situated in our tiny little cottage, and went out to see what Key West had to offer.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the scene there; Key West is a pretty unique place, full of interesting people, quirky little shops, and some really exceptional food.  While there were definitely elements of an American tourist destination like t-shirt shops and trolley tours, there is also an underlying freedom and laissez-faire attitude that I appreciated. The people watching was excellent, from drag queens on Duval Street to fire-breathing, juggling stilt-walkers at the nightly sunset celebration. We caught a few World Cup matches at the local watering holes, had a couple of really excellent meals in the courtyards of old buildings, and did a lot of walking back and forth.

Sunset on Key West

We also had a nice dive on the third day, where we got to see a couple of rays and some big lobsters, along with tons of tropical fish. The diving was different from what I've become used to in the Pacific, but definitely worth the time.

Scuba Zen

My big first on this trip was flyboarding.  I've been watching videos about it for the past year, and finally had the chance to try it out.  It was a strange feeling, and it took awhile to get used to, but after awhile it started getting really fun.  And then my time ran out. I'm thinking about trying it out again while we're here.

Who's Iron Man?  I am Iron Man.

Here's a long-ish video that is a little boring, but gives you an idea of what it's like: hard to balance at first, and nothing like the promotional videos (yet), but seriously, you're hovering on jets of water!  What could be more fun?

I meant to do EVERYTHING in this video just the way I did it...

The whole album should be shared with you, so feel free to browse all of my falls.  I hope everyone is having a great summer.