The last weekend

 8/2/25 - 8/3/25

Opal-

We debated what to do with our last weekend here for quite a while. At one point we had booked an Airbnb in the keys but that didn’t work out. We ended up taking a skiff out in the Everglades backcountry again on Saturday and then heading to Miami Beach on Sunday. The skiff we got this time was a bit bigger and did not have a limiter. We had a good time speeding through the mangroves, White Water Bay, and the buttonwood canal. We stopped at our usual place, the South Joe River Chickee, had some donuts and did some fishing. We both caught a sea trout which was a new species for the summer. They were small so they did not get eaten. After exploring a little more we came home and took an amazing nap. 

On Sunday the goal was to swim. We left for the beach around ten o’clock. After a bit of a panic about where to eat we settled on a takeout fish place. This was a great decision and we were rewarded by good fish and cheap prices. Our order:

Snapper and shrimp combo $15.99 (two huge pieces of snapper, jumbo shrimp, fries, and toast)

Corn nuggets $2.39 (fried breaded sweet corn for those who don’t know)

Cheesecake $3 (definitely not homemade like the sign said)

Everything was well seasoned and we debated if the fish was really snapper or not. Oliver mentioned that he’d heard 75% of fried calamari is pig guts. Either way it was good food. Next we hit the beach after finding a great deal on parking in South Beach ($1/hour). The water was gorgeous, blue and clear, however the heat was intense and the UV was 11 so we only stayed about two hours. I am proud to report I did not get burned. On the ride home we picked up our last bag of groceries including some cherries that Oliver got all over himself and stained a dark purple, like a nasty bruise. He said “I should show up to work like this with a black eye and say my wife beats me.” The end.