This 2nd picture was taken in 2017 our first girls trip together in Cabo San Lucas. Fun then and now!
Friday February 20, 2026
Shawna and Amy needed a day to sleep in a bit, so Kim, Wendy and I went to a cafe for breakfast called LJ's (in case you go to Marathon keys it wasn't great, don't recommend). This is where my bad karma started, my vacation can't be good EVERY day so the universe decided to give me a bit of a freaky friday. I'm the designated driver so I drove us to LJ's and am so used to having my smart keys in my purse I accidentally left the keys in the car and we shut all the doors. For some strange reason, even though no one locked the doors, the doors were all locked. We stood about the car wondering what to do and Wendy was about to call a locksmith when I noticed my door wasn't shut all the way. So I shoved it shut hoping it would alert the car that the smart keys are still inside and unlock everything and sure enough that worked! Whew. I found a dime on the ground right after that, and I wasn't sure if the angels were pulling a prank or helped me get out of that jam.
After getting down a third of a very dry and flavorless breakfast sandwich, we packed up for our final excursion--snuba and snorkeling in Key West. Yep! Back down south we went. We had a little time to shop before the excursion so we browsed shops and Amy found the cutest sweatshirt that said "Meet me on the beach" on the back. Sweet Shawna bought me a beautiful sterling silver braided band ring with a pink conch shell gem, I love it so much and wear it every day. I asked Kim to lead me to a place she went to on Wednesday that sells artisan balsamic vinegar and oils and got some amazing balsamic. It was quite a bit south of where we parked! Thankfully the gals stayed to finalize the sale of that because I had to jet back to the car to open it up for Wendy and I to eat our packed lunches by 12.
More weird karma, we had some issues with parking, Shawna parked on the street next to "Hogs Breath saloon" and Kim paid for parking, then they noticed we weren't allowed to part there 'til 2 so they moved it into the public parking lot thinking the pay-for-park kiosk applied there as well. When Wendy and I met back at the car at noon, a frantic parking attendant lady told us we haven't paid for parking there the past two hours and our displayed card on the dash is for the street not that lot, and we are going to get a ticket if we don't bay because the security cameras take a picture of you license when you drive in there etc etc. Wendy tried to plead our case that we already paid for parking but parking lady was adamant, so I just scanned the pay to park sign in front of our car and paid the $30 to park 2 hours there and get her off our back. Also we don't want a parking ticket if she was being truthful.
Even doctored up that sandwich was blech, but food is food and can't be amazing all the time. We headed to the dock, slip 7, to board a Pontoon boat for our Snuba excursion at 1 pm. Since my snorkel mask is no good I used their rentable gear this time, which was much better. Back into wet suits! We slow motored to a coral reef 40 minutes away and there was some delay because they dropped the divers in the ocean but the current was too strong. Wendy couldn't swim forward to the reef so they boarded everything all up again, pulled up anchor, and drove around to a different spot. Current still too strong there so he moved to a third spot and finally felt safe to drop us there. Even though he saw a huge Man of War jelly fish and all the staff on the boat said, Don't go near that. Looks like a floating bubble on the surface and below is purple tentacles reaching down into the water. Yikes! In this spot there were also huge collections of sea pine on the surface we just tried to swim through, but no current.
Wendy scuba dived and the rest of us snuba dived, which is cool but also terrible. You have a regulator attached to a tank on a raft and can dive 20 feet below, but I couldn't get my ears to clear and the pressure in my head was so painful I could only stay down for 30 seconds before going back up a few feet below the surface. (Wendy found out later that if you have an S-shaped septum in your nose--which I do-- it makes it almost impossible to clear your ears under water. At least it wasn't bad karma!)
The bad karma was that our 19 year old gal who was our snuba guide stopped the raft right in the middle of a passing school of white jellyfish! Amy and Kim were naturals and just dove down to see the coral reef while Shawna and I were up at the surface fighting for our lives against the jellies and getting the snuba lines all tangled up. The lady took off my weight belt and told me to just do snorkel style, but the jellies! She said "in a wet suit they won't bother you" but I couldn't relax. So she took our raft back to the boat, dragging poor Kim and Amy along who wanted to stay longer and enjoy the fishies. Shawna wasn't liking it either so I felt a little better about ending it early for her sake.
So I learned I hate snuba. After a brief gathering of my wits about me break on the boat, I went back in to snorkel and that was fun. I could easily avoid jellies and saw a school of barracudas. I swam to the coral reef and could see parrot fish and beautiful coral life. The sea pine needles on the surface caught my neck and hair and stung my hands and wrists, but everyone else who didn't have the bad karma thought it was the best snorkel excursion of all! "We saved the best for last!" they all said. Wendy got two tank dive and loved it, even though a huge spiney lobster charged her haha. I was very pruney by the time we ended.
Even though I remembered to pee in the ocean, I needed to pee so bad on the boat ride home but didn't dare use the below deck toilet again. The drive to Zachary Taylor State Park to watch the sunset was uncomfortable and I immediately jumped out to look for the public restroom. It was quite a walk away from the beach where everyone was enjoying the sunset and I was worried I'd miss it. The bathroom was in disrepair and the door stalls wouldn't lock so it was a trick getting changed and took forever, but I was so thankful for the toilet! I made it back to the group who had found a spot on the west/south point to watch the sun dip into the ocean, I didn't miss it! I ate my packed dinner and felt much better fed and dry. But karma strikes again--somewhere on the walk to and from the bathroom, or in the bathroom, I was attacked by a swarm of Noseeums. Tiny biting mites that you can't see and that can fly got my arms, neck, hands and even one on my forehead. They are like fire ant bites, itch and burn and don't go away for weeks. Only got me! I had an allergic reaction to them or the anti-itch cream Wendy gave me and broke out in hives on my neck as well. Thanks for that souvenir Key West!
We stopped at Moondog Cafe in Key West for dinner and it was very good! Wendy shared a meringue key lime pie with us. Great burgers there. I drove home to spell Shawna and again so tired, and my head was swimming and my sea legs felt like I was still on a boat all evening and into the next morning. By the time we got back we were all so out of it we just gathered what we could hold in our arms and went inside and crashed. You guessed it, I left the key in the car again! And I had no idea until the next morning when I was looking for the keys and figured Shawna had them so I ran outside the resort instead of driving to the old bridge for a run on the ocean. Sigh! At least no one broke into the rental car and the doors were not locked. Despite the bad karma we were all together and safe, and bless them all no drama, we all love each other!
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