Florida, day 12: Key West Ultimate Adventure

We arrived at the dock in Key West armed with bathing suits, SPF 50+ sunscreen, Dramamine, Swedish motion sickness medicine, warm clothes, bottled water, straps for our sunglasses, and everything else we could think of. We were greeted with a mountain of disclaimers and release forms the likes of which I'd never seen. One would have thought we were buying a house. There's no way we could have read half of it in the time we had before departure, so it was just to sign and initial as fast as we could and hope for the best.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and the water was the most fantastic turquoise color. Onboard, we were fed breakfast of fruit, yogurt, and pastries. The Dramamine was working, and I did okay until it was time to get into our wetsuits. Then I made the mistake of going to the restroom. That was more than the Dramamine could handle, and the wetsuit was so confusing. I couldn't figure out how to put it on and eventually had to ask for help. My husband and daughter went ahead of me to go snorkeling, and I hoped to catch up. Unfortunately, every time I moved, I almost threw up.

All day on a boat? What was I thinking? I've always had a problem with seasickness, and I've been careful to keep my boat trips to a minimum, but I'd done okay on ferry trips the last few years, so I was optimistic. I really wanted to try snorkeling, para-sailing, and jet-skiing, so I pretended I could. Oh, what was I thinking?!!!

The boat had stairs going down to the water so one did not have to jump over the side, but my daughter got scared when the waves threw her back against the stairs, and she came up crying. My husband continued without her. After everyone else had gotten into the water, my daughter was ready to try again. I really wanted to go snorkeling and see the reef, and I really tried, but when I put my mask on, I threw up. From then on, every time I moved at all, I threw up again. I'd heard that once you throw up, you feel better and can get on with things. Oh how I wish that was true. I begged the staff to help my daughter, so they called my husband back. He tried again to get her into the water, but once again she got clobbered by a wave and freaked out. We'd never taken her into the surf in California, and the minuscule waves we encounter in Sweden (or so far on this vacation) were nothing to prepare her for this.

When the snorkeling part of this adventure was over, my half-dead corpse was in the way, so the staff helped drag me to the back of the boat where they claimed it was stiller. They then sailed around from the reef side to the gulf side of the island for the rest of the day's activities. On the way there, they saw a sea turtle bobbing in the waves as if it was injured. The came around and fished it up, but it turned out the poor thing was dead. Everyone on the boat thought it was really interesting anyhow.

I got up to photograph the turtle, and while I managed to do that without throwing up, all I wanted to do was lie down again. Lunch of cold cuts and sandwiches was served, but I just lay still. It was cold and windy, and I lay there for what felt like an eternity. As long as I kept my eyes closed and didn't move a muscle, I was pretty much okay.

When we got to our destination, we were divided in groups, and our group was first up for para-sailing. My daughter really wanted to do this, and there was no way my husband was going to do this, so I got up. I didn't fall over or throw up, so I climbed into the smaller boat and off we went. They commented that I must be pretty uncomfortable with my wetsuit on backwards, but that was really the least of my problems.

I was surprised that para-sailing was so easy. They just hooked us up, and off we went. The view from up there was amazing, but I hadn't dared to bring my camera. Instead, I left it with my husband who took a few shots then handed it off to the para-sail guy. So these really are pictures of me, not by me. I'm not bothered by heights, and being up there flying around was no problem. My daughter thought it was a little bit scary, but she enjoyed it. Everything was fine until they were bringing us down. As soon as we started bobbing and jerking, I threw up. It must have looked pretty impressive, but I don't have any pictures of that.

As the para-sailing boat returned us to the main boat, I begged the guys to give me a lift back to shore, and they agreed. I'm sure they felt sorry for me. The whole ride back, I concentrated on chewing my anti-nausea gum and not throwing up, and somehow I made it. Unfortunately, I didn't remember in time to tip the guys, and they left as soon as they helped me off the boat. I hope some good karma catches up with them.

My husband and daughter spent the rest of the afternoon kayaking and jet-skiing. There was a water park with inflatable icebergs for climbing and such, but the water was quite cold, so they chose not to swim out there. My husband was impressed how well my daughter paddled, and they enjoyed the kayaking, but jet-skiing turned out to be the highlight of the day.

I walked around Key West window shopping while I waited for the boat to return. One thing (chocolate covered frozen key lime pie on a stick) kept catching my eye, but I didn't dare eat anything. We met up and walked around some more, picking up a few souvenirs. We eventually found a restaurant that didn't have anyone standing out front trying to lure us in. The smell of fish didn't appeal to me, so we enjoyed gourmet salads for dinner, and I felt fine.