Tuesday 13th December – Bugs, boating and breakfast

Apologies for the pic but this is a 'warts and all' blog!

Aaaaaagh! These BUGS!  They must be small enough to fit through the anti-bug nets on our windows and vents.  We both got mullered in the night with approximately 50 itchy bites. 

They're different to mosquito bites- smaller but raised and hard.  The staff here said the bugs are the worst they’ve been all season.  They are certainly getting to me when you can’t keep them out of your RV and the repellent doesn’t seem to be working. The little critters are generally so small that you can’t see them, so the first you know of their presence is a bite!

But it can’t get you down for long when you look out of the window and see the amazing view! And it’s morning boat ride time.  We set off about 9am, even getting a lift on the trailer the short distance down to the boat launch.  Matt and Maria have been exploring the waters and all the tiny islands around the inlet ever since they first came to stay here.  They recommended going to a bar/restaurant called Captain Hiram’s.  It was another glorious sunny morning.  They weren’t sure if their small powerboat would get onto a plane with the added weight (ahem) but it didn’t seem to have a problem…. before breakfast at least!  I sat back and took in all the wildlife around us, even an Osprey with it's morning catch:

Crabby eggs benedict

The breakfast was amazing, I had crabby eggs benedict and Simon had Nutella stuffed french toast.

Albino Pelicans

Rare albino pelicans floated past the front of the restaurant

We had to keep an eye on the clock to make sure we checked out before 1pm but we had time for a spin around on the way back and a detour to get pictures of Harvey from the water.  We love our inflatable kayak but were really grateful for an unexpected trip out on a powerboat to see a little more of the area. 

A beach on the Atlantic side of the A1A

We parted ways with Matt and Maria but took their contact details just in case we might have a chance to stop by on our travels.  We felt sad driving away from Sebastian – sad the be leaving the beautiful scenery and wildlife so soon, but glad to see the back of the bugs, though we had no idea what the situation would be like at our next State park stay!  We were heading back on ourselves, north up the A1A to catch some important attractions we’d missed but it was hard to leave the coast behind.  

No more gross photos... promise!

We were booked in for 7 nights at Alexander Springs State park which is an hour or so inland towards central Florida but north of Orlando.  The main reason for this was money saving, it was one of the only places we could find in the whole of Florida within budget, roughly $23 a night.  But also we thought we could use it as a central point for visiting other tourist attractions.  We filled up with gas and groceries on the way.  I managed to stub my little toe quite severely on the shopping trolley wheel having foolishly worn flip-flops into the supermarket (that'll learn me). 

We had another event where the Satnav tried to take us down sandy service lanes as a short-cut across central Florida but eventually we made it to our State Park home for the next week.