We also stopped by Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge for a brief visit — even briefer than we initially planned as the trail we intended to walk was closed. Zanna was working on drinking some sweet tea — very important! — so all photos are by quoderat.

A bee paused long enough in a beach sunflower for a photo.

The beach was littered with Portuguese man o’ war jellyfish remains. These can administer (even after death) nasty, painful stings with their venom being around 75 percent as toxic as cobra venom. Not a good day for a swim.

The Atlantic coast of Florida has a much different character than the calmer Gulf coast. The waves are larger and the water depth increases more quickly as you move away from the beach.

Today we went to Grassy Waters Preserve, which according to its site, “serves as the freshwater supply for the City of West Palm Beach and the towns of South Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island.”

It is wet prairie and cypress swamp primarily. Here is where the wet prairie abuts the cypress swamp. (Photo by zanna.)

And it is an entirely different world under the cypress. (Photo by zanna.)

We found a motionless frog resting near the boardwalk. We suspect is is a pig frog, though it could also be a bullfrog. (Photo by quoderat.)

There was also a small alligator near the staff boat launch area. (Photo by quoderat.)

For the first time on this trip, we stayed right inside a state park.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park is large and much of it is scrub and sand pine. Even in winter in Florida, it is often very hot during the day. We started early and completed our hike before 10AM, and even then were starting to overheat.

During WWII the area now encompassed by the park was used as a secret radar research base, which must’ve been a bit hellish before air conditioning was widely available.

Early yesterday morning we explored Kitching Creek Nature Trail, which was only a short walk from our cabin. Dew still covered many flowers (Both photos by quoderat.)

There is often an interesting mix of palm, water-loving cypress and slash pine in the park (and the moon). (Photo by quoderat.)

A curious mockingbird observed from a dead tree. (Photo by zanna.)

And an osprey also remained calmly perched by the trail as we photographed it. (Photo by quoderat.)

As we headed back to the cabin, a bluejay landed briefly and then flew away. (Photo by quoderat.)

The air temperature and the water temperature in the Keys hasn’t been that conducive to snorkeling, so we decided to go on a glass-bottom boat tour at John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park. Though the photos don’t capture it all that well and aren’t very good — shooting through glare-prone glass from a moving vessel at moving, rather small fish — the tour turned out to be very much worth it.

Here’s a few selected shots, though we didn’t manage to capture even a bare fraction of the diversity and abundance of life there. This time, all the photos are by quoderat:

The reef we visited was about 4-5 miles off the coast. To get there, the boat traveled through a labyrinth of mangroves. Viewing through the glass on the boat is in many ways easier than snorkeling. Fewer distractions and concerns. Wider field of vision. But it doesn’t feel as immediate, which I missed.

On the way to our next accommodations, we spotted a Bugatti Veyron, the first time we’ve ever seen one in person.

We’ve made it into the Keys now. This area is probably my favorite part of Florida socially as it’s much more laid-back and just relaxed. The entire atmosphere is different — less charged, less frenetic — even as touristy as it is. Today was a travel day and we had all of our belongings in the vehicle. Since we didn’t want to stop anywhere for that long, we visited the small aquarium and displays of reef wildlife at John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park.

We saw some anemones. (Photo by zanna.)

And this yellowhead jawfish. (Photo by quoderat.)

And these, uh, tentacly things from a Japanese manga…whatever they are. Marine biologists we are not. (Photo by quoderat.)

Zanna found this shed cicada exoskeleton and took a photo of it. As shed exoskeleton photos go, it’s top notch.

Then we made a brief stop at Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park, where Key Largo limestone or keystone — limestone that is chock full of coral fossils — was quarried until the 1960s. Some examples of large cut blocks can still be seen in the park. (Photo by zanna.)

As we made it to the very-colorful exterior of our hotel room, a polka-dot wasp moth greeted us at the door. (Photo by quoderat.)