Good ending for a Monday

March 7, 2011 P.M.

After our adventures in the waters of Key Largo, we piled into the vans and headed to Senor Frijoles, a local Mexican joint right across the highway from the John Pennekamp State Park. From the outside it didn’t look like anything special, but once we went through to the back patio we saw a delightful view of the ocean and a little marina. We sat outside soaking up the sun and enjoying the atmosphere. As the sun set, we enjoyed our tasty meals of burritos, fajitas, enchiladas. Oh and of course the endless chips and salsa! By the time we left, every one of us was extremely stuffed.





As we drove out of Key Largo, Natalie’s van made a great suggestion to stop at one of those side-of-the-road attractions they spotted, so we made a quick u-turn to visit Shell World. It was what it sounds like, a huge store full of everything to do with seashells and beaches. They had every shell that you could possibly find in that area. They even had glass cases of rare seashells that were available for purchase. I didn’t even know some shells were shaped like that. After wandering around and buying souvenirs, we piled back into the vans for the hour drive back to Miami. Most people were so tired that they took a nice nap in the vans.

Before we got home, JW and Natalie dropped us off at the Bayside Marketplace for a little shopping and strolling around. Bayside is a large outdoor shopping mall with a lot of restaurants and even a little outdoor ampatheater. We strolled around and bought a few things and soaked in the atmosphere. A few people got ice cream and then we all sat and watched a live electro/latin band play. While we were there, JW and Natalie made an excursion to Wal-Mart to buy groceries for Tuesday’s meals. They picked us up after they were done and we all finally headed back to the hotel for the night.
By this time we were all pooped, and ready for bed. We unloaded groceries and had our nightly meeting about the next day’s adventure. We prepped for our first day on the Habitat worksite by packing our backpacks and lunches. All in all, Monday was a great day of activities around Florida and getting to know our group members. We are all excited for what the rest of the week will bring us.


--April Weber