Jake and I had unknowingly visited Florida the same year some twenty years ago. We were aged 11 and 10 respectively both being spoilt to every child’s dream holiday, Disney World. Â We had each hugged and posed with our favorite Disney Characters (Jake’s being Pluto, mine being Cinderella) and screamed ourselves into a frenzy on Splash Mountain and Space Mountain.
Twenty years on and we both found ourselves standing in front of the Magic Kingdom, Jake with Pluto at his side. Little had changed (apart from the addition of Jake’s facial hair) and the magic we felt twenty odd years ago was very much still alive. This was where the next phase of our Inca to Inuit adventure would begin.
Before we arrived in the The US, Florida to us had been nothing more than the home of Disney, that’s all we had known of Florida, with neither of us having returned since. Embarking on the first leg of our American Road Trip we decided to head South to Miami and the Florida keys to see what Florida had to offer. From there we would wind our way up the West Coast to Sanibel Island, a place I had visited as a child and had nothing but fond memories of, before heading North to tackle the Deep South.
Knowing that there was to be a rocket launch off the Space Coast at The Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral we headed first to a campsite off Cocoa Beach where we had heard we’d get the best “free” view of the launch. It’s worth noting that at this stage that this was the first time we had set up our new tent. We had purchased a couple of camping essentials a week or so before with the intention of camping maybe once a week to keep our costs down. Little did we know at this stage how dependent we were about to be on our new fair weather tent and camping stove.
Not really being the camping type I was rather pleased with my first night’s camping. The cheap airbed we had purchased at Walmart was comfortable enough to appease even my temperamental back and our camping stove was industrious enough to conjure up various delicious delights. All in all a successful first night.
After a day at Cape Canaveral, we were eagerly anticipating the early morning rocket launch. At 6:30 am the next morning we trundled over to the waterfront with mugs of coffee in hand and settled down on the beach. To the sound of a neighboring radio, we heard the countdown and watched in complete and utter awe at the spectacle. With clear skies and low winds both the site and delayed sound of the rocket was nothing short of spectacular.
Heading down Route 95 later that day we headed South towards Miami with little to no plan. At Fort Pierce, we headed East on the coastal roads that led us to the ostentatious island of Jupiter. An island built for the beautiful and beautifully rich, the picturesque, Atlantic coast beaches are lined with palatial beachside mansions that span the length of the three-mile key.
As sunset began to draw near we were two hours away from Miami city, still with nowhere to stay we googled local Motels for the night. Quickly realising that the rate for a room on the East Coast of Florida on a Friday night was nothing short of extortionate we turned to trusty Airbnb. BINGO. “Camp in paradise just twenty minutes drive outside of Miami South Beach $20”. SOLD!
Two hours later we arrived in a ghetto neighborhood in North West Miami. Both concerned and disappointed we pulled up to a heavily gated backstreet property and peeped through the tall wooden gates. Greeted by the sound of guitars and falling water we walked open-mouthed into a lush tropical oasis of calm. Out of a treehouse, yes treehouse, that wrapped around a large oak tree, we were greeted by our green haired host. Â A self-proclaimed hippie and now spirulina popcorn maker, Shawnee showed us around the commune she called home and had been running for twenty years. With nothing to eat but super noodles and a free bag of Shawnee’s Greenthumb spirulina popcorn, we settled down for the night to the sound of panpipes and the smell of marijuana.
