Aug.1 - 2, 2015--Bahia Honda State Park:
The kids had camped here a year or so ago and bragged about the snorkeling.  So we planned an overnight (hotel stay) here with them.  The time finally came and we were on our way!
Hard to believe we were just packed for a one night stay! 

 It was about a 3 hour drive from Coral Springs, but a pretty pleasant one.   It was interesting seeing the old bridges of what I assume use to be Flagler's railway.

 When we finally got to Bahia Honda I was a bit concerned seeing the sign at the park entrance.  "Snorkeling trips canceled"---- why?

 We went to the camp ground area where they had snorkeled before and bragged about so much and went to check it out.  This picture doesn't show how choppy the water was and it was pretty brown near shore.

 So we headed back out passed this tree and drove to the public beach area.

 It didn't look any better, so we decided to head back to the first place and give it a shot.

 Again, the picture is misleading.  It was very choppy.  You can sort of prepare for a constant surf, but the chop was throwing us all over.  It was also very rocky (which is why is should be good for snorkeling). 

 By the time I got in far enough to put my fins on, I had already stubbed one of my toes big time.  Thought I might have broken it at the time.  Made walking the next couple days really hard.

 The water was very murky, too, so we headed right back in.  Sat on the beach for awhile trying to regroup, then decided to try the public beach on the gulf side.

 Heading back to the car.

 The public beach was pretty calm, but it was very crowded and also very murky. 

 So after hanging around there for a half hour or so, we decided to head to our hotel (the Kingsail which we had gotten for $119/night/room through Hotels.com).

 I was rather impressed with the rooms.  They were certainly white and appeared clean.

 We figured we could hang out at the pool and cool off.   Unfortunately it was the hottest pool I've ever been in.  The water had to be at least 100 degrees.  We didn't stay there too long. 

They did have a nice marina area, though, with shade and chairs so the kids and I went there and visited for awhile while Ken went back to our air conditioned room.  This is the building we were in as seen from the pool deck---ours was one of 2 rooms in it.

We were also right by the marina.  

Soon it was time to go in search of food.  Ended up at the Island Fish Company.

Views from our table were really nice.  I'd hoped for a sunset, but was foiled again by a bunch of clouds.

but we still enjoyed the views.

 Food was really good, though.  I wasn't much of a fish eater until I started going to Hawaii and other places on the water where they actually have good fish.  I never could get into catfish in the midwest!

 We tried to find a snorkel tour vendor to set up a trip for the next day, but all we could find was this guy and he wasn't talking.

 Back at the hotel the kids and I sat at the marina awhile longer visiting and enjoying the nice evening breezes.  Next morning we met again at the marina and visited until we decided it was time to go.

 even saw fish---little gars.

 The water was still choppy and brown, so we didn't bother trying to snorkel anymore.  We did stop at a big fruit stand on our way back.  I believe it was called Robert is Here.

 I believe Angie said this is the CIA building of Miami.  Interesting architecture.

 We had planned to go back to the kids' house and hit their pool, but we ran into some pretty rough weather so those plans were scratched, too.

 This certainly wasn't the weekend we were expecting!  But I did enjoy all the time with the kids.  Hopefully we'll try it again and it'll work out a lot better!