Florida Summer Trip - Day 3

Our third day was filled with some more great adventures.  First thing in the morning, we headed over to Tarpon Bay to rent some kayaks before they day's heat was upon us.  We were able to get two, two-person kayas for a few hours rented which turned out to be just perfect. 

Gavin started out with Tara and I teamed up with the little man, Gage.  This area was a large bay that was off to the side of the ocean and also had a bunch of mangrove trees that formed this maze of canals you could paddle through.  After exploring some of these mangrove tree paths, we soon learned that Tara had a bit more of a struggle steering her vessel and Gavin ended taking a few adventures into the mangrove branches and spider webs.  We soon decided that maybe switching Gavin and Gage might lead to a more enjoyable experience for all who were involved.  Fortunately, Gage had been taught be a professional paddler and added some extra help to his new kayaking partner.

Here is the post-mangrove trail celebration.  This was the perfect amount of time, though, because it started to get real toasty out there in the sun and humidity about when we had to turn in the kayaks.  Overall, this was a great adventure

As with most days, we ended up at the beach again.  I also tried out my open water swimming practice and swam about a mile in total along the shore.  This was quite fun, but also fairly challenging with the waves, salt water, and my nervousness about getting too far out from shore and encountering sharks.  For dinner, we decided to hit the island's best pizza joint: Dante's.  This came recommended from this couple from NY that said it was the closest thing to NY style pizza around.  It had a nice ambience and wasn't too crowded, but was deemed fairly average pizza by all voting family members.  I am not sure we would be frequenting the establishment again this or any trip.