You meet the nicest people camping!

One of the best parts of camping at the state parks is the opportunity to meet wonderful people! Our site at Long Key State Park was relatively narrow, so it was easy to converse with people on both sides of our motorhome. On our left, we met Tom and Arlene who have been coming to Long Key State Park for 33 years (obviously, long before they retired). They are avid kayakers, and have been all over the country with their motorhome.

On our right, we met another delightful family — Steve; Debbie; their adult daughter, Hollie; and her boyfriend, Ryan. Steve and Debbie have traveled all over the country in their motorhome in addition to traveling to Europe and China. Their foreign travels have been in part to see Hollie’s broadway performances — she left home after college and went straight to New York City to perform on Broadway. She now owns her own company, The Broadway Dolls.

Their family’s zest, warmth, and hospitality drew us right in, and we had fun getting to know them at the campsite. Last night, they invited us to go out to dinner with them (to help celebrate Ryan’s birthday) at Sunset Grille, a restaurant at the eastern end of the famous 7-mile bridge in the Keys.

The fun company and delicious food made for a wonderful evening. After our dinner, we took a walk out on the pier, and then went to the  Sunset Shrimp Shack  to listen to a little jazz. When Ryan heard that we had never tasted stone crabs, he ordered some so we could try this Florida Keys specialty.

Later in the evening, I discovered I had inadvertently left my wallet at the Sunset Shrimp Shack, so I spent an hour putting holds on my credit cards. This morning, however, we drove back there, and found that my wallet was safely in the office with everything intact. It’s moments like this that I’m reminded how many good people there are in the world!