Tree or Sea

 

We made it to the middle Keys and are camping at a private park outside of Marathon called the Jolly Roger. When we arrived, we discovered many people had vacated the middle Keys because of the approaching storm and there were unexpected vacancies. We were offered a premium site in the park on the sea wall. As we made our way to the premier site I noticed a nondescript site no one seemed interested in that happened to be under an enormous tree. It wasn’t particularly level with lots of tree roots in the way but had plenty of shade. The site we’d been offered had a small palm tree, a level gravel pad and a breathtaking view of the ocean but no real shade. The past, younger version of myself wouldn’t have hesitated scooping up the water front site, but present day me realized that if we wanted to continue pursuing that elusive island vibe state of mind, the tree trumped the sea. We still have a distant view of the ocean but more importantly, a comfortable spot to lounge in from sunrise to sunset without moving our folding chairs.





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