If you’re looking for an escape from campaign ads, you’ve come to the right place.
We made it to our favorite little hideaway on Big Pine Key this month. It’s been a whole year, and boy have we missed it.
Stone crab season opened October 15, and we were so ready to dive in and tune out the noise of the world.
almost beat that storm back home. 
lobster hiding.
stoney.
hermit crab in a conch shell
bucket o’ lobster and some claws.
this year’s game claw.
a dried up shrimp found in the bait well, smelled to high heaven.
swirls of seagrass/ my hair after snorkeling all day.
By day two we had a big enough pile for the annual feast we call Stonecrabaganza. My brother has an unlimited capacity for crab and lobster. Always has. 
My mom made the adorable little crab towels. An attempt to refine a meal of flying crab shell and carnage. 
If you’re stuck on dry land, here are two other ways to escape underwater:
I picked up what Toby’s been reading, Deep by James Nestor. It’s one of my favorite nonfiction books of the year. It spans the globe, from here in the Florida Keys, 5.4 miles off Key Largo, at an underwater lab 63 feet below the surface called Aquarius, all the way to Reúnion to find out why the bull sharks have become so aggressive there. He plunges into the bathypelagic zone (2,500 ft deep) in a homemade submarine off Roatan (nope!), and he swims with sperm whales to experience their click communication, which can be deadly. It’s fascinating, bizarre, and so entertaining.
Next is a documentary on Netflix called My Octopus Teacher. This was 10 years in the making. The filmmaker’s daily swims in a frigid cove off South Africa lead him to befriend an octopus living in a kelp forest. The experience changes his life. You have to see it.
There were some windy and rainy days, perfect for hiking and biking on No Name Key.
Here come the key deer!
That’s all for now. See you back here soon.
Hello! Wonderful to see your post and that your enjoying the outdoors. Amazing photos of your lobster hunt and the graceful deer so curious and calm. Always enjoy seeing your adventures.
Hi Evangelia! Hope all is well. I need to send you a pic of the papaya you gave me. It’s massive!
It’s always such a great time in BPK! I’m already missing stone crab and lobster.
So glad we made it happen, against all odds! I could definitely go for more stone crab right now.
Beautiful as usual, love the tablescape,crabby towels are adorable. We spent last week in Everglades City fishing for Snook and enjoying the beautiful,wonderful Florida outdoors. Thanks for sharing your world with us fellow Floridians.
Thanks, Pat! I bet that was a great trip. I hope you had decent weather and good fishing. Have you heard about the flock of flamingos spotted there in recent years? I’d love to see them one day. It can’t be easy to find them in the Ten Thousand Islands.
Nice post!! You may want to reword (correct) the depth of the Aquarious habitat to 62′: “The Aquarius Reef Base is an underwater habitat located 5.4 miles (9 kilometers) off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is deployed on the ocean floor 62 feet (19 meters) below the surface and next to a deep coral reef named Conch Reef”
The aggressivness of the Bull Sharks is interesting; They seem to have become more aggressive localy at Boca Grande Pass (esp during Tarpon season) and at wrecks like the Bayronto, where they seem to recognise the sound of a speargun being shot!
Thank you for that catch, Frank!!! Fixing it now. I’m not surprised they recognize the sound of the speargun being shot. Just like a dinner bell! One theory for the bull sharks in Reunion was all the trash accumulating near the beach. They tagged them and came up with an alert system for swimmers.
It looks like you guys did well in spite of s the weather. Stone crabs, lobster, and family all sounds pretty good right now. We loved My Octopus Teacher too.
Wonderful photo journey of your visit! I especially love the Key deer and grass swirls. But I feel your pain about that shrimp left in the bait well – something I know all too well 🙂
Great to live vicariously thru you! BTW James Nestor has a new book called Breath- that you may also enjoy. Check it out. We read Deep awhile ago and were amazed.
Thanks for your posts and photo’s – so fun to look and savor.
Mary
Hey Mary! I can’t wait to read Breath as well as anything James Nestor ever writes. He’s awesome. I hope all is well around Pine Island. We’re thinking about our new food forest. Planning a trip to Pine Island to buy some trees over the next few months. I would love to hear your top mango varieties.