As we drive down the east coast, there's a billboard for Ripley's Believe It Or Not which is running an exhibit on cryptids. Now, the family has been into cryptids since our last smaller road trip through Ohio and West Virginia. There were so many cute little mothman items that it has become a thing. So I'll let you guess what cryptid was on the billboard. As a result, of course we have to go. We pull into Saint Augustine and head on in. If you've never been to a Ripley's it's a collection of curiosities and other fringe items. Parts of this one in particular are dedicated to the old circus sideshow items. We enjoy our stroll through the other exhibits. We get to find out that when it comes to romance, Abby is Flirtatious
and Gideon is Dead Fish
.
Eventually we get to the exhibit we are here for, cryptids. It starts off with a sound recording that's supposed to be Bigfoots speaking with each other. Who knows what it was but it is kind of odd sounding. Not what I would expect from something like Bigfoot but who the heck knows. In the next room there are some AI generated animations of a mermaid, Bigfoot, what I'm assuming was supposed to be Nessie and chuppacabra. It's a cute little dialog between them about whether people are smart enough to find them and such. Eventually we move on to a big animatronic Bigfoot that tries to respond to your questions and statements but we confuse it almost immediately with our questions. There are other displays through it on different cryptids including one that you can select your state and it will tell you about a cryptid from your state. It was enjoyable and worth the side trip for us but not sure it would be worth it depending upon how long it is from you.
On our way out we do a mirror maze with these glasses on that added other visuals to the field of view. It was rather amusing. Gideon lead us through most of the start of the maze and would get to a couple places where we needed to double back until we got a dance floor room. The floor had lights and there were these light bars hanging from the ceiling that appeared to change when you interacted with it. We all pile in and start to dance when I suddenly realize how small that room really is. I guess all of those mirrors are providing the effect that they were going for. Eventually we decide to head out of the maze. In the gift shop we all pick a little 3d printed cryptid as a memento. I have a Cthulhu now which ties nicely back to the Minions and Monsters as well.
Back to the road. Just before we get to the keys, we stop by a Publix to get some supplies for the camping and I get myself a Publix sub for lunch. We switch up drivers and I start driving so that Court can enjoy the views more since she loves the ocean. Driving the keys is pretty uneventful other than some anxiety about gas. A little sad actually because I am so used to being able to see dolphins in the water or other fun stuff. We do get to see Fred the Tree though which was fun. We pull into Key West and are greeted by one of their wild chickens as we head in. We get to the hotel, we had chose a local place a long time ago, and check in. It is clearly what used to be a small two building home but has been converted into a hotel and all of the doors are full window. Not a huge problem except for Court and I have a room off of the 'sun deck' which was really a tiny little courtyard. It also happened to be next to the after hour entrance so we had people in and out of the area all of the time.
We headed down to Duval for some dinner. That sounds easier than it was. We had decided that it was too hot to walk down like we had originally expected to do. Abby called us a Uber X or whatever the larger capacity vehicle version of Uber is. We expected to have like a 10 minute wait. She gets an immediate notification that the driver is in the vicinity so we all scramble to get shoes on, lock doors, etc and make out of the building to watch the driver start driving away. We managed to get him flagged down and get in. During the ride I don't pay a lot of attention to the interior of the vehicle but I do notice that the rear view is essentially pointing to the ceiling. After we get out, Court informs me that the check engine light was on and the traction control system was offline. Glad I wasn't paying attention I guess. We get to Doc's and get our table. While sitting down, the host asked who was old enough to drink and was amazed to discover that our kids were too young. He then proceeds to hint that they wouldn't really check if either of them wanted a drink. We pass. Dinner is decent. I get some conch fritters which has been a long time since I've had.
After dinner we walk down to the US 1 mile 0 marker. As usual walking down the sidewalk in a busy area, there is such a mix of people that are in no particular hurry but have a plan, this is us, people that are in a rush to get anywhere other than where they are and those that literally have no place to be ever. Eventually we get there after navigating this gauntlet and get some nice pictures. We call the next Uber X to get us back to the hotel and all hope that it's not the same dude. We are all happy when the driver that accepts has a different car type. We pile into his car and head back to the hotel for the night before camping.
Tomorrow, Ferry to Dry Tortugas for camping!