Over Christmas, my brother and I began brainstorming ideas for the most anticipated time of the year: spring break. This is the first year we are both in college, him being a junior and me being a freshman, so we knew we wanted to do a full out “collegey” spring break. When he offhandedly threw out the idea of road tripping to the Florida Keys, I immediately agreed, only half believing it would actually happen.
Fast forward 2 months, and we are sitting in IHOP planning our numerous stops for our road trip extravaganza to fill our one week of freedom.
We mutually decided to expand our trip from just a brother-sister bonding experience to include our closest friends. He invited a bunch of his buddies, and I invited my friend group (in which I lovingly refer to as “the pack”). Long story short, all of his friends said yes, and all of my friends said no.
And that was the beginning of my 2000 mile road trip with four boys.
We decided to stop in as many exciting places as we could on our way down to the clear watered Keys. We went from Clemson to Savannah, to Saint Augustine, to Cape Canaveral, to Miami, and finally to Key West. When you spend 2000 miles and 8 days with 4 men, the majority of which you are stuffed in the middle seat of a Volkswagen Passat, you learn some things about guys, about traveling, and about life in general.
Here is some insight into my journey, my advice, and some of the things I have discovered regarding the bizarre minds of dudes.
1.Plan, Plan, and Plan again. Especially when traveling with a group of men.
I love planning. I love writing in my agenda, love organizing, and love feeling put together. Guys? Yeah, no. Most just don’t work like that. In my experience, a group of guys are way more likely to have a “go with the flow” attitude and to attempt to “just figure it out along the way.” For someone like me, that kind of attitude makes my anxiety skyrocket, so I went full-force-planning-crazy. It turns out those hours of Pinterest searching and list-making helped relax my anxiousness, and came in handy on the trip when we couldn’t remember all of the sites we wanted to see.
2. Compromise
I am learning that compromise, in all relationships, is key. It is perfectly reasonable to tell the boys that, “yes, we are going in another bathing suit shop, because I spent 6 hours inside a space museum for you, so you can wait 15 minutes in my pursuit for the perfect white bikini top.”
3. On that note, DON’T BRING A GROUP OF ENGINEERS AND SCIENCE MAJORS INTO A SPACE MUSEUM.
Trust me. Don’t do it, unless you want to wait while they read Every. Single. Plaque. In. The. Entire. Place.
(The views are pretty neat, though. Just not for 6 hours. )
4. If you are camping, KOAs are the way to go. And camping is actually fun!
Before this trip, I had never been camping before. I was a bit nervous diving head first into a full 6 days of camping considering my lack of previous experience. It turns out, though, that camping is actually really fun. It is an incredible experience to be snuggled up in your Eno looking at a full sky of stars.
KOAs are known for having the cleanest, nicest campgrounds. They are kind of like the 5 star hotel of the camping world. Prices range between $35-$75 per campsite, so if you are camping with a bunch of people, the cost is split among each person in the group, which is perfect if you are trying to save some cash!
As a woman, I never felt unsafe at any of these campgrounds. The bathrooms and showers were super nice and well kept every site we stayed at. In addition, the sites have washers and dryers and a little convenience store to pick up any snacks or sunscreen.
Here are the KOAs we stayed at:
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Sugerloaf Key/Key West KOA- Key West, FL (This was my personal favorite!)
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Point South KOA – Yemassee, SC
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Titusville/Kennedy Space Center KOA- Mims, FL (Eno-ers beware: trees are scarce here.)
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Savannah South KOA- Savannah, GA
5. The Quest for the Best: Key Lime Pie Edition
When you go on a roadtrip with 4 dudes, lots of silly things happen. More silly things than serious things happen.
A little background on key lime pie: the exact origin of this dessert is unknown, but the first known recipe was found in Key West. The island is now known for its abundance of key lime pie!
After finding this out, we naturally decided to try as many key lime pie shops as humanly possible in the 1 full day we were in key west. Our findings are as follows:
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Porky’s Bayside Deep Fried Key Lime Pie
Our first stop was located in Marathon, Florida, and featured deep fried key lime pie. In our quest for the best pie, this was our least favorite (still good though!). It was really creamy, and the deep frying gives it a nice crunch, but the pie itself was very tart, and the raspberry drizzle was ultra sweet.
2. Kermit Key West Key Lime Shoppe Chocolate Dipped Pie on a Stick
The second to best pie we ate was actually in Key West, and was chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick! Not only was this pie super fun, but tasty, too. The chocolate balances the tartness of the pie, but you don’t get to enjoy the graham cracker crust in this version.
3. Key West Key Lime Pie Company
Also located in Key West, the Key West Key Lime Pie Company was the official winner of the key lime pie bake off. This pie was delicious. It was so good, when we ordered an entire pie and split it between 4 of us, imagining we would finish it later, the boys all ate their entire portions in one sitting. The pie was so creamy, and the crust was out of this world. If you are ever in Key West, this place is a must stop!
6. NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, BRING A SWEATSHIRT, BUG SPRAY, AND RAIN GEAR.
I have determined these 3 items are MUST HAVES on every single packing list. It doesn’t matter where you are going: the desert, the beach, or the mountains. Especially if you are camping along the way, you’re going to need these 3 things. Personal experience time:
While we were camping our way to Florida, which was consistently warm and didn’t require a sweatshirt, some of the places we stayed dipped down into the 40s at night. Needless to say, a sweatshirt was much appreciated.
In regards to rain gear: there is nothing more miserable than getting rained on during the night. Thankfully, due to some superior list making, our group decided to bring a tent just in case it did start to rain (which it did).
BUG SPRAY IS ESSENTIAL. JUST ASK MY 30+ BUG BITES (THAT I ACTUALLY TOOK THE TIME TO COUNT.) THAT IS ALL.
7. Sometimes, the unexpected things are the most beautiful.
There is nothing more amazing than recognizing the feeling of wonder in your heart, and knowing you are doing something that you’ll look back on and remember forever. I was blessed with a lot of these moments during the trip. Sometimes, it was the big things, like being surprised by a family member who payed for our whole gang to go snorkeling and dolphin watching (Thank you Mr. Teddy!!). But other times, it was the small moments, like when the boys would all be talking about some fancy engineering thing I totally didn’t understand, they would laugh and joke and I would just listen and watch. And even though I couldn’t see whoever was driving, I could see the crinkles by their eyes and know they were smiling, and there is something so raw and human about that kind of effortless happiness that just radiates beauty.
8. Boys are weird.
If you are a boy and you’re reading this, first of all, thanks! And second of all, you’re weird. I spent a week trying to figure out how boys think and why they do the things they do. I have gotten no farther on my quest for understanding. Why do you all feel the need to climb every tree you see?! And how in the world are you always hungry?
I did learn that even though there is a barrier between the way boys think and and the way girls do, it seems like we are better together. To the boys on my trip: you all help bring the child out of me, and help me learn how to relax just a little bit. Not to mention, I was thoroughly protected the entire week. So even though you are weird, I would love to keep you around for a bit. (:
9. Favorite places and things
Finally, here are some of my favorites from the trip. If you haven’t gone on a road trip before, go for it! Take the chance. It is incredible. It helps when you have a wonderful group of guys, too.
Flagler College, Saint Augustine, FL.
Ancient Spanish Monastery, Miami, FL.
Wynwood Art District, Miami, FL.
Gulf of Mexico/Key West