Getting the flavor of ... Key Largo’s underwater treasure

Key Largo’s underwater treasure

The world’s first underwater park is still worth getting wet for, said Cammy Clark in The Miami Herald. Fifty years ago last month, Key Largo’s John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was established to help preserve and protect the only reef along the continental U.S. Soon, Key Largo went from being an “idyllic but little-known subtropical island” to an “international tourist destination.” The “crystal clear” waters off the island’s shore are home to an “incredibly diverse ecosystem.” Living among the “wide array” of corals are sponges, shrimp, crabs, turtles, lobsters, eels, and “nearly 600 species of fish.” The surface offers plenty to explore as well, as the park also includes white sandy beaches, a marina, and trails for kayaking or canoeing through mangrove forests. Pennekamp kicked off its 50th anniversary with a week of activities, but it is a “family-friendly destination worth visiting any time of the year.”

Contact: Pennekamppark.com

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California’s Delta

Ninety minutes east of San Francisco lies an “entirely different” California, said Chris Colin in The New York Times. The “lovely, winding waterways” of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta comprise the West Coast’s largest estuary and weave together countless “wonderfully funky towns.” If you stay on the roads, you’ll see a lot of “muscular trucks hauling sleek jet skis” and be able to visit “cherry stands lined with American flags.” But touring the area by rented houseboat gave our weekend “a whiff of another era.” Traveling at 3 mph in a “9-ton floating shoebox” means you can “set the steering wheel, wander back to the kitchen,” mix yourself a cocktail, and “return to your post” without ever running aground or even breaking the aura of tranquility. On one shore, you might see pelicans or seals; on another, you might spot abandoned farm equipment. Best of all, the whole trip goes by on “Delta time.” Contact: Californiadelta.org