park it overnight at boca chita

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it's easy to forget that Miami is surrounded by a National Park, well, two really, we have the Everglades off to the left and Biscayne National Park swallowing us up. Biscayne National Park is 95% under water and a speckling of little islands, most of which are open to the public if you can get there by boat. Boca Chita is one of those islands. 

As a kid, my family would pack us up on our family boat, a 70's Sea Ray called the Shagadelic and we would head to the island my brother affectionately and accurately dubbed "Mosquito Island." You tie up in one of the docks, check in with a Park Ranger and can stay the night on this small but wild island. There are msyerious houses run by solar energy, a nature path where you'll get eaten alive by mosquitos no matter the time of year, but, in turn, might get to see a blue crab or a dead bird, and there's a little mini beach where a hermit crab grabbed my finger and wouldn't let go. 

Now, my friends have taken to camping on the island over night and heading back first thing in the AM to make it to work on Monday morning. The Shagadelic had a cabin, so we would sleep in there, but now we take tents and coal for the grills on the island and do it the old fashioned way. We sleep outside, under the stars, and boy are there stars out there, and take a sweater because it cools off at night. Usually, by 9 we're so tired and it's been dark for so many hours that we're pretty ready to call it a night. We've made a bon fire before, but I don't know if that's technically allowed, if you're going to take the risk, be sure to pack stuff for s'mores. Duh. 

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