Ahhh... the Florida Keys. Think relaxation, sun, key lime everything and well... vacation!
As we were driving in, the sun was just beginning to set. Driving into the Keys is a real treat because you get to drive over bridges to get from island to island. It's a nice change from driving on plain old roads if you ask me. ;)
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| Drivin' in to Key Largo |
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| Water everywhere! |
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| Just in time to capture the sunset |
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| More water... |
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| Driving into the 2nd island of the keys, Islamadora |
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| Awesome drive!! |
When I used to think of the Florida Keys, my mind immediately goes to Key West. Key West is actually only the very far end of the chain of islands they call the Florida Keys. Most of the locals don't tend to go there since it's sort of deemed a touristy spot. The real beauty is in the islands preceding Key West. The islands we stayed in were Marathon and Big Pine Key.
Our first campground was called Sunshine Key RV Resort. It was on it's own little island!! Little did I know, we were traveling in Florida during it's "busy season"( Dec.- Apr) so it was hard to book a place to stay. Luckily this place had a couple spots open. I guess it's due to the fact that parts of Florida get unbearably hot and humid after those dates.
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| Sunshine Key Campground |
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| Grandma Pam's gift for Cedar |
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| The beach on the campground ( the sand looks nice but it's like quick sand) |
Jeff's mom, Pam flew out to meet us again. I guess she couldn't get enough of Cedar. ;)
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| Fun in the sun!! |
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| Not ready for the photo |
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| Cedar lovin the water! |
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| Sea urchins were everywhere |
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| Beach front campsites for some RVer's...maybe next year :) |
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| Little water baby |
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| Chhheessse! |
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| I liked this "hat" because it reminded me of the cover of Inglourious Basterds |
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| Beautiful Blue Ocean |
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| Pam and Jeff |
She stayed in Key West which was about a 45 minute drive from us. This was nice because she gave us a day to ourselves by watching Cedar overnight.
She also offered up her hotel for the night so we got to cruise Key West a little.
We ended up eating dinner at this Mexican restaurant on Duval Street called Old Town Mexican Cafe. As we were browsing through the menu, we noticed that there was an entree for Dolphin Tacos. I almost got up and left, but we decided to ask the waiter what was up. Little did I know (haha) that Mahi is also called the Dolphin Fish. It's a gorgeous gigantic blue fish with what looks like a large forehead. Obviously, we didn't order the "Dolphin tacos" but the veggie plate we did get was pretty good!
The next day, Pam and Cedar drove up to meet us and we spent the day hanging walking around the city.
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| A picture taken while we were in Key West |
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| aaaahhh.... (dang.. i should have shaved me legs for this photo...hahahaha j/k) Photo:King/KeyWest |
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| Hiii! |
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| Catch of the day! |
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| Duval Street.. a famous street to walk down and view Key West sights |
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| A mexican restaurant on Duval that we ate at |
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| We tried to get the sunset behind us but it had already set...haha |
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| another Key's sunset |
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| Key West |
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| Papa and Cedo skatin through the town |
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| Pretty house in the Key West... reminded me sort of New Orleans |
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| A pasta cafe that we ate dinner at... mmmm. |
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| These were two adorable little boys who were performing on Duval street! |
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| Ice cream shop! |
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| I got coconut!! yummmmy! |
After Pam left, we moved on north to the island of Marathon. Marathon is more of a commercially based island. By commercial based, I mean, it's got more of the bigger stores on the island. The biggest store I saw was Home Depot. Other than that it's still got an islandy feel to it.
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| I had no idea this is what a Mahi(as in Mahi-Mahi) aka Dolphin Fish looked like... |
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| Local Japanese restaurant on Marathon |
Our campground in Marathon was Jolly Roger Rv Resort. It wasn't as manicured as the previous one, however it did have a more family feel to it. Since we get some pretty awesome sunsets in Encinitas, while in Sunshine Key, we really didn't take advantage of watching the sunset. But I wanted to take full advantage of this campground's sunset outlook.
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| Jolly Roger Campground in Marathon, FL |
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| Home |
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| Gorgeous sunsets |
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| This was the lookout point where you could watch the sunset everyday... |
On our last day in the Keys, I wanted to find a beach where Gia and Cedar could hang. You'd be surprised to find out that most of the beaches in the Keys are sand-less. Meaning instead of powdery white sandy beaches, the shore is covered by sloppy slimy...slop. However, we did find the perfect beach called Coco Plum Beach. Not only could Gia be unleashed and carefree, there was miles of sand AND no portuguese man o wars! ( The previous beach we went to had so many we were afraid to go in the water) And the BEST part.... it was virtually deserted.
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| Cedar loving the beach |
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| Gia loving the shade after a cool dip in the ocean |
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| Hi mama! |
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| A whole beach just to ourselves ;) |
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| Coco Plum beach.. dog friendly....hidden... awesome... |
The weather is the Keys was a constant 75-80 degrees... like all day all night! It was perfect. I think I could have stayed there my whole life. (well maybe 6 months outta the year... I'd probably get island fever) ;)
One thing that I wish we had gotten a chance to check out was the National Crocodile Refuge near Key Largo. We just got done watching National Geographic's Ultimate Crocodile (chillingly frightening but AWESOME!)
It was almost heartbreaking to leave the Keys, BUT we did have to pick up my two little sisters and I had a yoga convention to go to in Miami so on we must go!! We had a couple of days to kill before then so an Everglades tour was definitely a must before we headed to Miami!
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| Driving on the Blue Star Memorial Highway.. |
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| Large conch display in Islamadora |
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| Weird giant crab in Key Largo... oh yeah and the lobster exhibit in the background ;) |
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| Driving out of the Keys towards the mainland |
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| Getting back to the alligator filled waterways of southern Florida |
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| Everglades/Miami here we come!!! |
