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An Artist and a Biker Go to Key West

We are back from our 25th anniversary road trip and there is so much I want to remember and cherish!

This is Part 1

Made these cookies for my birthday- we were doing all the vacation planning and budgeting at the time!

We drove all the way to the southernmost point of the US as our first part of the trip- 100 miles off the mainland over lots of bridges to go to Key West, Florida! And boy was it a long drive- days! Lol But it had been a dream of ours to do this for years.

Also- I had always wanted to see the aqua waters in Mallorica, and Greece, but this girl doesn’t have that kind of money. Thankfully, the water around the keys is very similar! (I actually thought it was better!) Ocean colors make me swoon and I was in absolute heaven!

We left our kids to take care of the house and pool and since they are mostly adults they did a great job. I was so proud of them. I want to take them with us next time!

We soon were on our way, but then…

After a huge flare-up and pain so bad I could hardly walk I got into an urgent care asap for a steroid shot. It was only day 2 of traveling and I should have known better! (It is common for this to happen with autoimmune conditions while traveling.) The shot worked an absolute treat and in an hour I was feeling so much better. The rest of our vacation was fine. Now we were closer to Key West than home!

We stayed 2 days and 2 nights on the island and we had the best time.

Already in the ocean in Tampa.
The highway connecting the keys, or little islands off the southern point of Florida. It’s about a hundred miles long and made up of over 60 bridges.
Alligator stop before we left the mainland!
Next to some of the bridges ran this railroad bridge, slowly rotting and dropping bits into the waters. It had been partially destroyed by a hurricane in the 30s. Parts of it had been repurposed for walking to Pigeon Key, and for fishing. But it was mostly derelict. Very cool.

We arrived right after lunch at our hotel. It was like a mini-resort, very nicely priced by the airport, with (most important we found out) free parking. The airport did not run at night and our hotel was actually very quiet. It was lovely and saved us a lot of money. We stayed at the Hilton Hampton Inn. I definitely recommend it! We even had an ocean view. That evening we ate dinner and watched the sunset.

Our hotel room was so nice!
Our Cheeky Tikki Hut bar by the pool at our hotel.
Gorgeous Victorian hotels!!! This is the Southernmost House. I wanted to stay here so badly! But the cost! Next time…
Our first night we ate on the southernmost pier. Live music, seafood and a beautiful sunset where the whole crowd clapped for it when it was over!
So glad to be here!
Sunset we watched from the southernmost pier. That was a tiny island a few miles out from us.

The next day we explored all over the island, walking through the sweet little shops in old town and a treat: going out on the ocean for a wonderful tour of the coral reef!

I really enjoyed all of the lovely and inspiring flora and fauna! Here is a mangrove swamp right in-between our hotel buildings!
Got this absolute gem of a book from a little bookstore on the island. It helped us identify so many things- especially birds!
Our catamaran for the glass-bottomed tour.
6 miles from our island was the coral reef. The water here is only 5’ deep! (As it is around the keys.)
I actually hate boats- but this was ok! We were at the very front of the bow and it was just like “The Life Aquatic”
The dock next to ours had a little visitor! No worries- big sharks aren’t in the waters here because of the shallow depths and coral reefs. This is a nurse shark.
Other tour boats. So fun.
Dessert after our coral reef boat adventure. Kermit’s had the best key lime pie we tried on the island. (Can’t wait to make some when I get home!)

The best part was swimming in the ocean. Beautiful water, beautiful beaches. Absolute heaven. We did wear water shoes because the beaches are coral and very rocky/ rough. But just look at these colors. I am in LOVE.

We swam at Fort Zachary Taylor beach- so nice!
Feet in the water always.

I will miss this place so much. The only problem was how expensive everything was! But touristy stuff usually is. Sigh. We both agreed that we could %100 live here happily the rest of our lives IF we won the lottery! Ha ha!

This is a very popular spot to have your picture taken. During the day the wait is usually over an hour. But in the evening? 5 minutes!

Next time is our second stop- New Orleans. See you soon!

-Jaime

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