Daily "Impressions"

 

The last full day in the Keys we took a road trip to visit Key West.  We did a little exploring along the way, to see the other Keys and make mental notes about where we might look into staying if we ever returned, and to visit some of the sites.  This is Bahia Honda Beach.  It is supposed to have been ranked as the second most beautiful beach in America, and it could well earn that title.....but it would have to be in the "natural" category, as there was a lot of seaweed that day.  I can't get over those long legs on Lauren- looks just like me at that age!

Lauren was a little hesitant about going swimming with the seaweed because of having been stung by that jellyfish on our second day, but she bravely persevered!  Fortunately all was well.

  This is where we finally got to use the big umbrella we bought at Costco before leaving.  I know we'll get plenty of use out of this through the years, but we didn't use it much on vacation - most beaches provided them at the resorts we stayed at.

It was VERY hot this day, and sporting a sunburn on my back from snorkeling (despite the 70 spf I used!) I decided to hold down the fort while everyone else went swimming.  Dave kept his shirt on for the same reason!

We had lunch on the way down the Keys at this Cracked Conch Cafe and it was superb!  Dave and I got a fresh fish sandwich blackened - OMG so good!  It was open air, but a good iced tea and the smell of the food was worth it.

The night before we had Conch Fritters and Conch Chowder, so the kids didn't opt for that this day - it was met with cool reviews.

Finally making it to Key West, the first thing we did was to go and take our picture at the Southernmost Point of the USA.  Only 90 miles from Cuba - closer than to Miami!  These crazy geographic landmarks are kind of fun - like the 4 corners out west and the Continental Divide - we've seen many of them!

This was the funniest thing we saw down there - this guy surf paddling with his dog in a life jacket  - but not him of course!  We wondered if this was rush hour commuting for Key West!

It wasn't long after parking that we needed something cold - did I mention it was HOT that day?  So we stopped at a stand and Dave and I got Key Lime Sherbet Freezes - OMG good!!!!!  The kids opted for frozen strawberry lemonade.  Very refreshing.   This is the square down by the water.  The restaurant behind us is the Red Fish, Blue Fish where we later returned for dinner.  The boat is home to a crazy rooster that tries to jump from the boat into that tree behind it....not successful while we watched.  There were roosters all over the place - I think it must be the Cuban influence.  And there were also "ShipWreck Castaways" as I called them.....long haired, sunburned, dred locked, seriously looked like they were Robinson Crusoe wannabees on every corner making some kind of palm leaf sculptures for cash.  The kids got embarrassed when I called them that, but I was in a motherly way trying to express my disapproval should they choose that lifestyle!  I refrained from taking pictures of them though....they probably would have charged me for it!

 After a fantastic dinner at the restaurant I mentioned - I had this salad - we headed toward the water to kill the last bit of time we had left on the parking meter.  We ended up at the Sunset Celebration that is held every night on the boardwalk.  It was really fun.  Lots of street performers, and artist displays that were charming.  Lauren got pulled into this "magicians' act.  He was quite foul mouthed

despite the number of children around and we wandered away quickly.  He gave us a CD for her participation, but I haven't let the kids watch it yet - we may need to preview it.  He was really funny when he kept it clean, so I almost felt like it was uncontrollable in some way.

This guy was making gigantic bubbles and had a golden retriever in boxers that chased them to pop them.  He would yell "Watch OUT" each time he made one so that people didn't get hit by them.   They were pretty as they caught the sunset colors.

So that was our day at Key West.  It took ALL DAY to travel the 90 miles to get there - of course we did stop, but still I wish we had returned sooner to enjoy our last night at the resort.  Key West was too commercialized and touristy for my tastes - we liked our Key Largo area better!  But it was fun to say we've been there and I always enjoy seeing local architecture etc....and if you want to shop, that is the place in the Keys to do it!

Still to come - our trip begins heading back north as we work our way home, but we still have several stops along the way - tomorrow I'll post Singer Island beach day.

Smiles,

Susan