Florida Keys and Beyond

After a refreshing nights sleep (actually I would like to say that but with the window air conditioner rattling, a street light shining in our eyes and the waste disposal experts picking up the large bin beside our window at 6 AM, I can't), we ventured forth for the breakfast part of the B&B.

Just at the end of our path is the breakfast bar with all the normal offerings, very fresh with lots of citrus and homemade breads. Tables were arranged around the pool, all very relaxing.

This view from the other side of the pool shows the breakfast bar to the left, tables to the right and more rooms in the old plantation behind. The B&B was once a cigar factory and the various rooms are made up of the old factory, the original plantation home and some of the managers houses. Our room was an managers house just back behind the breakfast bar.

After a relaxing breakfast and a lovely walk around, it was time to head down the main walkway and continue our adventure, much later than we should have. Once we found our car, we drove through old Key West and along the shoreline until the road left the island.

Driving back along the Keys I still took opportunities to stop and check out the old bridges still left standing. The middle section of this old bridge has been removed and the newer bridge is much higher to allow bigger boats to enter from the ocean. You can walk along a lot of the old bridges, but they are closed to traffic.

I pulled off the road to take a picture of the 7 mile bridge. As far as you can see is the bridge with a very high section in the distance just to the left in the picture. The 128 miles of road in the Keys is one lane each way and was very slow driving. It was well past lunch before we got back to the mainland, and well behind schedule I might add. And that was the best part of the drive.

By the time we found a suitable hotel and stopped for the night I was exhausted. The drive after the Keys took us through Miami. We had planned on taking A1A, the scenic route, through Miami but because we were running way late we decided to take the interstate. Big mistake. Just got on it and the traffic stopped. It took us almost 3 hours to cover the 10 miles we needed to go before we could get back onto A1A. By that time all the roads were jammed with commuter traffic and even the scenic route wasn't. The problem we found with A1A was that it was not very commercialized which made for a lovely drive but hard to find accommodations. We finally found a great hotel in West Palm Beach. By that time, I didn't even care that we bought our first house for the amount of one nights stay here (a slight exaggeration, but not much).

But, oh it felt good to get out of the car and the traffic and sit and unwind a bit. I would recommend the drive along the eastern seaboard along A1A to everyone. Its an absolutely breathtaking drive in places alongside mansions that have to be seen to be believed. We'd have to liquidate all our funds just to buy the front gate on some of these places. It makes for a wonderful drive though. I would recommend avoiding Miami (for heavens sake, avoid Miami). But I'm off the road and starting to breath normally again.

The hotel had a great seafood menu so I broke one of my rules about never eating in the hotel I'm staying at (actually I was just sick of driving). We had a great meal with a nice merlot; it was very relaxing. Brad, our son, called to wish me a Happy Birthday, which was great. I've always struggled to remember special occasions, its a relief to know your son has more class than you do; there's hope for the next generation, isn't there. We had a great nights sleep. I got up, made coffee in the room and went for a walk. Even finding a hot tub we didn't know about couldn't spoil the moment.

Just past the hot tub was the beach. Not nearly as warm but still a beautiful beach with no one around. I would have been tempted to stay at this lovely spot another day but, the kids are expecting some inheritance I'm sure. We breakfasted on some fruit we lifted from the B&B and hit the trail for home.

For most of the day we continued north on A1A, absolutely enjoying the ocean view and the mansions. We stopped at a number of roadside parks to stretch our legs but finally we had to turn westward across the middle of Florida and head home. After following the ocean the trip across the middle of Florida is boring and we never even took a picture till we got home. But now we're back and its raining here again. For 3 days we had beautiful weather and I spent my birthday someplace exotic so the trip was worth while.

Florida Keys-Part one

Although we have been in Florida for almost 3 months, we haven't done anything more than a day trip. We're only a few hundred miles from the Florida Keys so we decided that would make a great adventure for a few days. Driving due south of Bradenton takes us through Ft. Myers, Bonita Springs and Naples where we start the turn left at the bottom of Florida. Here we stopped at Fakahatchee State Park to view the alligators. They always look more interesting behind a fence.

Walking along the boardwalk, we came across this little snake, about 2 feet long and sitting in a tree alongside the fence rail. A ranger nearby said not to disturb it, its a cottonmouth and its bite is deadly. He doubted a helicopter could get you to the hospital in time. There went any ideas of draping it over our necks for photos.

Farther up the road we stopped at a picnic site for lunch in Big Cypress Preserve. The road we are travelling on has light traffic with no restaurants or stores for most of the west to east drive so a picnic fit the bill nicely.

There was a mile long boardwalk through the swamps at the picnic site so we went for a walk after lunch. It was a great walk; I can't imagine getting through the swamps on foot. It was bog for the whole walk. This is all part of the everglades and covers thousands of square miles just like this. Do you still want to buy some Florida land?

Eventually we left the mainland and drove onto the Keys. The first one is Key Largo and after passing over dozens of small islands and keys, you arrive at Key West, the last Key and roads end. This is a typical bridge that takes you from one island to the next. Some are very short and one is called seven mile bridge, so I guess its long. The original roads and bridges were built in the 1930's and have been replaced with wider stronger ones. In most cases they didn't remove the old bridges, they just knocked sections out so boats could pass through. That bridge is as narrow as it looks; I can only assume that traffic travelled one way at a time.

The old bridges were low arches, too low for most boats now which is why sections are removed. The keys are 126 miles long and mostly bridges so it must have been a major undertaking in the 1930's.

 We had stopped at a tourist office in Key West and booked a B&B ahead. This is the front of it. Its right in the heart of old Key West, a beautiful and picturesque town at the very end of the keys. It was a long drive so its nice to get to our hostel.

The B&B has no parking so I dropped off Carmen and our bags in the room and drove around until I found an open parking spot about 2 blocks away. The downside of a picturesque little town built before cars arrived and the roads were built for buggies. Thankfully Carmen had some Scottish nectar poured for me and all's right with the world again.

After suitable R&R time we ventured into old town Key West for sustenance. Although the establishment was called "The Rum Barrel" (which neither of us drinks) we loved the decor and were assured of other drink options. I had a beer and Carmen had a tea, pretty exotic, huh? We each had a great fish meal and then walked around the wharf area and main street. That was day one.