Finally Summer - The Florida Keys or Debby & Jim in Paradise

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After over 6 weeks on the road, freezing in Nashville and Bella Vista, jacket weather in TX, LA, MS, AL and the Panhandle of FL, and after 3 days of rain in Cape Coral, we have finally found summer. And not just any summer, but the laid back summer Jimmy Buffet sings about, "changes in latitude; changes in attitude," The Keys! I've been to Florida many times, but this is my first time in the Keys. We left Homestead around 9:00 am on Sunday, Feb. 2 (yes, it was Super Bowl Sunday) and headed south on Card Sound Road instead of Highway 1 because the waitress at Capri the night before had recommended we go that way. Less crowded, she said, and more scenic - mangrove swamps instead of concrete. This bridge had a $1 toll, but that seemed insignificant when viewing the beautiful water on either side of us. We caught back up with Highway 1 and headed south through Key Largo and Islamorada, where we stopped at the Visitors Center for some more maps and information on where to stay. Driving over the bridges between the keys, we marveled at the turquoise green water of the Gulf on our right and the shining dark blue water of the Atlantic on our left. Not knowing when we would get here, we hadn't made any reservations and hoped that Sunday night would not be too crowded. Jim remembered a place on Marathon Key where he and the boys had stayed several years ago. The motel was called Hidden Harbor, like his parents' place in Port Salerno, and was a turtle rescue habitat. I was looking forward to staying there, but, unfortunately, the motel part of the turtle rescue was no longer there. We heard they had had severe damage from Hurricane Wilma and had not reopened. So we continued on down the road and found Blue Waters Resort, also in Marathon. The resort was very cute with little efficiencies - ours had a full kitchen - but the cleanliness of the place was a little suspect. One great thing, though, was that Chad at the front desk gave us some really good recommendations about getting in and around Key West. There is quite a bit of roadwork in Key West right now so Chad directed us down the beach side and up Whitehead St. He also told us to park in the courthouse parking lot as no one is there on Sunday and the parking would be free. It was a short walk to Duval Street and the shops and attractions. We were a little hungry (and thirsty) by that time so we found a table on Sunset Pier and ordered a couple beers. I ordered the conch fritters and Jim got a salad. We felt our cares and worries melt away while we watched the boats and parasailers and listened to a group of young people play and sing some old favorites. Our goal, of course, was to watch the sunset, but we spent a very enjoyable afternoon walking around the shops, eating an ice cream cone, sampling key lime pie on a stick at Kermits on Duval St. and buying a few souvenirs. The sunset this time of year is at about 6:15 so we headed to Mallory Square around 5:00 with the idea of staking out a corner with a view. At this time, we both wanted a drink so we walked through Mallory Square to Sunset Pier off the Bistro restaurant. The hostess told us we could sit anywhere so we chose a table with a great view of the sunset. I ordered a margarita and Jim got a rum runner and we waited for the show. The couple sitting next to us was from Virginia and we spent an enjoyable hour talking to them. Chris and Bill taught us that you can tell how long it is until sunset by holding your fingers horizontally between the sun and the horizon - five minutes per finger. Of course, this started a lively discussion about different sized fingers and whose finger was the 5 minute size. The sun did not disappoint; it wasn't the most colorful sunset I had ever seen, but we all clapped when the sun slipped into the ocean. We drove back to Marathon Key and got back to our room just in time to watch the half time show and the second half of the Super Bowl.

Monday, Feb. 3. We got up in the morning and ate breakfast at the Stuffed Pig in Marathon. We had read good reviews on this place the night before; all said that it is a local place with good and different breakfasts. The reviews were right - the restaurant inside is old with dark wood walls filled with old photos and pig cartoons. We didn't realize until later that they have an outdoor garden. It would have been nice to sit outside, but the inside was very interesting and different. The food was good and filling with some odd offerings: chipped beef on toast (when was the last time you saw that on a menu?), conch, shrimp or crab Benedict and many different seafood omelets. I enjoyed the piglet breakfast with scrambled eggs, grits and really good pancakes. We decided to head back north and try to find a place in Islamorada for the night. We had a coupon book with several hotels and had gotten recommendations for a couple more, but they either didn't look like what we wanted or they didn't accept the coupons and the rooms were too expensive. Everyone told us that February is their high season. On an impulse, Jim pulled into the Ragged Edge resort. They had one efficiency room for $159 and we took it. This is a small, lovely resort on the ocean with a fishing dock and a small pool and sitting area. We fell in love with it. The resort gave us a pass to go to the beach at Founders Park, a short distance away, and we took advantage of it to go sit at the beach and swim in the not-that-warm Gulf water. The beach was surrounded by mangroves and the light from the water sparkled up on the leaves of the mangroves. I had read about this before and found it to be just as beautiful as I had imagined. The water itself was incredibly clear - like swimming in the Caribbean - and it was easy to see tiny fish darting back and forth. While we were sitting in the shade watching the palm trees and the boats floating by, I got some text messages from back home that they had 8" of snow in NY. It seems unreal to be sitting here in paradise while it is snowing at home. Thanks to Pat and Joan's recommendation, we had dinner at Lorelei's on the water in Islamorada and once again got the perfect table to watch the sunset. I had one of the best margaritas at Lorelei's and a wonderful yellowtail snapper sandwich. A band played muzak while the sun set once again in paradise. After dark, a magician named Michael Trixx performed outside. We watched for awhile and then left to go back to the resort. The stars and breeze beckoned so we sat outside for awhile and talked about maybe renting a place here next winter.

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Photos

Marathon Key
Our room at Blue Waters Resort

Key West
The End of the Rainbow

Key West
The perfect place to watch the sunset!

Key West
Paradise!

Such Clear Water!
See my feet?