Blogs from Key West, Keys, Florida, United States, North America - page 12

Today was truly a highlight of the trip. After breakfast at the famous Pepe's, we decided to take the sailboat out to go snorkeling at the reef. The first stop was Western Dry Rocks, just a few miles west of Sand Key Lighthouse. The water was perfectly clear and it was a beautiful day for snorkeling. We spent about 90 minutes snorkeling around the reef and enjoying the afternoon. We saw some huge tarpon in schools, as well as some of the most beautiful parrot fish. After exploring, we decided to scoot over a few miles toward the lighthouse, and we picked up a mooring over at Sand Key Lighthouse. We spent another hour or so snorkeling there, where we saw a huge stingray as well as a pretty decent size nurse shark. Again, the tarpon ... read more

After the long sail yesterday, we dropped anchor just off the Barracuda Keys around midnight. We woke to the beautiful sunrise and a gorgeous beach. We hopped in the dingy and we rode over to the beach for a dip. There is a gorgeous limestone rock up the pass and we decided to dingy over and snorkel around it. There were a few grouper hanging around the rocks. Caroline found a Starfish and the boys found some Conch. We headed back to the boat around lunchtime, and after taking a break for some tacos, we decided to float around the sailboat for a while. We broke out the noodles and the kids jumped off the side of the boat for a while, before we hit the road again (well, not literally) and headed to Key West. ... read more

Fun in the Sun - Key West, FL After living in Florida for several years, one begins to master the bargains of the "off season". Florida generally has two main tourist seasons. The first, and probably most notable due to the influx of "Snowbirds", is from December through Easter. The second tourist season typically runs from June through mid-August when kids are out of school and parents are on a mission to experience that perfect family summer vacation (those were the days....) As for the weeks and months between those seasons....Sun-sational deals! Hotel: Being in-the-know FL residents, Matt and I waited to book our annual Key West trip until mid-May when hotel rates declined to a fraction of what they once were a week or two prior. Key West has a wide array of hotels and ... read more

All over the news these days is the swine flu outbreak. This past week the CDC put out a travel advisory for travel to Mexico which of course effects us on ships. I’m not in a position to comment into detail about the company’s approach to the entire thing - if you’re interested you can find out through proper channels like the company’s website, or chat with me on a personal level. But I can say that our regular itinerary has changed. Which cause some chaos on a planning and organizational level a couple days back. But now that the cruise is actually happening, we’re just enjoying our changed run. We already regularly stop in Key West. But usually we set sail by 2pm which is always a bit of a let-down because it’s such a ... read more

So it took a while but I've finally come to terms with the fact that I turned 30 last month and DAMN I did it in style!!!! My actual birthday was pretty quiet I went out to dinner with a friend. It was a mexican restaurant and I had mexicans sing happy birthday to me in spanish. That was right after they smeared cream on my nose and upper lip to look like a mexican moustache.......How rude!!!! I was not impressed. My friend thought it was hilarious, at least I got a free dessert out of the whole deal. My birthday was on a Thursday night so it was off to the usual local hang out The Blue Bar. One of my friends organised cupcakes which she bought out about five minutes after the whole bar ... read more