Day 16 - The Florida Keys

Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013

We got up about 7:00 and had breakfast at the hotel.  It wasn't great, but it was included in the stay, so we made the best of it.  Just as we were about finished, Karen and Lloyd came in to eat.  Lloyd was feeling much better this morning, and both ate their breakfast.

We were ready to leave the hotel for a trip to the Florida Keys, and we left shortly after 9:00 am.  GPS Jill took us on a good route, that was mostly easy to follow.  We only had one glitch where there was some road construction, and Jill (or I) couldn't keep up.  The nice thing about a GPS is that even if you take the wrong route, it will get you back on track as soon as possible.  This glitch happened early in the trip, when we were still close to Fort Lauderdale.

Entering the Keys

Then, it was south west, and on towards the Keys.  Once we got over the bridge, we entered Key Largo.  As we have related before, there is only one route along the Keys, and we stayed on it.  When we came to Islamadora, we saw the place where Dawn and I had stopped for ice cream, the last time we were here.  At that time, we had turned around and headed back off the Keys, because it hadn't been all that interesting.  However, this time, we decided to stick it out and go as far as we could.  are we ever glad we did.

Manatee Mail Box

Everything from Islamadora on, was new to us.  The farther we went on the Keys, the more of the water we got to see.  Each of the Keys seemed to get smaller and narrower.  We went across the 7 mile bridge, and wouldn't you know it, the bridge was about 7 miles long.  At one of the Keys, we pulled off to see if we could find a restaurant or gas station so that we could go to the bathroom.  Well, this looked to be a pretty "ritzy" area, with large, well-kept houses.

Fishing Boats

Back on the highway (US 1) we continued, and finally came to a small gas station and store.  We went in, and use the bathroom, but figured we should purchase some snacks for the trip, because we had seen a Seafood Buffet that we wanted to stop and eat at, on the way back.  Wouldn't you know it, in less than a mile, the island widened out, and there was a fairly large town with lots of places we could have stopped for a snack and the use of a bathroom.

Key West

We continued on, and finally reached Key West.  There was road construction taking place (during week days, I assume), and it didn't look any different than the rest, except there was a Navy Air Base there.  I was getting close to turning around and heading back to Ft. Lauderdale, but decided we should go as far as the road would take us.  Good thing.

End of the Road

As we neared the end of the road, we came to Old Key West.  It was a real tourist area, with people walking around, riding bikes, drinking, and generally enjoying themselves.  There were lots of little shops, many with the typical tourist items, and lots of old buildings.  Most of the buildings we see down here are plastered/stuccoed walls.  Well most of the buildings in Old Key West had clapboard siding, which was quite surprising to us.

Finding a place to park was very difficult.  We drove around for quite a while, up and down narrow streets with bicycles coming from every direction, motorcycles, other cars, and people walking across and up and down the streets.  Finally, we came to a vacant parking spot and were able to squeeze into it.  It cost $2 per hour, so we found enough quarters to give us and hour on the meter.

One of the Shops

We were only looking for a few souvenirs, so went in some shops close by where we parked.  We found an open-air store, that was full of souvenirs, and of course, some were purchased.  Then on the way back to the car, we found another place that advertised key lime pie (on a stick), and went in.  We didn't buy and key lime pie, but did purchase a few more items.

Kissing Couple

Then, back to the car, and off we went.  This is where the road construction began to give Jill some problems.  The road she wanted us to take, was one way, the other direction.  Nothing I did enabled me to figure out how to get off this island.  Finally I stopped and asked a fellow who was loading his car at a shopping center.  He gave me directions, to the detour, and we were on our way.

This part of the trip wasn't as exciting, because we had already seen it coming down the Keys, but we at least got to see if from the other direction.  Then, when we thought we were getting close to where the Seafood Buffet was, we started looking more carefully.  It was getting dark by this time, so we had to watch carefully.  We did find it, and went in to eat.

House Boats

This was a big buffet.  There were all sorts of seafood (crab, oysters, shrimp, mahi mahi, snapper, along with others), various kinds of meats, lots of different salads, and various kinds of desserts.  It was a pretty big spread.  We all filled our plates with what we wanted, ate that, and then headed back to the buffet for more.  We could have gone back as many times as we wanted, after a couple plates, we were pretty full, so after a bathroom break, we headed back to the car.

By now it was dark, and it was just the long drive back to the hotel.  During the drive, both Karen and Lloyd had a sleep, and Dawn and I drove along, talking quietly and listening to music.  We navigated most of the way back to Fort Lauderdale with little trouble, but when we reached the construction, Jill took us another way through.  We weren't sure where she was taking us, and it rained quite hard shortly before we got there.  It was also raining slightly as we drove on, so it was even harder to see where we were, but we knew we didn't recognize the buildings.

However, suddenly Jill told us to turn right, and that we would arrive at the hotel.  About that time, we realized that she had brought us along another road that was a shorter path to get where we needed.  Enough of the driving, and sitting.  We had been going for almost 12 hours exactly, and I was tired of driving.  It was time for bed.

I told Karen and Lloyd that I would drive them to the airport, and Karen felt that we should leave the hotel at about 6:15.  So, that was the plan for the morning, and then it was time to retire.  Tomorrow is another day.