"Florida Keys" Florida Keys Travelogue by paradisedreamer

We were all passed out by 8:30pm which meant that at 4:30 this morning I was wide awake. I peeked out the curtains – palm trees, swimming pool and the sea!

We went for a nice walk on the Beach. All sorts of people were out and about which I thought was fantastic. We saw orthodox Jews in full black suits and harts jogging or walking along the boardwalk. People young old every colour and size even a Buddhist monk in traditional robes. We walked down to Denny’s and had a huge breakfast which I thought wee would never finish but somehow we did! We walked back along the beach to the hotel and checked out.

We took a drive around the art deco district and then made our way to the Keys. They were not quite as we had expected, you never felt you were on islands and we did not come across the long bridges we had expected (Mission impossible II style). What we didn’t realize was that they were actually just after Marathon Key where we would be staying.

On Islamorada we stopped at The Theatre of the Sea, it was expensive ($24 adult and $16 for kids) but Sam really enjoyed it. There was a parrot show and an excellent dolphin show. In the sea lion show Sam got a nice wet soppy hug. We then went on the bottomless boat and one of the dolphins jumped through the hoop in the middle. We decided to watch the dolphin show again, first time Sammy was too shy to volunteer but this time she did and she got to touch the dolphin AND get a kiss! I cajoled Marc into going up as well, I could see he was dying to.

It was about another hours drive to the Holiday Inn on Marathon Key. The sun was just beginning to set. By this time Sam was exhausted and starting to whine. We just got some sandwiches and some bananas (the only bananas) from K-mart. The enigma of fresh fruit in the US is still eluding us!

We got up nice and early and were rewarded with a gorgeous sunrise form the balcony. After breakfast we spent the morning by the pool. It was even hotter today with less wind so it was probably a good thing we decided to go to Key West in the afternoon.

We stopped on old seven mile bridge and they were actually setting up a movie shoot on the bridge. It took about an hour and a half to get to Key West. Sam slept most of the way which was really good. Once there we decided not to take the tourist trolley tour as it was $22 each and Sam would probably die of boredom. We had some lunch and walked around Duval street area and then made our way to Mallory Square to watch the sunset. There were a lot of street performers which totally enthralled Sam. We saw a juggle (with fire) and an escape artist. The escape artist was double jointed and the woman in front of me clung to my arm proclaiming in a southern accent that she was gonna pass out as he twisted his shoulders out of joint to wriggle out of a straight jacket and chains.

On the way back to find Marc, I accidentally walked between a couple getting married! I didn’t even see them until Marc told me what I had done, I was so embarrassed! I did it mid ceremony as they exchanged rings, well I mean of all the places to get married! I felt like a right plonker – sorry!

The sunset was really stunning and as the sun dipped over the horizon everyone began whooping and clapping in true American style. We walked back along the waterfront to the Hilton hotel where we had parked the car.

It was dark by this time and we drove along Duval street which was really vibey, lots of really great looking bars and shops. At the end of Duval street and to the right we found the southernmost top of the US. I was expecting there to be a pier or something but it was literally just the sign on the pavement. Well at least we did the tourist thing and took our picture there.

Dinner consisted of Krispy Kreme Donuts in the car as we drove back to Marathon.