February -ish - The Florida Keys

A few weeks ago we visitedFlorida.
Lots of people go to Florida.
And we went to see what we could see.
We like to see lots of things.

I really wanted to see the Florida Keys. 

We spent one day in the Keys. To help us make the most of our day, we decided to stop at the Tourist information centre keen on recommendations. Initially we were going to John Pennekamp State Park, but it was suggested we would see more and spend less time standing in a line up, if we drove out to Key West first thing. It was Friday morning, and we DID want to beat the traffic.  (Think Hwy 400 Northbound on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend.) The nice man suggested we reserve seats on a snorkeling trip in Key West for early afternoon, drive down, see the sights along the way, and walk around afterwards to catch the sunset. 

We hit the road and took 20 mins in Islamorada to visit Robbie's and feed the tarpon. But mostly to see the pelicans.  The highway is one big causeway that becomes a roadway lined with palm trees, on each Key. It's over 2 1/2 hours to Key West from the town of Homestead.

Once we reached Key West, we headed straight for our snorkeling charter, and headed out on the Gulf.  Loved sailing out for 8 miles!! Like deep sea fishing...without the fishing.  There is a light house built on the reef.  The reef actually stretches from Biscayne Key, near Miami, past Key West.  It was an amazing sight to us, and very quiet, under the water.  The fish swim fearlessly and paid very little attention to us.  All sorts of colors of fish and shapes of coral.  Like an aquarium, only you're bobbing on the surface of the water.  

On the trip back to shore, we were treated to complimentary beer. And you could have one to go and walk around town. The atmosphere on main street is VERY festive.  Duval street in Key West, is like Bourbon Street in New Orleans.  Wall to wall pubs and bars, with live music pouring out of every door. Ray had to pick up one souvenir so we dropped our gear off at the car. This was not the only place we spotted hens and roosters :)

And before heading out, we zipped to the other side of town and took a photo at the Southernmost tip of the continental USA.

And the sun set on our first day.