Stormy day in paradise

We reluctantly left Key West yesterday, but were fortunate to find a nice little low key resort on the island of Islamorada, in the upper keys.  This morning is overcast and very windy, making me think how scary it must be when big storms or hurricanes come this way. We're right on the water, so after this storm passes, we'll be ready to enjoy the scenery and relax in the sun.  According to the forecast, by sometime this afternoon we should be back to the beautiful weather the Florida Keys are known for.  Until then, it will be a much needed work day for us.

Key West

The drive down to Key West was really beautiful. The water was a beautiful blue/green color.  It’s the kind of water you see on postcards and travel websites.  Driving down all the islands is fun, but it’s a small road with lots of traffic – this is their high season.

They have several of these things were you put your face in. 

To me, Key West is very similar to New Orleans.  A main downtown street with lots of bars and restaurants.  You are allowed to carry drinks around, but the crowd is considerably older.  I’d say we’re about 20 year younger than most of the tourist.

We still had a good time in the local bars.  Several were open-air patios. Even in February the temps are near 80 and the lows are still in the 70s.

We went sailing one afternoon.  Nice to be on the water…not sure why I did take more pictures!

 

   

 

We toured Ernest Hemingway’s home and saw many of the famous 6 toed cats.  It’s also fun to walk from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf – takes about 20 minutes.

 

Surprisingly, there’s not really many beaches here.  The shore is filled with marinas and mangrove trees.  Even the beaches that are here aren’t just sand to the water…there are lots of rocks and we’ve heard that it’s painful to walk in the water without water shoes on.  There doesn’t seem to be a focus on the water.  There are plenty of boats, but not much swimming, snorkeling, or kayaking…which was a big surprise to us.  I guess the image of Key West being an island with beautiful beaches is definitely wrong.  Maybe the lack of water sports is due to being the middle of winter?

But, the weather has been amazing and the pool area at our hotel has been great.  We’ve spent a few hours each day at our pool and then we take a cab downtown to spend a few hours and have dinner.  It’s a great routine!

Everglades National Park

Today we visited the west side of Everglades.  We took a boat tour through the mangrove forest.  This area wasn’t swampy at all – not what we expected to see.  In fact, we saw no alligators, turtles, or snakes.  There was a possibility we could have seen a manatee, but no luck.  Our only wildlife sightings were birds – lots and lots of birds. 

We briefly thought renting an RV and staying here would be a nice way to pass the winter…Can you image this as your backyard?

We went down a very narrow area in the mangroves. It really was beautiful, but the pictures don’t do it justice.

 

It’s always interesting how animals are perfectly suited for their environment. Can you see the heron in this picture? He really blends in with the mangroves.

It was a nice day for a boat ride – loving this warm weather.  In fact, even at 7pm we were driving with the window down in short sleeves.

 

Disney World

Well,in Florida, you must go to Disney World, right?  I’ve been several times over the years and this was Jason’s second visit.  We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort with the help of one of my college friend that works there.  We arrived in the early afternoon to a beautiful day and spent all afternoon in the sun.

The first day in the park we went to Animal Kingdom.  Here’s us In our 3D glasses.

On our way to Expedition Everest.  We were really nervous about riding that roller coast based off a show we saw on the Travel Channel, but it actually was fun – we rediscovered our love for adventurous rides.

Day 2: There really aren’t many adventure rides in Hollywood Studios, nothing like Universal Studios, which we went to last time we were in Orlando.  The Aerosmith rollercoaster was a lot of fun, as was the stunt car show.  To be honest, the other attractions were disappointing. 

We spent a few evenings at Downtown Disney. So nice to be in shorts and short sleeves even at night!

Day 3: Magic Kingdom.  There’s the castle way in the background.  The off season is truly the way to do parks.  We rode Space Mountain twice in about fifteen minutes.  Last time we were here we spent over an hour in line.  We rode the Thunder Railroad three times, each time just walking right up, waiting less than five minutes.

I’d say the longest we waited for anything was about 10 minutes, most rides we could just walk right up.  We’re lucky to be able to visit this time of year. Beautiful warm weather and no crowds. I was very surprised how many kids were here.  I guess some families pull their kids out of school to take advantage of the off season as well.

I really enjoyed walking the 1.5 mile track around our resort in the evenings.  I had a nice break from the computer because surprisingly, they didn’t have WiFi.  There was a single wired connection, so Jason occupied that most of the time.  I couldn’t complain that I had the freedom to relax in the hammock or walk around. It’s so hard to believe this is my life.

Fort Sumter

Yesterday we toured Fort Sumter near Charleston.  For those of you that aren’t into American history, this is where the civil war began.  The fort is on an island – I’m sure in the summer it’s a beautiful boat ride out, but in January it’s pretty cold with the wind.  We were happy the sun was shining though..


Approaching the fort in 2011, is quite a different site than in 1861.  Today it doesn’t look like much, but the walls were much higher (50 feet) when it was active.  But, the civil war left it in ruins and it was never fully rebuilt.

However, once inside you get a feel for what the construction was like. A park ranger gave a very interesting talk on the fort and it’s significance.   We then had time to tour the grounds and museum on our own. 

In the evening, we went on a pub tour.  A tour guide took us to four different pubs downtown, spending about 30 minutes at each one getting a history lesson on Charleston.  It was an interesting way to learn about the city.  But, it was Friday night and several pubs had bands, so in some places it made it hard to hear.  I think I would have preferred a walking tour during the day, but since it was cold, the pub tour gave us a chance to learn and be warm…plus have a couple beers.

Leaving our home away from home

I've decided it doesn't matter how long you stay at the beach, it's always hard to leave.  When we visit in the fall a week never seems to be long enough, but surely a month is plenty of time, right?  Turns out no...the last day is always filled with regrets.
But, a month is a long time in another way.  Our beach condo did feel like home.  I took a 3 day trip to Aiken to visit my family and it was such a strange feeling to return to the beach condo.  It felt like coming back home.  We know this area of Myrtle Beach so well, all together we've spent almost 7 weeks here over the years.
It funny how we have our homes away from home.  It kind of reminds me of the hotel we stay at in Bozeman, Montana - which over the years we've stayed their about 3 weeks. I loved when we returned to Bozeman our second summer and the front desk staff remembered us!  They wanted to know what we had been up to, where we had gone, what our plans were for that year. 
I sometimes forget how fortune I am to return to these beautiful destinations and to have the opportunity to explore new places, but some how when it's time to leave it's hard to remember that - I'm sad that I have to leave...forgetting that most of my friends and family envy that I am at the beach at all.

 But, this time the sadness of leaving the beach is lessened because we're heading south to Florida.  Snowbird...prepare for flight.

Snowbird!

We decided to spend a month in Myrtle Beach this winter.  We’re back at the same resort we’ve visited twice before in the fall.  We got an ocean front one bedroom condo. It's great to unpack, not get in the car for days at a time, and do some cooking.  Jason bought a cheap table that he’s using as his work station while we’re here.  Hard to work too much when this is your backyard.


It’s been interesting seeing how different the ocean and sky can look each day.


And we’ve gotten two winter storms while we’ve been here!  No accumulation either time, but we certainly weren’t expecting this kind of winter weather.  It’s been unseasonably cold the entire month…