The Florida Keys
In spite of a torrential rainstorm we drove through on our way into the Keys, we managed to make it to Grassy Key and the town of Marathon (about half way down the Keys). Remember, there is only one road through the keys...at least this one was a two-way road now and bridges hoping from one key to the next (one seven-mile bridge).
We stayed at the Jolly Roger RV Park, had a beautiful site with lots of grass,a concrete patio, and a large grassy lot behind us that wasn't used for anything. We had coconut trees and palm trees shading us. We had absolutely beautiful views of the sunrise coming in our large back window every morning. It is a relatively small park with several planned activities like wine tasting (bring your own bottle to share), taco night (tacos provided, potluck for everything else), board game night (again bring a game to share), chili/poker run (admission was a can of chili, they combined all the different kinds and we walked around the park for the poker cards), a spaghetti supper for Valentine's Day which benefited the Sea Turtle Rescue mission, etc.
We spent one entire day at the Dolphin Research Center (just a couple doors down from the RV park). It is amazing how they can train the dolphins and the babies were so cute! Fun day!
There was eating out...Key Colony Inn's fabulous brunch and early fare, Sparkey's happy hour with 25 cent chicken wings and peel-and-eat shrimp, the Stuffed Pig, No Name Pub with its dollar bill decorations, the Florida Fishery, etc.
And, of course, there was Key West itself. We took two trips down, one primarily for bar hopping and the other for site seeing. And no trip is complete without sunset at Mallory Square with all the street performers (there is one street act that has trained cats -- yeah, regular run-of-the mill cats).
There were the beaches -- great for relaxing, sunning, and reading. (We didn't do much swimming and only a little wading.) Peterson's dogs enjoyed playing in the surf though.
We tended to do a lot of that (all three) not necessarily at the beach. One person told me reading is a Keys disease.
It was fun having the opportunity to spend time with great friends and just relax in the warm almost perfect weather (especially since the north was getting hammered over and over with cold, ice, and snow). We really did sympathize and worry about you all -- and it did make us appreciate the opportunity to enjoy the warmth we did. Jerry has worn shorts exclusively since we left Orlando.
In spite of a torrential rainstorm we drove through on our way into the Keys, we managed to make it to Grassy Key and the town of Marathon (about half way down the Keys). Remember, there is only one road through the keys...at least this one was a two-way road now and bridges hoping from one key to the next (one seven-mile bridge).
We stayed at the Jolly Roger RV Park, had a beautiful site with lots of grass,a concrete patio, and a large grassy lot behind us that wasn't used for anything. We had coconut trees and palm trees shading us. We had absolutely beautiful views of the sunrise coming in our large back window every morning. It is a relatively small park with several planned activities like wine tasting (bring your own bottle to share), taco night (tacos provided, potluck for everything else), board game night (again bring a game to share), chili/poker run (admission was a can of chili, they combined all the different kinds and we walked around the park for the poker cards), a spaghetti supper for Valentine's Day which benefited the Sea Turtle Rescue mission, etc.
We spent one entire day at the Dolphin Research Center (just a couple doors down from the RV park). It is amazing how they can train the dolphins and the babies were so cute! Fun day!
There was eating out...Key Colony Inn's fabulous brunch and early fare, Sparkey's happy hour with 25 cent chicken wings and peel-and-eat shrimp, the Stuffed Pig, No Name Pub with its dollar bill decorations, the Florida Fishery, etc.
And, of course, there was Key West itself. We took two trips down, one primarily for bar hopping and the other for site seeing. And no trip is complete without sunset at Mallory Square with all the street performers (there is one street act that has trained cats -- yeah, regular run-of-the mill cats).
There were the beaches -- great for relaxing, sunning, and reading. (We didn't do much swimming and only a little wading.) Peterson's dogs enjoyed playing in the surf though.
We tended to do a lot of that (all three) not necessarily at the beach. One person told me reading is a Keys disease.
It was fun having the opportunity to spend time with great friends and just relax in the warm almost perfect weather (especially since the north was getting hammered over and over with cold, ice, and snow). We really did sympathize and worry about you all -- and it did make us appreciate the opportunity to enjoy the warmth we did. Jerry has worn shorts exclusively since we left Orlando.
