The Florida Keys

From Miami, we drove south all the way to Key West, spent the night Saturday night, and then slowly made our way back up through the Keys the next day.  We were super excited about driving Route 1 along the water - it's definitely one of the most beautiful stretches of highway we've ever seen.  However, it was a tad stressful driving down on this particular Saturday because of the myriad events taking place in the Keys that weekend - many of which greatly affected traffic (and hotel availability).  Among other things, there was a bike race going on in Key Largo, a two-day ultra marathon with runners starting in Key Largo and running 100 miles to Key West, a big festival put on by a cancer research fundraiser, and a fishing tournament.  It was actually pretty amazing to see the runners - after having run the New York marathon last fall, I can't even remotely imagine tacking on approximately three more marathons in immediate progression.  The heat and humidity didn't help, either.  Tom and I ran a measly 5K on Sunday morning and thought we were going to die.  I just don't know how these men and women covered 100 miles in two days!!!

So we got into the Keys late afternoon and checked into the only hotel with availability: a pretty awful Days Inn a few miles from Duval St., the city center.  It was a place to lay our heads, at least.  Then we drove into town and walked around - Key West is a chill, easygoing place to have a good time.  It was quite a contrast from the glitz and glamor of South Beach, but a welcome one.  We loved both cities for very different reasons.  In Key West, everyone is just happy and enjoying themselves as Jimmy Buffet music pours out of the open-air bars and restaurants.

We walked all the way from Mallory Square and Land's End Marina to the "southernmost point in the continental U.S."  After looking at a map, however, Tom and I are skeptical of the geographic accuracy of this landmark.  Also, every single hotel and house in this area claims to be the southernmost... it feels like a passive-aggressive battle!

Land's End Marina

After all this walking, we were starving, so we got some great seafood and pina coladas at a restaurant called Mangoes.  Then, we walked around the corner for some delicious desert.  Key Lime Pie is one of my very favorites, so of course, I had to have a slice in the city that is its namesake.  I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture, but it was giant and delicious.

After all the food, we were full and tired, so we called it a night.  The next morning, we went for that 5K run along the water.  Everything about it was awesome except for how we felt from the heat.  And we were feeling pathetic and awestruck as we saw these ultra marathoners running the last leg of their journey past us.

After that, we went back into town to see a few more quick sites.  We stopped at the Ernest Hemingway house hoping to get a peek at a six-toed cat without paying admission, but no dice.  We also walked to the end (and the beginning?) of Route 1.

All we could see for free of Ernie's abode...

There is so much more we wanted to see and do in Key West - especially since my friend Melanie sent us her awesome insider's tips - but we only had one night here... we definitely have to come back!

We started slowly making our way back up Route 1 in the late morning, stopping at beaches along the way.  Many of the beaches are state parks, so they're well-preserved and have public restrooms!  Our first stop was Bahia Honda State Park.  There was a lot of seaweed on the beach, but we could walk out pretty far into the water on sand bars which was cool.

Next, we went to Curry Hammock State Park.  This one had very minimal beach, but you could rent kayaks and row out to a giant sandbar, so that's exactly what we did.  There was far less seaweed here, so the water was much lighter and more blue-green.  Tons of boats had moored here and were just hanging out.  We had lots of fun rowing around and relaxing on the sand bar.  Plus, it was just plain gorgeous.

Our last stop was a public beach called Anne's Beach.  This seemed to be more of a local spot than the others.  There's a cool boardwalk hidden in the trees alongside this beach, and lots of people were were with their dogs or cooking out with family and friends.  Anne's Beach was a nice place to end our tour of the Keys, but there is still so much more we want to do here...

We finished the long drive back to Florida's mainland and stayed overnight in Florida City.  Next stop: the Everglades and Sanibel Island.  We've been in Florida for a full week already!