We spent our first night in a Best Western in Naples then drove through the Everglades via I-75, also known as Alligator Alley. Just in case anyone is wondering where the name "Alligator Alley" came from, let me share a photo that I took when we stopped to use a rest area off the highway:
Turns out this is actually an American crocodile...not an alligator. This sucker was just a few feet away (behind a fence, at least) giving us the stink eye. As we made our way through the I-75 stretch, we spotted over 25 gators (crocs?) hanging out in the canals on the side of the road. YIKES!! It makes me wonder how many there must be in all of the Glades, since this is just a very small strip of it. We considered stopping in the Seminole Indian Reservation for an airboat tour through the swamps, but a raging thunderstorm arrived and changed our minds quickly. Needless to say between the storm and the gators, I was praying to make it safely through the savage Everglades.
After our Alligator Alley adventure we continued to the Keys, starting with Key Largo, where we stopped to eat lunch. I ordered the conch fritters which are famous in the Keys, based on a recommendation from an old high school friend on Facebook (gotta love FB!) These fritters were just like the clamcakes I grew up eating in Massachusetts:
It's fun to go on vacation without a plan. That way you don't really have any sense of time, so there is no rushing from one place to the next. Our only plan was to drive until we got sick of it, stopping along the way to enjoy whatever sparked our interest. We stopped at Anne's Beach in Islamorada, then Sombrero Beach in Marathon. I quickly learned that the Keys are not really known for having great beaches, even though the water is calm and crystal clear, with variegating swirls of blue, turquoise, and green inviting you to jump in. The road to Key West is essentially a very long bridge over the ocean. Though the water is hypnotizingly beautiful, the beaches are mostly man-made and reek of tannic acid from the plantlife. In other words, the smell of sulfur overpowers. And so, traveling with children, all you hear is, "Peeee-euwww!"
With that said, we stopped at Buhia Honda State Park. My extensive internet research pointed to this park as being the best beach spot in the Keys. Of course I'm comparing to Hawaii, which is probably unfair to all the other beaches in the world, but the beaches here were not that great. However the snorkeling was good, the park had amazing walking trails and kayaking, and the views were splendid. The park was a real gem.
Of course, the most exciting part of the trip for Casey (besides the crocs) was discovering the iguanas that populated the island chain. They were everywhere! Casey chased iguanas in parking lots, in playgrounds, at the beach parks, and outside of our hotel room. I snapped this closeup photo of a big iguana at Sombrero beach:
While Casey chased the reptiles, I was chasing pie. I was on a mission to find the best in Key West. And I did, at the Blond Giraffe. (Kermit's was a close second, but I prefer my Key lime pie with meringue instead of whipped cream.)
For those of you who asked: We stayed in the Courtyard Marriot in Key West (another recommendation from a Facebook friend, who is stationed in Key West.) $189 for a suite (there were six of us) and that included a jetted hot tub, a full kitchen, a bedroom with two queen beds, a large living room with a pull-out queen sofa-bed, and sliders that opened up into our own private patio/garden area with a paved path directly to the pool and tiki bar. The hotel also offered free shuttle service every half hour to Duval Street, where all the action in Key West can be found. We loved it so much that we decided to stay a second night.
We did so much and saw so much on our short two-day getaway that this Blog entry might overwhelm. So I will end now and save the rest for my next post. Ta-Ta For Now.
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