Back From The Keys… Unfortunately
Got back Saturday night from a pleasant week-long journey to Key West and Key Largo. Very refreshing, but too short as all vacations seem to be. A European-style, government mandated 5-week holiday would do a better job of resetting my system.
The Keys were not what I expected, but beautiful nonetheless. I was envisioning miles of white sand, but most of the beaches were small, private, and man-made. However, our journey to the Dry Tortugas via a 5 hour round-trip boat ride gave me the tropical fix that I craved (along with a torturous case of sea sickness...).
Key West resembled the New Orleans French Quarter in more ways than I would have imagined. I could almost hear the jazz in the air with it's classic architecture, touristy t-shirt shops, street hot dog vendors, and ubiquitous alcohol stands. Key Largo was much quieter and less dense with resorts spread out all along the stretch of sunny U.S. 1. We snorkelled amongst huge baracuda, kayaked through tiny canals enclosed by creepy twisted tree roots, ate lots of delicious seafood, saw a few historic sites like an old residence of Ernest Hemingway's, and caught up on reading while sipping ice-cold margaritas by the sea. Now that we're back, my suntan resembles the prized catch in Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea — peeling away piece by piece much like the old man's fish was devoured by sharks bite by tragic bite.
And now it's back to the daily grind. Time to start planning next year's vacation. I'm thinking something very un-Florida like. Colorado perhaps? Alaska? Europe?
Check back soon for photos!