Scott & I just got back from a week vacation in the Florida Keys with his mom, Sherry. It was a very relaxing trip and couldn't come at a better time. It's been a stressful few months with the move and all the updating at the house. Our kitchen remodel is just around the corner as well! I'm so glad we were able to take the week to destress & enjoy some warm weather & sunny skies.
We flew to Miami on Saturday the 5th and met up with Sherry who flew separately from Spokane. The next morning, we picked up a rental car and then drove down to Key West where we stayed until Wednesday. On the way down we stopped for lunch & to visit the Turtle Hospital on Marathon Key. We arrived in Key West later in the day then spent some time at the pool after dinner. On Monday morning we got pictures at the Southernmost Point then toured the Hemingway House and climbed to the top of the lighthouse. We also toured the light keepers' house. On Tuesday we visited the Butterfly Conservatory which was super cool! In the afternoon we checked out Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and I also got a picture with the giant Conch shell in front of the local high school. On Wednesday morning we toured the Truman Little White House before heading to Key Largo. On Thursday morning we visited John Pennekamp State Park where we walked some of the trails and checked out the beach area (and saw a baby shark!). We spent a lot of time at the hotel just chilling, either at the pool or on their little beach and watched the sunset over the water-so pretty. On Friday morning we headed to Miami with a stop in the Everglades for a two-hour boat tour where we saw some cool wildlife. Unfortunately, we didn't see any manatees, but we still enjoyed it! We made it back to Miami in the evening and had dinner at the hotel. On Saturday morning we toured the Fairchild Botanical Garden in Coral Gables before taking Sherry to the airport. Since we still had a few hours before our flight, we drove into Miami Beach to have lunch (with a yummy gelato stop!) before heading to the airport ourselves for our flight home.
The puppies were well taken care of by our dogsitter, Lori, but I think they were pretty happy when we returned. We sure missed them, but a week of not having to wake up in the middle of the night to let them out was nice.
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| Our first picture in Florida. This was near our hotel. |
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| At the Turtle Hospital on Marathon Key. |
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| What a great place! They help rehabilitate these turtles who come in injured. Some have "bubble butt syndrome" and cannot be released into the wild. They keep them here & care for them. This is what happens when they get injured (usually from a boat strike) and air bubbles build up under their shells which warps the shells, making them unable to dive any longer to hunt for food or find safety from boats & predators. They attach little weights to the shells to help them, but they need to be replaced often as the shells grow. |
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| Scott feeding them little treats. |
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| Those round spots are the weights that they attach to their shells. |
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| One of the turtles that came in with tumors. They removed them and are waiting to make sure the turtle is well before it can be released back into the wild. |
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| We had a two-bedroom suite at the Santa Maria resort-it was so nice!! This was our room. |
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| It had a full kitchen and at night with their turn down service they brought us muffins, chocolates, water bottles & Dove ice cream bars. |
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| This was Sherry's room. |
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| We were in room 14 on the second floor. It had a huge balcony & a view of the pools. |
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| We took this picture on our walk to dinner. |
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| Cute mailbox! |
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| The southernmost point! It was a beautiful morning. |
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| I loved all the beautiful tropical flowers we found! |
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| The Hemingway House |
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| His office space where he wrote many of his books. |
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| The story of his cats. There were over 50 of them on the grounds! |
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| The house sat on a full acre of land with really beautiful landscaping. |
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| View from the top after 88 grueling stairs! It was hot! |
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| We could see the Hemingway house from the lighthouse; it's literally across the street. |
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| Light keepers' house & museum. |
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| At the beach by our hotel. We were disappointed that the sand was really crushed coral since the islands are surrounded by coral reefs. It was painful! We should have brought aqua shoes. The water was warm, though. |
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| The butterflies liked Scott's hat! He had several land on him! |
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| There were some cool birds in the butterfly area as well. |
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| And a turtle! |
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| This was a trail we walked at Fort Taylor State Park. |
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| Funny name of this tree-the Gumbo Limbo. We saw many on the island. |
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| We found Marilyn hanging out in downtown Key West. |
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| One of the interpretive trails we took; we learned a lot about the local trees. |
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| We saw so many of these little herons and iguanas at the hotel beach. We also saw an alligator! |
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| Watching the sunset on the beach in Key Largo. |
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| Scott on his phone in paradise haha. |
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| On the boat for our tour of the Everglades. |
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| Was weird to see Bald Eagles there! |
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| We were lucky to see horseshoe crabs who only come up during high tide and the full moon for mating. |
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| Luckily not a real alligator! |
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| Lots of flower pics coming up from the botanical garden! We were lucky and got a ride around the garden in a golf cart from one of the volunteers who gave us a lot of good information. |
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| Hard to see but that's an alligator dragging his lunch (a racoon) into the water. |
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| They had a few pieces from Chihuly there. |
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| It was cool to see orchids growing in the garden on trees and not in pots! |
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| This is called a petticoat palm. |
