The Drive Along the Keys

Thursday, March 17th – Homestead to Key West to Key Largo, Florida – Day 38

 We slept in on our most significant driving day in ages. We wanted to get up at 7:30 and that turned into 9:30. My alarm had been turned to such a low value no one heard it. Ooops… We packed up quickly and grabbed a quick breakfast on the road. Today, we decided to drive all the way to Key West. 

 Our first stop was Biscayne National Park. It was a thirty minute detour from our trip but the kids had completed the junior ranger booklets so we wanted to pick up the badge. Plus, we could check out the National Park. Unfortunately, most of Biscayne National Park is the water and islands miles off shore. The visitor centre had a pretty neat aquarium to look around, skulls of a variety of sea creatures, and a movie to check out. The kids were given their badges and off we went. 

 Next stop, John Pennekamp State Park near Key Largo. We lucked into two cancellations at John Pennekamp that will allow us to explore the Keys. We dropped off the trailer, set it up, showered quickly and we set off to Key West. The drive to the keys was mostly pretty average but sometime spectacular. Highway driving past small businesses, hotels, restaurants and the like was pretty dull but when you went from one key to the other across bridges small and large, the views were spectacular. Blue water on both sides, massive Mangrove swamps, sailboats travelling peacefully along. 

 We had two stops. Grocery store to grab some food and Bahia Honda State Park. Bahia Honda State Park has the most beautiful beach on the keys according to google. John paid for entrance thanks to his junior ranger membership that comes with one free park entry. We have been trying to book a site in this campsite for ages but there are no cancellations and there are only 20 sites. This is where the extra hours sleeping bit us. We wanted to get to Key West before sunset so we set a timer for 30 minutes and started to enjoy the beach. The water was shallow with areas of sand and sea grass. The kids saw a huge conch and a crab which bit my feet. A quick swim, sandwich and shower later we were back on the road. 

 Key West was another hour and a half drive from Bahia Honda. It is amazing how far Key West is from the mainland. We reached Key West and drove past the beach and the southern most tip of the United States. We would have gotten out to take a picture but there was a line and we wanted to get downtown to watch the sunset from the western side of the island. After finding parking, we wandered to Mallory Square. There were street performers, vendors stalls and a long sea wall that looked out onto the setting sun and a myriad of sailboats floating in the harbour. We waited while the sun set. Aisling, Charlotte and John selected some charms to buy from a vendor (a shooting star - Aisling, a flamingo - Charlotte and a duck – John). For the sunset I put Gen on my shoulders so she could get a picture above the crowds. It was really a lovely sunset with the sailboats and another Key framing the setting sun. 

 Once the sun had set, shopping began. As Mary and Gen wandered into a gift shop. John and I hit a waterfront dance floor to listen to some live latin music. John was too shy to dance by himself, but I put him on my shoulders and eventually he was wiggling away. He really loves dancing, kind of like his old man and sister Aisling. Eventually, everyone else joined us on the dance floor and we stayed for a few songs. But eventually, the shops started calling again so we looked through some more stores. 

 Today was St. Patrick’s day in Key West. We had already seen some inebriated partiers, but we headed to the main strip to find a restaurant for dinner to watch for more. We found a place with great food and another kid, Vincent, that the girls and John could play with. They even had a treasure box so the kids could choose a prize. After the prerequisite slice of Key Lime pie, we left the restaurant. On the way to the car, Mary had a bunch of fighter pilots try to pick her up. We chatted around a newspaper box doubling as a bar. There is a military base on Key West and military members can stay for free on the base. I was told that Key West is 20% richer than rich, 30% military, 20% tourists and 30% workers working as hard as they can to make everyone else happy. 

 Another 2-and-a-half-hour drive back to the campsite. Gen was driving but was so tired that Mary had to take over and steer us home. Then we were into bed for what turned out to be the worst sleep of all time.