Day 12: Last Day in Key West

Yup. We know we have to return to jobs and school soon. Stop reminding us!

Today was our last day in Key West but we had by far the best weather day of our whole trip. 70, sunny, and breezy. It was be-a-u-ti-ful!

So we headed out this morning to drop off Jess and Caleb at church. They found a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints meeting house just a half mile from our condo so we dropped them off and hit Duval Street! Some of us have been sickly for days, a few of us needed to actually see the famous Duval Street, but since we aren’t exactly night owls, we were less likely to be checking it out at night when all the bars are hopping. We are more of the dinner at 5:30, bed by 9 kinda people. Don’t judge. To each his own.

We got our souvenirs, Christmas ornaments, shirts, magnets, etc and picked up the kiddos after church. Then we drove around to a few spots including Higgs Beach below before deciding that some of us needed a nap. We aren’t all healthy, so you gotta work with what you got.

A competitive game of tennis was watched from the balcony. They only lost 2/3 balls so that’s not bad right?

Oh one more thing - here is Papa. He’s just being Papa! Challenged himself to walk the can to the garbage on his head. He’s a hoot.

The beloved card game George was played for a few rounds while poor Caleb took a nap for his head cold. We were all healthy at the beginning of this trip - I swear!

Katie got it in her head that we should rent bikes, so Todd, Em, Kate, and I set off to the front desk to rent some and off we went. Probably the best thing I did all day. We biked 8 miles but it didn’t feel like it because it was all flat land. Not a hill or mountain in sight.

We saw a ton of cool stuff including a sting ray in the water! Didn’t have to snorkel with him. We could see him so clearly in the water. The crazy thing about the water here is that there are no waves. I attached a video below but literally, there are no waves. It’s like a lake. It’s kinda eerie. Maybe the waves break farther off the coast because there’s a reef or something???

Anyway, after realizing that sunset was coming we raced back to the condo and grabbed the rest of the gang to head down to Mallory Square for the famous Sunset Celebration. It’s a beachfront area with a boardwalk and a bunch of different street performers. It was cool. The ocean was beautiful and the setting sun with the sailboats was like a picture. Very cool.

We passed through an interesting Sculpture Garden on our way to find grub. Pretty interesting. Super cool that the creators left open space for further generations to add to it. That was kind.

We found Red Fish Blue Fish for dinner downtown and of our crew 4/8 loved their meals. Can everyone be happy at one restaurant? Is that a thing? Well either way, we had fun conversation, some loud laughs, and a few drinks while we enjoyed the company of those we love. People ordered cioppino, fish and chips, and jambalaya.

Now back at the condo we have the Golden Globes on one tv, the football game on another, two at the hottub, and two video editing (yup - Kate and Em have been working on vacation video editing for a YouTube channel). It’s been a joy to fill you in on our adventures over the last two weeks. As a teacher I know the value in reflection, and that’s really what these travel blogs are. It helps us recall the highs, lows, learning opportunities, and the needs we might still have. In the new year, may you focus, not on what could have been, but what is in front of you. Every day is a gift. Enjoy the present.

Day 11: Dry Tortugas

Todd here. My first time on the blog because Mrs Berry was a little under the weather - no pun intended. Actually 5 of 8 are not feeling well so we are down to 3 of us willing to take a 4-1/2 hour round trip ferry ride to Dry Tortugas. It was raining a little when we departed and we were chasing a small front so the seas were a little rough hence lots of seasick passengers - not a great start.

Dry Tortugas is the home of Fort Jefferson, a massive fortress guarding a very strategic waterway in the Gulf of Mexico called the Florida straits. After arriving we listened to a quick presentation which hit all the key points (highly recommended).

The islands were originally named Las Tortugas by Ponce De Leon who discovered they had a huge population of sea turtles. These were vital to sailors because they could keep the turtles alive on the ship and eat them over several days or weeks so basically a food source. Later renamed Dry Tortugas by the British because there is no fresh water so a warning to sailors - “byow” (bring your own water).

This group of islands is also one of a few natural deep water harbors in the gulf. So when the big storms hit that’s where the ships headed to wait out the storm. This is a map to show where we were (the green tree), where Cuba is below us, and where the other 5 sick people are (they are the blue dot).

These islands are also at the end of a huge barrier reef - the 3rd largest in the world - extending from Miami to Dry Tortugas including all the Florida keys. So if sailing from The east coast or Europe it was the corner where you turn right to head to the gulf ports like Pensacola, Mobile, or New Orleans.

So when the US bought the Louisiana purchase which encompassed the Midwest US and the huge Mississippi Valley waterways, Dry Tortugas became very important as it protected the Florida straights which is where the gulf current carries everything out of the Gulf of Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean. So if you wanted to get raw materials from the heartland of America to the east coast or Europe you had to go right by Dry Tortugas, basically the Gibraltar of the Gulf. This shipping route was so important to the US that we bought Florida and all the islands from Spain.

However since the early US didn’t have a big navy to compete with Britain, France or Spain they decided to build a huge fort that could withstand any assault from the big 3. The fort is the 3rd largest American fort. It took 16 million bricks. The floors were built out of granite and huge slabs of rock to withstand the recoil from huge 15” cannons - that’s a cannon the shoots cannonballs 15” in diameter! It also had a furnace that could heat the cannon balls red hot before they were fired at ships!  Ironically the fort never saw any fighting. But that was the idea - a fortress so feared it would never be attacked.  The fact that it was built out in the middle of the Gulf was a huge feat! There were seaplanes out there because that’s another, albeit faster, way to get to the island.

The water color was awesome. After viewing the 3 story fort (yes 3 stories!) we snorkeled and walked the beaches. The island had a spit of sand connecting it to a bird sanctuary in the next island over.  Can’t remember if they were boobies or terns. (Insert adolescent joke here!) Lots of huge conch shells but don’t take anything from the island or it’s a huge fine!

The 2 1/4 hour ride back gave me plenty of time to reflect and write this for y’all. And we got to go home to some slow roasted baby back ribs. Thanks mom!

Day 10: Lazying Around Because We Sick

Well not everyone, but half of our crew is feeling crumby. Katie and I spent a horrible night hugging the porcelain throne, and then slept a good ten hours last night. Applesauce and toast are all we ate today. Dinner was plain steamed rice. Exciting vacation huh? This was me and Grams at 11am. Not much changed throughout the day.

Ugh. At nearly 1pm, the healthy people decided to trek down to the famous Duval Street. Think Burbon Street in New Orleans but without the music. It’s just eateries and shops but they went and walked around in the heat - 86 here today. The hottest it’s been so far on our trip. After getting souvenirs, they sat down to eat at a restaurant - well most of them ate. Some people were still feeling a bit queezy. 

By the looks of it, and the accounts afterward, they had a good time. Got some shrimp and seafood which is what you’re supposed to eat when you’re in the Keys. They even make their Christmas tree in the town square out of lobster boxes. Cute touch. Katie ordered a big m&m cookie from this place but then didn’t feel good, so the cookie is sitting in the kitchen. 

Where were Grams and Papa during all of this? Resting on the couch watching crime dramas. Where was I? Well since I’m the only driver on our rental, I drove them down to Duval and then decided I was too tired to drive the 15 minutes back to our condo...so I found street parking and took a nap with the AC on low. I woke up an hour or so later and Todd and the kids were just finishing up their lunch. I waited a bit and then picked them up. My nap was good but it was probably the fifth I’d had so I’m clearly not better yet. Poo-ee. 

It’s so much like Hawaii, they even have Banyan trees here! Jess and Caleb have been enjoying the pool and hottub daily. Katie and Em took a nap this afternoon. And Grams and Papa got a lot of us sucked into this CSI show. I never watch that stuff but Lawrence Fishborne is pretty awesome. I see Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in the near future. Sadly some of us had to cancel our tour of Dry Tortugas tomorrow. The boat plus this stomach bug don’t equal anything good. The kids took lots of great photos of Duval Street while I slept like a hobo in my car. You know you’re sick when you can’t drive 15 minutes. It just felt like an eternity. Until tomorrow friends. Hopefully a few more of us will be healed and might venture out of the condo. 

Day 9: Key West and the sickness....

I didn’t mention it yesterday but Papa hasn’t been feeling great. We are hoping he just needs to eat healthier and doesn’t have a bug that will pass to the rest of us. Jess woke up last night with ear pain so bad she thought she needed an ER (most everyone knows how much we like to check out the local ER’s when we are on vacation), but alas, after two ibuprofen she woke up feeling better. We are keeping our fingers crossed on that one. Katie wasn’t feeing great this evening and now I’m feeling a tummy bug coming on. Let’s all pray it’s just all the great food we’ve been eating.

Today we checked out of Key Largo and trekked 2.5 hours further southwest to the island of Key West. We saw so much along the way! I thought the islands would be more sandy but they are actually covered in trees called mangroves. So most islands just look like huge forests. Very few actually have sandy beaches. But they still provided for a beautiful drive. The water is a beautiful shade of blue and teal. Amazing.

Along the way we saw the remnants of the old bridge you can see in the picture above off to the right and what was probably the original train line. I’m not sure if they plan to dismantle it or not but right now it’s a cool historic thing to check out. We stopped along the way at Sombrero Beach. It was a beautiful beach with white sand and it looked like a great place to relax for the day...but we were only an hour southwest and still had another hour to go. So we jumped back in the car after snapping some pictures.

Do you see those dark clouds above our heads? Yeah the climate here is similar to Hawaii - if you don’t like the rain just wait 5 minutes. So west we went for another hour and I’m sure Todd has a million pictures of the drive, but as the driver, I listened to a few chapter of my newest audiobook. We stopped for lunch on Marathon Island and found a very cool spot called Dave’s Big Mouth Eatary. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food and I did too...but as I sit here with a tummy ache I’m hoping it wasn’t my lunch. The BBQ chicken flatbread was soooo good!

We had some time to kill so we went and checked out Fort Zachary Taylor. He was out 12th president and this fort was built before the Civil War. When Florida seceded from the union in 1861, one Captain named John Milton Brannan marched to the fort and held it in union hands so the confederates couldn’t use it. During the Civil War, only three southern forts were held in the union’s hands, and we will visit one of the other three on Saturday (Fort Jefferson).

A fun historical walk around and we jumped back in the air conditioned van. Have we mentioned that we hate the humidity here? Yeah, we live in California for a reason. Dry heat!

Before checking into our next Airbnb, we stopped at the Southernmost Point in the continental US. This is the furthest south you can drive in the states. And there’s a line to take a picture there...so Katie snapped this one and we moved along. We don’t wait in lines unless there’s a Disney ride at the end of it.

The condo is a condo and nothing fancy. I’m glad to be able to afford to stay in this part of the Keys. This time of year most Airbnb’s are over $800 a night and one was even a boat for that price. I don’t know about your grandma, but ours isn’t sleeping on a boat for four nights.

I’m laying in bed with a stomach ache, Katie just threw up so she’s feeling better next to me, and I hear Wheel of Fortune in the living room while the healthy people eat dinner. Sometimes vacation feels just like home. Dinner and tv. Chatting and playing cards. We are in a different place but the day to day stresses of normal life don’t follow us on vacation. And that’s probably why we vaca so much. That, and you can’t take the money with you! Live life! Do the things! Explore the vast world around you - you might even learn about the 12th president Zachary Taylor.

Day 8: Key Largo

We started off with a home cooked breakfast of pancakes, blueberries, sausage, and OJ. Ah, the perks of renting a condo. And our condo is fantastic. You can rent it if you’re ever in Key Largo. It’s at Ocean Pointe and we stayed in Sunbeam Dream. The condo was stocked with wonderful linens, tennis rackets, beach chairs, and even fishing polls. It WAS a dream!  https://abnb.me/knk8nFOhaT Being able to cook and hang out is awesome. Perfect for days like today. Day 8.

After breakfast we packed sandwiches and headed to John Pennycamp State Park. It’s a pretty popular beach here in Key Largo so we weren’t the only ones there. After paying a nominal $11 gate fee, we walked through the visitor’s center and saw some great aquariums with colorful fish.

We learned that we were about to embark on a snorkeling adventure that was not actually in the ocean. We were walking across the parking lot to Largo Sound. It’s technically not the ocean but it was a little salty. Jess and Caleb went snorkeling while the rest of us enjoyed the beach and the breeze.

Kate and Em flirted with a cute little 10 month old named Jack that crawled over to their sun bathing area. He was a cutie pie and was such a talker! His parents were from Florida but up north in Homestead. They were on vacation with the grandparents too. It’s nice to see other multigenerational families enjoying time together. We have done that a ton over the last week.

After beaching and lounging, we headed to a few stores and stopped for dinner items before heading back to check on Grams and Papa. They were home enjoying the quiet and calm. We caught them watching Property Brothers which means they are probably going home with a new remodel project ;)

We brought home a puzzle and set to work on that. It’s a group effort and as I sit here at 8pm writing this, there’s still a group working on it. That’s the nice thing about puzzles. You can get up and walk away from them and return later.

Pretty fitting puzzle to find at a thrift store here huh? The kids headed down to the pool and hotub and Todd and I checked out the marina and the dock. He even found this boat that seemed like a fitting name. It’s windy here but beautiful. The ocean is empty. Very few boats out there but I think that will change as we head south to Key West tomorrow.

Toddy cooked dinner for us all and we settled in the watch Eat, Pray, Love on tv. It’s a pretty good movie for the kind of vacation that we are on. Until tomorrow friends.