Southern Florida (Miami, Key West, Dry Tortugas)
Miami
After leaving Orlando, we spent a week in South Beach Miami. We quickly learned why it has earned a reputation as a party town. It turns out that we arrived the day before the NCAA football championship game. Our rental was one block away from the beach and we quickly realized that the street we were on was a hot spot for parties. For some reason many of the sportscasters were setup on the beach area just behind our rental. Our first night, we had a mix of people partying in the streets and large trucks and equipment moving the broadcasting equipment in to place all night long. There was a loud diesel engine just below our bedroom window. We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Fortunately, the parties tapered off significantly after game day.
The beach was beautiful. The water was much warmer than it was in Orlando and the sand was perfect. We went for several walks and runs, hunted for seashells, and enjoyed the warm(ish) water.
While we were there, we had a reminder of the effects of the pandemic. There was a cruise ship anchored about 1/2 mile off shore. There were several lights on and you could tell the engines were running. We watched one cruise ship leave the port of Miami and sail out to sea, without lights or passengers. It was almost eerie to see these huge floating hotels idling and to realize that they have been doing that for over a year now.
One of the highlights of Miami was the food. There was a grocery store called Meridian Market, near our rental that sold some AMAZING food. We went back a second time for dinner. We had their Pollo Fricassa, several varieties of rice, and plantains. It was delicious and cheap. We also got some pretty amazing takeout food from Puerto Sagua one night. They had tasty cubano sandwiches and stuffed tostones. So good!
Everglades National Park
We left Miami on our way to Key West, with a quick detour to see Everglades National Park. We had plenty of driving ahead of us, so our stop was shorter than we would have liked. We stopped at the visitor center for a passport stamp and a few pictures and then headed to the Anhinga Trail. The diversity of plant and wildlife was truly incredible. It is a place we could have spent days exploring.
Much of the northern part of the park (Shark Valley) was closed due to flooding that occurred earlier in the year. We read that the Anhinga Trail was one of the most likely places that we could see Alligators in the wild. It was a quick hike we could do without adding too much travel time. We saw the first alligator while driving down the highway. It was sitting a few feet from the road. I pulled over and we walked back to see it. Cristine was listening to a voice message from her family and ended up accidentally walking uncomfortably close to the “murder log” basking in the sun. Fortunately, we discovered that it wasn’t bothered by us at all. It remained entirely motionless the entire time. It apparently was not hungry or decided that we weren’t worth the effort.
The Ahninga trail was a very short boardwalk hike around a wetland area. Part of the boardwalk was over the water. We saw more alligators, tropical birds, turtles, and a few tourists.
On the way back to the highway, we passed a place called Robert Is Here. No joke. They had a fun petting zoo and aviary area in the back. The kids enjoyed feeding the macaws and parrots.
The Robert is Here shop also had some fun fruits. Cristine spent a long time speaking with the owner about the different varieties of tropical fruits they sold there. Some of the fruits Cristine hasn’t seen outside of Brazil and there were a few that were completely foreign to all of us. It was one of those fun, unplanned experiences that we cherish from this trip.
We drove the rest of the way to Key West as the sun was setting. It was a beautiful drive.
Dry Tortugas National Park
We stayed the night in Key West with the plan of visiting Dry Tortugas national park. Our friends, the Edwards, told us all about the island. It was one of the things we were most anticipating. They warned us to make sure to take Dramamine before the ferry trip so we decided to go purchase some at a drug store in Key West the night before. We made the mistake of getting the “non-drowsy” version. I made the additional mistake of taking a half dose. I was pretty certain I wouldn’t be affected because <chest thump> I’ve never gotten sea/motion sick before. The hubris gods had a good laugh at my expense that day.
We boarded the fast ferry, which had a catamaran-style hull and two massive jet-ski style engines propelling water from the stern. We sat on the top level near the front of the ferry. That was mistake #3. The first half of the trip was calm and very pleasant. Then the 6 foot swells started when we hit deep water. The fast ferry stayed true to its name. They didn’t ease up on the throttle until we reached the island. We were directly behind the bridge with only a thin wall separating us. We could hear the guys yelling “whoa!” whenever they hit a big wave. Several times we came out of our seats. I was sucking down ginger candies as fast as I could, but it didn’t help. Hayden and I both had a pretty rough time the rest of the trip.
If you take this trip, here’s my advice. Take the full dose of dramamine one hour before you leave and find a seat that is on the first floor and as far back on the ship as you can. The trip out to the island was miserable. The trip back to Key West was much better.
The island and fort was every bit as beautiful as we expected. It was super interesting to learn about the trade routes of the day and how this fortress was an important strategic hold due to the way the reefs restricted travel.
The kids enjoyed a little snorkeling. It was a little too cold and the seas were a little too rough to really enjoy it, but they gave it a shot and had fun in the process.
We spent some time exploring some of the beaches that were off the “well beaten path”. Due to the fact that it is a national park, all of the seashells were left on the island. There were impressive collections of conch shells and other fun sea treasures. It was a cool experience.
We also enjoyed exploring the fort and marveling at the fact that all of the building materials, including the massive iron cannons would have been shipped there on relatively primitive ships.
This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We hope to return some day to do some more exploring of the Everglades, Key West, and Dry Tortugas.
Next stop New Orleans!
