Key West Day 1

Day 45 - Key West - Sunny mid 80's:

Ben got up early and took the ferry over to the mainland for a run. While he was gone I got up and retrieved our breakfast basket. They place it on your porch each morning with assorted warm muffins, fresh fruit, orange juice, and a newspaper. It was a real treat! Once Ben returned we headed out to the pool. The pool was outstanding. It had a waterfall and we also a zero degree entry which means it's just like walking from the beach into the water...there are no steps, you just walk right into the water. We laid out and enjoyed the sunshine until it was time for lunch. We had sandwiches and then headed to get the ferry to the mainland.

When we arrived back on land we headed right over to the Conch Tour Train. It was a great introduction to Key West. We were able to learn about the history and get a lay land without having to walk it all!

Things I learned:

1. The original custom's house is where the hearing about the USS Maine was held.
2. Key West has the second largest Banyan Tree to Hawaii.
3. Key West as more 19th Century architecture than the rest of Florida as a whole.
4. Sponging was one of the many million-dollar industries that Key West has seen come and go. (they actually have a sponge store where you can get REAL sponge).
5. There is a park in town that has a GORGEOUS Mahogany tree that was split in two by a hurricane. Rather than die the tree continues to grow in two directions.
6. The Meadows is an area of Key West where all of the houses were built by shipbuilders. This is clear due to how the area was constructed. All of the houses are very close together just like bunks on a ship. They were also built without nails so as to allow the houses to sway with the wind...clearly it worked as these houses are still standing in the face of Florida hurricanes. They also all have tin roofs so that they could collect rain water for drinking as well as protect from fire.
7. I wrote down that Key West was created in part by the Red Mangrove Tree. (I'm not sure how maybe this would be a good project for a student...I may be mistaken but I do know what Key West has increased in size though).
8. Key West did not have water piped in to them from the mainland of Florida until 1941.
9. The business of Shipwrecking made Key West one of the richest places per capita in the US at one point.
10. Key West is further south than Cairo by 287 miles.
11. The highest point in Key West is approximately 16ft above sea level.
12. There are no natural beaches in Key West due to the Coral Reef surounding the islands. Beaches need waves in order to be created and the reef causes the waves to crash too far out from the coast. Therefore all the beaches have sand shipped either from the Bahama area or the Miami area.
13. A large number of houses on the island are built from the remains of shipwrecks.
14. Most of the porches have blue ceilings. This is for two reasons. The first is that it is belived that it would trick evil spirits into thinking that it is the sky and not a house so they stay away. The second was that it tricks bees, hornets, and other bugs into thinking that it is sky and so they do not create nests there...it REALLY WORKS!

After we finished our tour we made our way over to watch the "sunset." Naturally there were too many clouds and so we didn't actually see the sunset. From there we head to B O's Fish Wagon. Becky had reccommended the fish sandwich there so Ben got that. He enjoyed it very much! We then spent time walking the famous Duval Street. We stopped in at a number of local spots to listen to the live music. I was amazed at how many different restaurants and bars had live music!! It was great.

Once we had enough of the streets we hopped back on the boat for another trip back to the island. Ben hit the pool and hot tub while I did some work on the computer in the room. We watched a bit of TV before heading to bed to rest for the next days adventures!!

Key Largo, Montigo, Baby Why Don't We Go...

Day 44 - Key Largo - Sunny and mid 80's:

We got up early and headed out of our wonderful home away from home in Miami to make our way to Key West. Our first stop along the way was in Key West. We had plans to do some snorkling while we were there. Our trip was AMAZING. We headed out of the canal into the big ocean at John Pennycamp State Park.

We made some quick friends with a family who are traveing the country as well. The kids were awesome and we had so much fun getting to know them. They kept Ben quite entertained. The kids were excited as this was their first trip snorkeling. They were wonderful and maybe we'll run into them again...in the meantime we are following their blog. You can check it out too, it's located here!

Back to the water...Ben has been SCUBA diving before but this was my first time being in the Ocean looking at all of the amazing sea life. We saw so many fish and jelly fish (ahhhh!). The water was a bit rough but as long as you were actually in the water you really didn't notice. Our first stop was in a more shallow area on the reef. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The fish were so beautiful. It did freak me out a bit when I would get close to the reef as we had been instructed not to touch the reef unless it was an EMERGENCY as it takes a year coral to grow 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. After about an hour we headed back to to the boat to move to a new location.

Our second stop was at a deeper location. This location wasn't quite as clear as the first location. Here we saw more fish and Ben was able to do some diving down deep to see more. We were able to see brain coral at this location. It take about 50 years for brain coral to reach the size of a basketball!! I didn't stay out quite as long as Ben this time because I was not interested in diving down deep and staying on the top didn't really provide a great view due to the rougher water and angle of the sun. After our second stop we headed back into the docks. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that I confronted a few fears that I had and jumped in the water!

Once we were back on land we changed out of our swimsuits and hit the road for Key West. I was really looking forward to the beautiful drive BUT I fell asleep. Ben was able to see all the sights and the SEVEN MILE bridge. I was disappointed but figured I would see it on the way back. When we arrived we checked in at the hotel. We knew that we would be taking a ferry to a small island where our room would be located so we decided to grab dinner before getting on the boat. They took our luggage and brought it over to the room while we went to dinner. We headed to the Hog's Breath Saloon to grab a bite to eat.

After dinner we jumped on the ferry and headed over to our room. It was a short 10 minute boat ride. When we departed the concierge met us and gave us a tour of the property before bringing us to our room. It was AMAZING. We had a two-bedroom cottage right near the pool. Once we settled in we headed to the hot tub to relax before hitting the hay.

Pics Updated

We've updated the pictures including Ben's BIG fish! We will get caught up on our entries this week...PROMISE!

Welcome to Miami

Day 42 & 43 - Miami, FL - Sunny and upper 80's:

We headed out of Delray around 11:30am to make our way to Miami! We are fortunate that Christina (a friend for years) lives and Miami and was more than happy to have us stay with her and her cousin. She lives in a great spot overlooking the bay and just across the bridge from South Beach. Once we arrived we headed straight to the beach. It was a beautiful day. They were even doing a photo shoot on the beach which was neat to see. We returned to Christina's apartment to shower and wait for her boyfriend James to get home from work. Once he arrived we headed to P.F. Chang's for dinner. It was delicious and I want to let you know that when they call their dessert the "The Great Wall of Chocolate Cake" they aren't kidding. Once piece fed all of us!!

The next morning we slept in a bit before Ben and I headed back to South Beach. We walked around town visiting places like Miami Ink (the show on TLC), DASH (from Keeping up with the Kardashians), and Lincoln Ave (a no car shopping street that stretches for at least 6 blocks). We grabbed lunch at a little place called Paul's. It was DELICIOUS. We met up with Christina later that afternoon and headed back to lay on the beach. We saw another photo shoot. If I had to guess, it was for JCrew or a similar clothing line. It was a much bigger production than the shoot from yesterday. We again headed back to the apartment for showers before heading out to dinner. Christina, Tatiana (her cousin), Ben and I headed to Crazy Pianos a dueling piano restaurant. It was a great spot. The have two pianos set up and they play together all night. Different people play but the music never stops. They were very impressive musicians and if I lived in Miami I would definitely head back to this spot!

Christmas Spirit

Day 41 - Delray Beach - Overcast and Rainy mid 80's:

Following our fishing adventure, we took it easy for the day. I got up early and headed over to the hotel to use the gym. Ben was going to go for a run but I took his shoes with me to town. This is one of the downfalls of having everything in the car. Once I got back we headed into town for lunch. We walked the streets of Delray and grabbed lunch before making our way to Mark's office to watch the Holiday Parade. I was very bummed that I didn't manage to bring the camera...we tried to get back to get it but too many streets were blocked and we would have missed it completely. Erin did a great job passing out candy canes an spreading holiday cheer. The only downside was that as soon as the parade started, the rain started...oh well!

After the parade we headed back to the house to get ready for dinner. We went with Mark, Becky, Sean, Suzy, Jay...and a few other friends to Boston's. It was great!! I highly recommend it! Erin was at a holiday party so she was enjoying herself with a bunch of friends. We got home late and headed to bed...

Chillin' and Fishin'

Day 40 - Delray Beach, FL - Partly sunny and 80:

After our day in the sun, we had a new adventure planned. Heather woke up early to do some girly things at the spa and then it was off to our big adventure. Mark had arranged for him, Heather, Erin, Casey and I to go out fishing. It was a 65 foot fishing boat with all the bells and whistles. Our captain Nick got us out into the harbor by about 1:00 and KJ went to work setting up the two kites and six different fishing lines. It was an amazing set-up and we hooked onto our first fish within 20 minutes. I stepped up to the boat rail and started reeling. I continued to reel in my first Sail fish for the next 20-30 minutes with the fish "sailing out of the water." KJ and Nick thought it was about a 70 pound fish which is on the high side for a Sail fish. We never brought the fish into the boat because the oils from our hand would have harmed the slime on the fish and with Sport fishing you just have to reel the fish until you can touch the leader and it's considered a catch. We then went back to waiting and hooked onto two sharks and it was Heather's turn to reel them in. She unfortunately lost both of the sharks because they bit through the line and all we got to see was the fin. Then around 3:00 we started to take in the lines and head to shallower waters when Mark hooked a Mackerel and gave to pole back to Heather. This time she was able to reel the fish in and got her picture with it. Nick then took us in near the reef, so Erin and Casey could catch some fish. They started fishing and right away began catching Trigger fish left and right. Between the two of them they caught probably 28 fish over the next 45 minutes it was a lot of action. Then it was back to the inter-coastal to make to 4:00 bridge. It was an awesome afternoon of fishing and I will always remember catching my first Sail fish.

From the dock we raced back to Delray and then over to Sean's basketball game. He plays guard on the St Andrews JV team. They were playing an undefeated team and started of the game a bit slow but picked it up and in the second half and won by 10.

After the game we raced back to Delray again to see the boat parade at Mark's brother Mike's house. Every year residents light up their boats and travel down the canal through Delray and everybody parties and gets in the holiday spirit. After the parade finished one of the Yachts in the parade stopped by Mike's house and dropped off another 50 people and the party really got going. We met some great people from around the country. We were all tired from our exciting day, so we headed back to Mark and Becky's house for some much needed rest.

Day 39 - Delray Beach, FL - Sunny and 85:

After our long day of wrestling alligators in the Everglades we decided to relax and spend a day on the beach and pool at Mark and Becky's house. We though it would be a good idea to try and tan our white bodies so we wouldn't stick out so much. Later in the evening we took some time to go an visit the 100ft Christmas tree that Delray Beach puts up in the middle of town. You get a good idea of the size compared to Ben and I sitting in the big chair! After that we headed back to our guest house and made some dinner and watched a couple movies. It was a very relaxing day!

Still Alive

Hey All -

We're still alive. I'll post later. Lots of cool pictures.

Love!