Driving the Florida Keys

Anticipation often results in a sort of romanticizing of reality, leaving behind a hint of disappointment when all is said and done. Such was the case with our drive across the Keys. Don't misunderstand-- it was a very enjoyable day, but, well, not the tropical paradise I had envisioned in my mind's eye.

One of the corrections that experience provided to me was the long, long bridge, or bridges I expected. The Keys are less like islands and more like a long thin tail of land. Many of the Keys are the size of a city park; one or two look to be privately owned, as they contained only one house, or altogether empty. The longest bridge was called The Seven Mile Bridge, but it didn't seem at all like seven miles, and there was no long, long bridge over open water with no land in sight, such as I had imagined. There probably never has been. For most of the drive, the road went through towns or was bordered by trees, and there was no view at all of the ocean.

Our adventure began with our arrival at the Miami Everglade Resort, an Encore park. This is a fairly nice park and we would certainly stay here again. It's situated in a rural area west of Miami, and nowhere near the Everglades, but I won't quibble over such minor details. The lots are spacious enough and they have a nice swimming pool (an important feature in a hot climate). This was the closest RV park to the Keys that we could find, giving us about a four hour drive each way to Key West. We considered getting a motel in Key West and staying overnight, but the cost was out of the ballpark for our stingy budget, so we decided to brave the drive in one day.

We got an early start in the morning and stopped for breakfast at Mrs. Mac's Kitchen in Key Largo (which I highly recommend) where it seemed necessary to bring up the name of Humphrey Bogart . Yes, that's fish and grits on my plate. (Yum!)

There is an Encore RV park on Fiesta Key, about half-way to Key West, that we checked out on the way. They had no openings this year, but we hope to be able to secure a spot next year for a couple weeks. Every site in this park is within spitting distance of the sea.

Taking the bicycles along was a very good decision. They allowed us to get around Key West much easier than a car. The streets are narrow and very congested. We parked and rode the bikes a short distance to the Harbor Walk, where we strolled past restaurants until Mark's stomach began to remind him about lunch. I wasn't hungry yet, so he ate and I drank. Later on we stopped again where I ate and he drank. In between, we hopped on the bikes and rode down the main street to the "Furthest Point" marker. We were hoping that making the trip on a Thursday would find the city a bit less crowded, but there were two cruise ships docked that day and the place was very busy...there's probably no "good day" in a tourist town. Once we got on the bikes, however, we became so focused on getting down the road, so to speak, that we forgot to get off once in a while and enjoy the things we came to see. What's up with that? After an hour or so of riding around, hot and tired, we returned to the car, loaded up the bikes, and looked for our second lunch stop. By 3:30 or so, we were homeward bound.

Last year's hurricane left two noticeable remains-- lots of dead trees and foliage, and an unpleasant rotten-egg stench. Not everywhere, but in many areas we noticed it. I expect the two are related.

The other thing I noticed about the Keys was the color of the water. In the Caribbean, the water very often is a blue-green or aquamarine color. Here in the Keys, the color is like a jade green. I couldn't capture the true color on my camera, but it was quite lovely.

The Florida Keys was one of the big "bucket list" items on our travel agenda. And now it's done. I'm very glad we took the time to see it. I'm a bit sorry we had to do it in such a rush, though. We didn't see any of the museums or special points of interest. Doreen, if you're reading this, I think the hurricane blew away the Butterfly House. I didn't see it on the map of the town anywhere. Too bad the woman who always goes the wrong way first lead the search for this place when you and I were there last. ;-)  ...for those of you who don't know the story, that would be me.

Perhaps next year we'll be able to spend enough time in the Keys to do them justice. And maybe they'll reestablish the butterfly house by then...you never know. One thing's for sure...despite my "hint of disappointment," I'm eager to return -- God willing, and the proverbial "creek" don't rise!