In July we spent 3 weeks in the fabulous Florida Keys. Because it is still winter here in Botswana, we were looking for a hot, steamy destination and the Keys did not disappoint. Temperatures averaged in the 90s with about 150% relative humidity. Night time temps were in the 80s.
For those who don't know, the Florida Keys are ~120-mile series of islands joined by 42 bridges including Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, and Key West (but also many lesser known islands such as Big Pine Key, Pigeon Key, Cudjoe Key, and No Name Key). The bridges were first built in the early 20th century for the Overseas Railroad (a project some call Flagler's Folly). The plan was to eventually build the railroad to Cuba but a Category 5 hurricane in 1935 put an end to the railroad. The railroad bridges were converted to highway bridges and in the 1980s, many new bridges were built alongside the old bridges, which are mostly used as fishing bridges now.
We made it to the Keys in time for the Key Largo 4th of July parade. It is one of the best small town parades. The kids get more candy at this parade than they do at Halloween. For the rest of the 4th we had hot dogs with Deb's sister and her family (who live in Islamorada) and watched the fireworks from the neighbor's dock.
Key West is the best known of the Florida Keys. We made 2 trips down to Key West. Ernest Hemingway is one of the best known historical residents of Key West. We happened to be in Key West for the annual Hemingway Look Alike contest (http://www.eitb24.com/noticia/en/B24_105894).
Although the Mallory Square Dock Sunset Celebration is the most recommended way to watch the sun set we opted for a sunset cruise on the Sebago catamaran (http://www.keywestsebago.com/sunset.php). We had a lovely 2 hour cruise complete with a couple of dolphins frolicking along side the boat.
Thom used the opportunity of being in the Keys to get his open water dive certification from the Florida Keys Dive Center (commonly known as Flakey's around town): http://www.floridakeysdivectr.com/
He completed 10 dives during the 3 weeks we spent in the Keys. He made his last 2 dives with Chris, Deb's brother-in-law and they dove on a wreck called the "Eagle" which sits in about 100 feet of water.
We also ate a lot of fabulous food on this vacation. Sure there was a lot of Key Lime Pie but we also had amazingly good fish (mahi mahi, yellow tail snapper, grouper, etc.) -- which basically just jumps out of the water and on to your plate. We highly recommend the Island Fish Company in Marathon (http://www.islandfishco.com/), Snapper's in Tavernier, and the Island Grill in Islamorada (http://www.keysislandgrill.com/). About the only time we weren't eating fish we were at Chad's in Tavernier having some of the best sandwiches ever.
We spent so much time doing stuff and relaxing that we kept forgetting to take pictures. Here are a couple from the trip:
Thom on the dive boat with his dive equipment
The view from our favorite restaurant, the Island Fish Company in Marathon
