Key West

Sunday Feb 5:  We are looking forward to warm weather this year on the Keys.  Last year it was so cold we had to wear our winter gear.  A cold front with rain and wind came in just as we were arriving in Key West last year.  This year the temp should be around 78 with sun...  We left work early around noon to head to Key Largo for the night.

Our first stop was in Homestead

Very large pole barn for the brewery, great beer, nice place.  the winery was much more elaborate with a nice restaurant.

30 more miles to Key Largo, Hampton Inn

this is the back side by the beach.  wonderful room over looking the beach.

On our way to dinner we stopped (walked) to the VFW for a drink.  it was pretty cheap!  Happy Hour $1.50 for a beer and ladies got free drinks! and someone bought a round for the bar!  we never had that happen before!  4 beers for $1.50  can not beat that!  Only thing we did not like was that  smoking was allowed in the bar.

a little bit down was the The Fish House.

the smoked fish dip was wonderful, the shrimp was not so good.  I had the coconut shrimp, Eric had the fried shrimp.  Mine had a fishy taste, Eric's was just so-so.    I forgot that last year I made the same comments on the shrimp in Key Largo...  

Superbowl Sunday means T V for the night...

Monday Feb 6: We only had about 100 miles to drive to Key West today.  Of course we made many stops including a stop at Deer Key National Wildlife Refuge.

At one stop we found a White Morph Great Blue Heron, not a considered a new bird but a first for us.

Our first stop in Key West was to purchase tickets on the Freedom ship to the Dry Tortugas, well,,,,  they were completely booked!  last year the trip was cancelled because of weather.  This year we did not make reservations in advance as we thought we could get them the day before.  Oh well, it was not meant to be....

This guy was cleaning fish and feeding the pelicans..

Sand sculpture at our hotel.

We have a beautiful room overlooking the ocean and pool.  After checking in we headed down Duval street to eat and enjoy the town.

Tuesday Feb 7:  after a wonderful walk and great breakfast we lounged by the pool, soaking up the sun, relaxing and just being a "beach" bum.

late afternoon we stopped at the

we are hoping to find these guys in the wild before we leave Florida...

there were a few exotic birds in with the butterflies

Then we headed up to Mallory Square to see the sun set but there was a huge ship blocking the view!  Slow walk home including a wonderful Lobster Roll and a few drinks made for a perfect day.

Wed Feb 8:  After a nice morning walk to the local cemetery we headed back to our hotel for breakfast and to hang at the beach.  It was a beautiful day to just hang and enjoy the weather.

Back to Mallory Square to see the sunset with everyone else.  Much different than last year when it was so cold and cloudy.

wonderful evening at the tip...  we stopped at a few places on our way back to the hotel.  beautiful night to be out walking.

Thurs Feb 9:  time to head back home.. we headed out about 9 am for our 180 mile trip home.  We made various stops for hiking and lunch.  After grocery shopping we got home about 6 pm.  A wonderful trip to Key West.  Don't know if we will ever get back here again but if we do there is lots more to do and of course make reservations for the Dry Tortuga's ferry.