We had our Florida Keys spring break trip last week, it got cancelled from March 2020 so it was long awaited!
We stayed in South Miami where lodging was a little cheaper, but that meant long drives down to the Keys everyday. The kids actually did really well in the car.
The trip got off to a bad start with a delay by Spirit getting our evening flight in at 2am, and the rental car place had closed at midnight. So we had to "camp out" until 6am. The kids who usually sleep 7pm to 7am, had napped maybe an hour on the flight, but were awake the entire time. And it is impossible to sleep in the airport, the lights, the noise, the blaring airport announcements every 15 minutes. So we paced around for hours until we could get the car. The second those kids were strapped in and we made our way an hour to our airbnb, they fell asleep. We napped for maybe 3 hours, but August kept waking us up so... not the best start.
Anyway, the kids were ready for sun!
Our first day was Everglades Alligator Farm.
Over 250 alligators in this pond area, coming to feed. I learned alligators only eat 2lbs meat a month!
Alligator show.
baby alligators
And we went on a fun airboat ride, Doug and I liked it more than the kids ;)
We got dinner at a Cuban restaurant back in Miami and went to bed!
The next day, another adventure! We got a later start and headed to Bahia Honda beach.
We walked out onto the old bridge, then went out for a beautiful sunset meal at Lazy Days. Jeanie had an EPIC poop blow out, all the way up to her bellybutton. I took her to the bathroom and realized I had no wipes, they were in the beachbag in the car. Doug's phone had no battery so I couldn't call for help. So I decided to do it with toilet paper. Um, yeah, not a great idea. Anyway, nearly 15 minutes later after washing her entire lower half in the bathroom sink, someone periodically knocking on the door the entire time, then cleaning everything up with cleaning supplies found under the sink, she emerged wearing only a diaper, lol.
The next day to Dagny Johnson Hammock for a beautiful morning walk.
And then to Anne's beach for a picnic lunch and watched the kiteboarders.
It looked so fun! The beach there was perfect for that sport because it was so shallow for such a long way out. We saw a guy take a pretty horrible fall though after he flew up in the air 15 or so feet. He was ok though!
Then we tried to go to Big Pine Key to the nature center, it was closed but it said the "trails" were always open. So we headed off behind the building thinking, "these are very poorly maintained and labeled trails." We walked for a little while and then Doug stumbled upon a small homeless village so we quickly retreated. But what the heck kind of a trail is that?!!
So then we tried to find the Blue Hole, and we did. It used to be an old rock quarry that is now filled with freshwater and some resident alligators.
Our last stop this day was Robbie's on Islamorada, you can buy buckets of bait to feed the Tarpon. My boy had no qualms touching the fish!
It was kinda crazy with the pelicans swarming and all, but the boys had a great time. The girls were more wary! It was getting late so we ended up eating dinner there by the water and then started the drive back.
It was a typical VT vacation with us getting back every night after bedtimes, taking drowsy kids from carseats quickly into bed. Occasionally running a load of laundry and unpacking and repacking the beach bag, diaper bag, and picnic cooler for the next day of adventures before we hit the sack.
A little morning coloring waiting for daddy to cook the eggs.
Stopped at this big lobster on the morning day's drive.
This was Crane Point Hammock and nature center, they had this little pirate ship play area.
Walking around the beautiful grounds.
On the mangrove trail.
Seeing the resident tortoises.
They had a bird rescue area, here were some cormorants and pelicans they rescued.
And an area where you could dip your feet for a "fish pedicure". Doug actually said this was a highlight of the trip! 😲
It was really very beautiful and jungle-esque.
Jeanie insisted on walking even though she stumbled several times scraping up a knuckle and her knees, not even a peep of a complaint.
We stopped at Sombrero beach for our picnic and the kids played a bit on a playscape. My only regret of this trip (besides Monkey Jungle being closed so we couldn't go, and I do kinda wish we could've stayed in the keys to not have so much drive time) is that we didn't have enough time to actually go down to this beach which looked awesome.
We already had reserved our time spots at the Turtle Hospital, which was neat, but in hindsight, we wished we would've just enjoyed one last beach day.
Oh well, we are already making the to-do list for our winter Keys getaway 2022!
That being said, the turtle hospital was interesting. They rescue, rehabilitate and hopefully can release the turtles when they are ready.
The place we planned to go to dinner was jam-packed, which ended up just as well and we ended up at a quieter place with great food and a sunset view anyway. Islamorada Fish Company.
Then it was drive home, do the laundry, pack, and go to bed for our morning flight! An uneventful flight home, and actually returned to some rare Michigan winter sun! We really enjoy the Keys and can't wait to go back.
