In Search of Sunshine Day 5 - Miami

Waking at usual time (6am) now, which doesn't bother me as I get to play on my iPad and do things like blogging and Tweet in a leisurely fashion while waiting for others to wake. On previous trips (pre iPad days) I would sit in the loo and write postcards, or read, or if we had a balcony sit out and watch the sunrise and the critters scuttling in the shrubbery. I had names for the squirrels, lizards and even a rat one time. Now I can just dim the iPad and do all sorts of wonderful things!

Finally decided we would drive to Key Largo today. Only an hour or so drive south of Miami. We would have liked to have gone down to Key West but that was too far in one day, and we weren't sure the boys would be happy.

Strangely, we passed a nice little Outlets place, and decided to stop and have a wander round. Glad we did because I got two pairs of sandals and a lovely Coach handbag at bargain prices. Can't beat an unexpected bargain, or two!

The drive down to Key Largo wasnt the prettiest. Unlike the drive over to the Gulf Coast which has lots of long white bridges that span the beautiful blue sea. This was a long concrete road with swamp either side. I did try a bit of gator spotting but they were obviously wise to the tourist trail. Key Largo was really just a row of buildings either side of a dual carriage way that had a third row of buildings in the middle. It was some time before it occurred to me that both lanes were going in the same direction, as you couldnt see the other side of the road. Suddenly I thought..."How do you get out of here? Theres no road!!" - Yes I know.

Then we saw this place!

Bayfront Grill and Tiki iBar

 

A lovely Bayfront Grill and Tikki Bar. I had a Mahi sandwich with coleslaw on rye bread with fries. Hubby had Gumbo, a meatysoup with rice. Both very tasty. Followed by traditional Key Lime Pie.

Was a great place to sit and relax, watch the fish swim around waiting ro be fed, and listen to a bit of Bob Marley in the background. On top of this, they had great wifi, which meant a lot of emailing, facebooking and tweeting going on between us.

After a leisurely drive through Key Largo, a couple of stops for souvenirs - T Shirt, Mug and Xmas tree decoration. We always try and buy a dec from places we visit. When I decorate the tree every year I have lots of memories of our travels. We then drove back to Miami and the hotel.

Of course nine year olds don't have naps, or lie downs, so I ended up beside the pool watching Alexander cavort and splash. He was the only one in - well apart from when I was too hot and went in to join him.

Alexander in the Pool

Another thing I noticed sat out there were all the flights on the way to the airport. there must have been one every 5 minutes, and we are quite close to the flight path. not close enough to wave or write down their Reg number in my notebook though!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy