Bob and I decided to escape Michigan’s frozen grasp and flee south to the Florida Keys last week. We stayed in Key Largo, had two days in the Everglades, a day in Miami and a day in Key West. It was a perfect vacation!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

We left on Saturday from Detroit Metro. It was a nasty morning. The parking garage at Metro was completely iced over and slippery.

The flight was not too bad. We flew in to Fort Lauderdale, then drove to Key Largo where we stayed at the Key Largo Marriott. Highly recommend staying there. Snapped this palm tree as Bob was checking us in.

The view from our room balcony. It was 82 degrees when we got in Saturday night:

Gus’ Grille, where we went to dinner:

The resort has a spa, dive shop, tiki bar, restaurant, pool and all kinds of fire pits and seating places on the beach. We spent time each evening sitting out by the fire pits, relaxing and looking at the water and palm trees.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

The next morning views from our balcony. Although it was a little foggy each morning, by afternoon the sky had cleared and it was sunny and warm/humid. Such a change from Battle Creek:

We went back to Gus’ Grille for breakfast before striking out to the Everglades for a canoe trip.

US 1, the bridge/overpass system to get from the Keys to the mainland.

I am splitting the photos up into different posts, so this isn’t one giant page. We did take over 600 photos total on the trip, but I’m not going to post all of those 🙂

Click here to see all of the Everglades photos.

When we got back to Key Largo, we went to Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill for dinner. Good food, good prices and outdoor seating overlooking the water. I recommend the bimini conch chowder. Perfect!

Monday, January 13, 2014

We got up and went to the Juice House for breakfast.

The food is excellent. Have the chorizo empanadas. You won’t regret it. They will live on in your dreams.

They also have fresh juice of all kinds. We had the carrot, beet and orange mix and it was good.

Authentic Cuban coffee con leche. I am addicted.

Then we headed on to Miami for the day, hitting the MiMo (Miami Moderne) District and South Beach.

Click here to see all the Miami photos.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

We had breakfast at Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen.

Good food, good prices. Fresh tomatoes. My goodness, they tasted the way you want a tomato to taste. Excellent. They have license plates from all over, nailed up on every surface.

After breakfast, stopped to get a Cuban coffee to go from the Juice House and then we headed back to the Everglades for a day of hiking on the trails. Our national parks are truly treasures. We are so lucky to have access to such beauty. It cost $10 for the car pass, and you could enter the park as many times as you liked for seven days.

After hiking, we stopped at a fruit stand (more on that later) and we went back to Key Largo and had dinner at Snapper’s.

They have a lovely outdoor seating area overlooking the water, and live music the night we were there.

We were so lucky to have such glorious weather the time we were there!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

We stopped for breakfast at the Waffle House on our way down the Keys to Key West. We also caught the sunrise.

The weather turned a bit cooler today, and we had sunshine off and on. Key West reminds me a lot of Saugatuck or Mackinac Island.

Click here to see all the Key West photos!

Upon our return from Key West, we swung by the Upper Keys Humane Society. They weren’t open (why, why don’t they post their hours on their website?!), so we took a photo and left a bag of cat treats at the front door.

We headed back to the Big Chill for dinner. I had a piece of Key Lime pie for dessert.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

The time went so quickly! We got up, checked out and went back to the Juice House for breakfast. If we lived in Key Largo, I would eat there every single day. After breakfast, we headed on our way back to Fort Lauderdale, making a brief stop at the fruit stand Robert Is Here.

Really, take the time to check out their website. It’s an amazing story and the most awesome place ever.

The oranges we purchased were seriously the best oranges I’ve had in my life. I didn’t know oranges could be that good. If we lived there, I’d be stopping all the time.

Perhaps you’ve picked up a theme here…I think I could live in Key Largo. It feels like home, in a way that Miami or Key West really don’t. It sort of reminds me of a tropical version of Cheboygan. It’s got that kind of feel to it. It’s like home, except it has flowers in January:

and lizards instead of squirrels:

Can’t wait to go back!