Work was slow, and I finished early Wednesday so on the way home I decided it would be a good time to take a few days off and take Kathy to the Keys like we had often talked of doing. We packed a bag and headed south. We left around 1:00 in the afternoon. A couple of years ago we sold our motorcycles and bought a little convertible. We thought we could have fun in it like we did on the bikes, only with a roof and air conditioning if needed. This was our first trip in it.
Our first stop was in the the town of Lake Placid Florida, it is known as the city of murals. You can see one painted on the wall in the background.
We drove a few hours more to the south and came to the southern end of Lake Okeechobee. Kathy wondered what it looked like on the other side of the levee so we climbed to the top. In this photo I think we are looking northward, on this side of the lake there is not a lot of water.
As the sun was setting, we were driving through the Everglades.
We reached Key Largo later that evening and found a nice little motel, Key Largo is the northernmost of the keys. As we arose in the morning this was the view from our building.
We had some breakfast then began heading south again. It was a few hours until it was warm enough to put the top down so when it finally warmed up we pulled over here to do that and take a photo.
After reaching Key West we parked near the cruise ship terminal. If you look to the right of the red brick building you can see a cruise ship in the distance.
Here are a few photos we took while in Key West.
Kathy posing.
This is the southernmost house.
Here we are at the southernmost point of the continental U.S.
We left Key West and headed back to the North. We came across this place and had some lunch. Neither of us were impressed with the food or service, but it seemed to have a nice atmosphere.
Approaching Marathon we passed an old section of the bridge. The road is on top of the bridge structure, I'm glad it's been replaced, that old one didn't look like it would be much fun to drive, especially with the piece missing at the northern end.
We drove on a while then stopped to wade in the water at this little roadside stop. Kathy looks pretty good considering she's been riding with the top down most of the day doesn't she?
A few years ago on a trip through Canada, we stayed at a little roadside motel, we enjoyed it so much that we thought we'd try finding one on this trip. We found this cute little place back in Key Largo and decided to give it a try.
We rented this little cottage. We liked it, it was obviously built at a time before air conditioning, notice the windows. The weather was nice for sleeping with the windows open.
The motel had many animal statues placed all around. I thought this photo of the dinosaur was neat. That's our cottage in the background.
Across from our room was a little grass hut where you can relax if you wish, up past the zebras was another hut with a couple of hammocks. Later that evening after the sun went down we hung out there for a while.
We took a canoe out on the water for a little while as the sun was beginning to set...
then enjoyed some time on the dock waiting for the sun to set.
The girl at the motel desk had recommended a nice restaurant nearby called the Key Largo Conch House. We went there for dinner and were very impressed. The atmosphere was great. It was in an old house nestled in some trees off the highway. The doors were open to allow in the cool evening air. The room was candle lit and the food was very good. The people there were nice also.
After dinner we went back to the motel and laid in a hammock for a little while. We later took a few evening photos before going in for the night.
Notice the dinosaur again.
In the morning we arose to the sun reflecting off the sailboats out on the water.
We were so impressed with the Conch House, that we decided to go there in the morning for a latte, and to get photos of it for the website. Kathy said her latte was better than one from Starbucks.
We drove back north and were home by early afternoon. It was a nice little getaway and the last evening in Key Largo was the highlight of the trip.