Road Trip to the Keys

Everyone should visit the Florida Keys at least once in their lifetime. It is so different from anywhere else I have ever been, it is just remarkable. My husband and I have driven from Miami to Marathon and once your out of the traffic, it is quite a drive. We have flown in to Key West a few times and have enjoyed every minute. The people are friendly and the restaurants are unique. Shopping is great and the tourist spots are wonderful. Renting a motor scooter is the way to see everything. You could visit the home of Ernest Hemingway and witness all of the six toed cats originally given to Hemingway by a sea captain or you could visit Jimmy Buffets restaurant, Margaritaville and end the day with a visit to Mallory Square where the sunset is to die for. Just walking the entire length of Duval Street is worth the trip. Some call it the Duval crawl because if you were to visit every bar and restaurant you would be crawling back to you hotel.

We rented the motor scooters and traveled for most of the day seeing everything there was to see.  Just picking a restaurant was fun.  One morning we had breakfast at a local eating establishment and there were chickens clucking all around us, moving around under the tables and just minding their own business.  It isn't unusual to see people walking down the street with huge snakes hanging around their neck and encouraging you to touch the snake, which I did, with a cringe from my husband.  Mimes pepper the streets and some were so good that we thought they were statues.

We did some diving in Key West and although it was one of our first trips without our local dive master, we were glad it was easy diving and for newbies it is a perfect place to go.  It is shallow diving and easy to maneuver if the surge doesn't bother you. We got very excited when we saw a black rectangular shape at the bottom, thinking it could be a treasure box filled with jewels, but alas it was just a weight that divers use in their weight belts.  Of course we had just visited the Mel Fisher museum and witnessed the unbelievable treasures that he had uncovered throughout the years.  If you have never heard of Mel Fisher, it is worth the search to read of his treasure hunts.  There was room after room of gold, ruby and emerald  finds.  Just a girls dream come true and I know my husband would love to find just anything under the sea to claim as a treasure.  It was shortly after that, my husband acquired an underwater metal detector. The finds have been limited but there is always that dream!

My husband and I purchased our dive rings in Key West. They have a ruby dive flag on each so I can attest to the great shopping that can be done.  My husband purchased a coin from the Atocha, a Spanish Galleon, for my birthday one year and had it encased in a gold seahorse.  The Atocha is the shipwreck that Mel Fisher found while searching for treasure.

From our backyard to yours, Key West is a treasure all on its own!