The Beginning of Key Largo
Wednesday morning was check out day for Key West. We didn’t have to be out until 11am so we took advantage of the free breakfast again before loading up the car. James drove away from our little Inn and navigated around the island and off to our next stop. It was going to take just over 2 hours between the 2 places and we couldn’t check in until 4pm so we took our time. The last time we were in the Keys we stopped and kayaked at Bahia Honda state park which was beautiful. This is before the 7 mile bridge from Key West and a good place to stop and check out the scenes. We went to the same shop there (the only shop in the park) and I bought some sunglasses. As usual, I couldn’t find mine so I figured I lost them. Turns out I didn’t but oh well, I like these too. We ended up walking around the park a little and getting back on the road. I actually really like this park. It was $9 to get in with 2 people and I figure a good donation to the place.
We went back on route 1 and over the big bridge. After the bridge is Marathon which is where we stayed last time so a lot of the sights were familiar to us. I was getting hungry as usual and we passed by The Wooden Spoon which we remembered from our last time through town and turned back to get some lunch. It was the best BLT I have ever had. Anyone who has had a BLT knows it’s the bacon that makes or breaks the sandwich and that was some good bacon. Cooked to perfection. James had…well you know what he had…and he said it was the best burger he had this whole trip. Just this tiny local restaurant with like 10 tables and it was so good. They should be proud.
We remembered a little ice cream shop also down in Marathon and went back for some dessert, Paradise Flavors. It actually started to rain in Marathon at this point. We checked the map it is was literally just a storm over the one island. Anyway, we both go chocolate milkshakes. I don’t know what it is but the chocolate here even tastes “island-y”. Maybe a coconut flavor or something. Anyway, very well done.
Half an hour later we were passing Robbie’s of Islamorada. We had previously spent a lot of time here with our jet ski and paddle boarding adventure so we stopped by for old times sake. And for the bathroom quick. It is crazy the pricing changes that have happened in 4 years. I remember we had each rented a jet ski for 4 hours with a snorkel tour and it came with a half day paddle board rental and was $150 per person. Now that same jet ski adventure is $215 per person and the paddle board would be another $60. Things change I guess. Anyway, we got a towel and I found out if I get a youth size hat it fits my head better so I got one of those too.
Back on the road and we were at our new rental right before 4pm. We are in a gated community that has a pool, private beach area, and a restaurant. The specific building we are in is being remodeled. Not our unit obviously, but there are a ton of workers here. They are efficient at the end of the day to clean up all the walkways but while they are working it was a little challenging to get our bags around the paint buckets and drywall mud. We were here literally at 3:55pm so we had to wait 5 minutes before the electronic lock on the door would register our code but it was nice enough to stand outside. We are on the 4th (top) floor of this building and have a corner unit. There are 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen/living room area and a small balcony. After getting settled we decided to hit the grocery store to grab some food to make at home. I always do this, I think this is going to be so great to not cook and then I get sick of eating out all the time. Plus, restaurants are expensive and I’m cheap. So we went to the store and got some essentials. This included the ingredients to make mojitos at home. Or at least try to make them. It can’t be that hard, right?
We made meatball subs and cheese curds for dinner (I didn’t say it would be healthy just made at home) and chilled for the night. We are here for several days so we spread out. We went to bed thinking Thursday would be a pretty low key day.
Thursday was the first full day in Key Largo. The remodeling crew is working on the roof I guess because I could hear them climbing around up there in the morning but that didn’t deter me from staying in bed most of the morning. I had gotten some oranges at the store and had one for breakfast before heading out to a local art market. It is called The Rain Barrel Art & Shops and was only like 10 minutes outside of the complex back down route 1. There were a bunch of cute little shops to look through and some food stands. We took a loop through and then stopped at the food stand where I tried a Cuban coffee and James picked up some water. I figured this was the place to try Cuban coffee and it was bitter. There was sugar in it but seemed to have settled to the bottom. Anyway, it was efficient.
We went back through to the shops where we wanted to make purchases. We got a puzzle from and art shop called Art on a Whim, the woman working there had painted the original picture and then made it into a puzzle. She said she used a photo one of her art students had taken of a bee to paint from. I guess she charged me $7 too much because then after going back to the other stores she stopped me on the pathways and brought me back into her store to give me cash back. I didn’t even realize but it was very nice of her.
We found another glass blower and bought this beautiful mermaid ornament to bring home. I guess that’s our new thing, to find a glass blower and get a little trinket. He was amazing. Everything in his shop was beautiful and so impressive. He sits behind a plexiglass wall and works on this art all day and stops when someone wants to buy things. He is originally from Virginia and had learned glass blowing from a family member. He said he has been doing this for over 40 years and has been in Key Largo for around 20. Very nice guy. On the way out he gave us some places to look out for to rent a boat or jet ski if we wanted to later in the trip.
On the way back we stopped at Blond Giraffe Key Lime Pie Factory. Which is a long name for a small place. Anyway, we each grabbed a slice of pie and James got a limeaid. They have a small quiet area out the back door that has these love locks and a little garden. It was lovely. We didn’t eat there.
We came back to the spot, had our pie, and decided to check out the beach area. They have these thatched roofs over lounge chairs on the sand which were perfect. We had gotten ready like we were going to be in the sun but ended up sitting under the roof and reading for a little while. It was lovely. We stayed there until we were hungry then checked out the restaurant. They have happy hour form 4-6pm every day so we took advantage. I had a frozen margarita and James had a rum runner. They were both good but I think his drink was a little better. I ended up getting some shrimp cocktail and a small veggie sushi roll from the happy hour menu. I’m not even going to tell you what James got. You’ll never guess.
Now we are chilling in our room and getting ready to try out those mojito ingredients. James just found a glass bottom boat tour out of Robbie’s that we booked for tomorrow afternoon. I can take my real camera and see if we see any marine life.
