By Shelby
We had originally planned on only one week in Florida, but since the weather was so nice and there was so much to do we decided to extend it to two weeks. Sunday night we drove through Miami and stopped to take a picture with the skyline. Even at night it was nice and warm out. Spencer really liked seeing a sign on I95 indicating the end of the interstate. It was like a symbolic end to the past several weeks of driving down the Atlantic coast. We ended up in a small city called Homestead near the southern tip of Florida.
Monday, we worked from a library in Homestead called the Cybrarium. It was very steampunk themed. They definitely put a lot of effort into the decor. After work, we did laundry and had leftover grilled cheese and tomato soup. The grilled cheese was a little floppy after being microwaved but it still tasted good.
Tuesday, we took off from work since the weather looked better than later in the week. We made the almost three hour drive out to Key West. It was a very interesting drive, with surprisingly no tolls. We drove from island to island on U.S. Route 1. The longest bridge was called the Seven Mile Bridge. It was very impressive.
Key West was the last island along the keys. It was very busy when we got there. December is the high season when the weather finally cools down to the 80s. Parking was expensive pretty much island-wide at $5 per hour.
After finding parking, our first stop was El Meson De Pepe’s Restaurant and Bar, a Cuban restaurant. I got Pan de Ropa Vieja, a marinated, shredded beef sandwich with tomatoes, onions, and pepper. It came with plantain chips. I also got a side of boiled yuca, a root vegetable. Spencer got a sampler platter with ropa vieja, yuca, pork, plantain, and black bean soup. It was all delicious.
After bringing our leftovers back to the car, we set off on our walk across the island, which only took a little over 30 minutes. The island was very touristy, with little artisan shops. Unexpectedly, there were chickens and roosters walking around everywhere. There was even a chicken with babies walking around our feet at the restaurant.
Our first stop on our walk was the Little White House, where Truman and several other presidents took working holidays. You had to pay to go in, so we just took pictures from outside.
Next up was the Mile 0 marker, which marked the start of U.S. Highway 1. The highway is 2370 miles long, starting in Key West at Mile 0 and ending in Fort Kent, Maine.
Our next stop was the Key West Lighthouse. Along the way, we saw an interesting tree called the Kapok Tree. It was huge and had wide, but skinny roots. We also saw a massive green iguana climbing up a tree. The lighthouse was also paid, so we just took a picture of the outside.
Next, was the southernmost point of the continental U.S. marker. From there, we were only 90 miles to Cuba. There was a line of at least 20 people to take a picture with the marker, so we just took a picture of the marker itself. There was a nice pelican sitting on a pole in the water too.
We walked back across the island on Duval Street, which was lined with touristy shops. We were starting to run out of parking time, so we hurried up to our next stop, Kermit’s Key Lime Pie Shoppe. We got a single slice of key lime pie to share, along with a key limeade. Key Lime Pie supposedly originated from Key West. It was very good.
After we finished our key lime pie, we walked back to the car and drove out of the downtown area to Smathers Beach. We’d been told that Key West wasn’t really a big swimming island since the sand was from coral, which made it slightly gritty. Key West is more known for boating. But we thought the sand was nice. There were palm trees lining the beach and it wasn’t too crowded. The water was a little cold for me, but not for Spencer. We relaxed in the sand and played Frisbee in the water.
Once it started getting closer to sunset, we left the beach and Key West. We drove to a small beach parking lot to try to watch the sunset and eat dinner. Unfortunately, we missed sunset. After dinner, we drove all the way back to the mainland. It was very dark on the bridges.
Wednesday, our plan was to visit Everglades National Park. It wasn’t that long of a drive from Homestead, where we were staying. We made sure to take a picture with the welcome sign.
Our first stop in the park was the Anhinga Trail, where we hoped to see some gators. We didn’t see any gators, but we did see some weird birds. Right at the start of the trail, we read a sign that talked about a bird that dives underwater to get food. The water makes its wings too heavy to fly, so it spreads them out and suns them to dry. Behind the sign, we saw that exact bird, basking in the sun exactly like the picture on the sign. That was kind of funny.
Next, we walked the Pa-hay-okee Trail to an overlook tower. From the tower, we were able to see what looked like endless wetland. It was very flat. We could also see the “tree islands”, small raised areas in the wetland where trees and other vegetation could grow.
After our walk, we drove on to Flamingo, another area of the park at the very bottom of mainland Florida. We didn’t see any flamingos, but we did see a bunch of manatees in the marina.
The southern tip of Florida is also the only place in the U.S. where American crocodiles can be found. We got very lucky and actually did see one from a distance! We could tell because of its color and its nose was pointed versus rounded like an alligator.
We were getting pretty hungry for lunch, so we left the park and went to the Everglades Gator Grill to try some alligator. I got a gator stir fry and Spencer got gator bites with fries. It was very good. The texture of the alligator reminded me of pork. The alligator meat comes from a farm in Louisiana.
After lunch, we drove to the Shark Valley area of the park to rent bikes and do a 15 mile bike ride. We stopped a few times when we saw gators near the path. There were also a lot of weird birds. At the halfway point, there was a lookout tower we went up to see the park.
On our way back, we saw a pretty big gator laying right next to the path so we stopped to take pictures. Near the end of the trail, we actually saw an active gator nest with tiny babies. They were pretty cute.
After returning our bikes, we left the park and drove about an hour to Golden Gate near Naples. Since we took off work Tuesday and Wednesday because of the weather, we were going to work Thursday and Friday instead.
Thursday and Friday, we worked at the library in Golden Gate. It was very close to Planet Fitness, so that was nice. Thursday night it rained very hard. We were in the back of the car watching a movie and the rain was so loud we had to pause the movie. Some parts of Florida were under a tornado watch but luckily we were safe. After work Friday, we drove to Naples Beach to watch the sunset. It was kind of raining, so we didn’t stay long. The weather was also a little cooler than it had been.
For dinner Friday, we went to the Waffle House, a breakfast food chain restaurant. It was pretty good. We both got a waffle, eggs, and toast. I got sausage and grits, while Spencer got bacon and potatoes.
Saturday morning, we continued to drive north to Fort Myers to meet Spencer’s aunt and uncle for breakfast. It was nice to meet more of Spencer’s family. After breakfast, we drove on to Siesta Key, one of the best beaches in the U.S. to relax at the beach. The weather became cloudy and a little too cold for us to swim, so we threw a Frisbee around on the beach. The sand was white and powdery. I guess I can understand why people say that the sand in Key West is gritty if they have this to compare it to.
After we finished playing Frisbee, we drove out of Siesta Key and a couple hours north to a Planet Fitness in Lake City. The nights are starting to get colder as we go further north it seems. The temperature got down to the 40s.
Sunday, we drove a few more hours to Pensacola. We went to Opal Beach, part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The beach was really nice and secluded, but unfortunately once again it was too cold to fully enjoy it. We had a great time in Florida, but we’re ready to move on and see new things!
Fun Facts from Week 34:
- Everglades National Park is the third largest park in the lower 48 states, after Death Valley and Yellowstone.
- The Florida Reef is the third largest coral barrier reef in the world.
- The term “keys” comes from the Spanish word “cayo”, meaning “small island”.
- The Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys is actually only 6.79 miles long.
