Snorkelling at the beach

Got up late as the downstairs neighbours were very rowdy in the middle of the night; it sounded like the bloke trashed the room.

Went to Fort Taylor National Park for some snorkelling but found it was too windy. We decided to lounge on the beach instead. Spent several hours on the beach in the end and Tony did some snorkelling as the wind died.

Found a bar with live music and rested there for a couple hours, Li managed to get 2 for 1 margaritas and drank 6!! She was completely off her trolley by the time we left.

Arriving in Key West

Our next stop is Key West, a few hours drive from Florida City. We got to our hotel and were told we were parked the wrong way on the road and will definitely get a ticket if we didn’t turn the right way round; Tony not impressed by this “free country”…..you can’t even park the direction you want!
We explored the main part of the town (Duval Street) and we stumbled on a bed race going on, lots of weird inventions and the British one got booed on the most.

We found an outdoor restaurant with water mist sprays; very cooling which was welcoming as it was very hot here.

Joined the sunset party in Mallory Square, saw some fantastic large fancy boats and lots of entertainment.

Vultures destroy the car

Had American waffles and syrup for breakfast; before we set off in to the Everglades National Park. We did the Anhinga trail with a ranger and saw alligators, anhingas, herons and Tony saw a green heron catching a fish.

We got back to our car after the trail and noticed rubber bits all over the windscreen wipers and bonnet; it turns out that the black vultures around have attacked it for the soft rubber seal of the roof!! As you can imagine, we were both not happy about it as it’s a rental car probably costing a couple thousand pounds worth of damage, but there is nothing we can do about it. We are hoping the rental people won’t notice!

Headed on to Biscayne National Park; it turns out is a national park by the sea so very little to do unless you have a boat or go on a boat trip. Unfortunately we missed the boat tour so we walked around the boardwalk instead. Saw quite a few people fishing; some fishing for their own bait which was unusual to see.

Exploring the Everglades by boat

We got up late and managed to get some breakfast. We ventured in to the Everglades National Park and headed down to Flamingo which is almost the most southern point in the park. We visited a few trails and went on a boat tour in Flamingo. Tony managed to get lots of photos on this boat tour of Ospreys, crocodiles and the general landscape.

Thanks to our mosquito head nets, we managed to avoid getting eaten alive by the nasty mossies. Also we did spray ourselves from head to toe with Deet (ranging from 40% to 100%). Call us paranoid but the size of the mosquitoes here are the size of our blue bottles.

Back in Flamingo marina; Tony managed to photograph vultures near a fishing cleaning hut and Osprey nests dotted around the port on high places.

Everglades Alligator Farm

Checked out of our hotel, Tony hired a nice convertible silver Chrysler for the rest of our trip in Florida. It took nearly 2 hours to drive down to the Everglades; we found a visitor centre which an old lady called M.C was ever so helpful.

By the time we checked in to our hotel, we had been sunburnt on our arms and neck from just travelling in the car; the sun was ever so hot. After plying on high factor sun cream and covered up, we made our way to the Everglades Alligator Farm.

We saw lots of alligators, crocodiles and snakes. We went on an air boat, the noise from the propellers were ever so noisy. There were several shows on showing snakes and alligators; we both got an opportunity to hold and touch them.

Decided to stop off at Walmart for a few items, it makes Tesco look like a corner shop. We picked up things including snorkelling equipment, 100% deet sprays, mosquito head covers and even a life jacket for Li!!

Day on the beach

Started with brunch in Jerry’s Famous Deli (proper American diner open 24 hours). It was something like you see in an American sitcom, the menu was enormous and there was so much choice. Would recommend the place but the service wasn’t great.

Stayed out all day, we relaxed on the beach and even got in to the water. We found an Irish pub called ‘Finnegans’ and a table to perch for several hours. We had oysters, Alaskan crab claws and stonecrab claws with a nice bottle of Californian Champagne. Followed by margaritas for Li and beer for Tony!!

On the way home, we came across a few stands and we both got a henna tattoo done. Tony got a Chinese Tiger character on his shoulder and Li got the Chinese Rabbit character on her ankle. We also came across a man painting on mirror glass slates, his work was very impressive and we brought a couple pieces.

Crabs & Scallops on South Beach

Both decided to relax on the beach today; we got take away lunch from Joe’s Stonecrab restaurant (recommended from our guide book) which is only open 6 months a year. It cost over $60 for 5 claws, crab roll and some chicken wings (very nice crab claws though) We hired a couple loungers on the beach and relaxed, thankfully it was not an extremely hot day.

For dinner, we went to a very posh restaurant called ‘Tantra’; as you walk in to the restaurant you step on real grass in the entrance in to the dining area. The food was excellent and the service was faultless. They had scallops the size of wine glass rim (at least 8 times bigger than the standard king scallops in England).

Shopping in Miami

Headed out to South Beach and decided to spend the day looking at the shopping area on Lincoln Road. There was lots of shops and places to eat, really bustling area. We stopped off for a drink and some potstickers (dumplings) in the ‘Oriente on Cardoza’ owned by Gloria & Emilio Estefan. It was nice sitting on the sidewalk watching everyone passing us by.

Picked up a few bargains: a new compact camera, some clothes and some new sunglasses each as the exchange rate is really good ($2 to £1). Though food and drink is not much cheaper, you just get better value for your money. The food comes in large portions, thankfully we restrained ourselves from ordering lots of dishes.

Headed back to the hotel with our shopping and rested our weary feet, it is very humid and Li got a little sunburnt on her neck and shoulders.

We went out to dinner to an Italian restaurant recommended in our guide book, thankfully we only ordered a starter each and shared a salad as when the food was served, the plates were huge! It was lovely food and the place was very busy.

Headed back to the hotel and both very tired, decided to turn in for an early night.

Travelling to Miami

It was a long journey to Miami, surprisingly the flight was almost 9 hours long. Took 45 minutes to clear passport control; as we left the airport terminal, the temperature was very warm (27 degrees C). We decided to jump in a cab to our hotel as by then we were tired and the heat was getting to us.

Checked in to our hotel and was so glad to have air-con in the room, we freshened up and headed out to South Beach. As we acclimatised ourselves to the heat, we mooched around near the beach and found a few places to relax. We had a few cocktails and a nice seafood platter; headed back to the hotel, in bed by 9pm.

Monet Gardens

We set off at a reasonable time after packing up our luggage and duvet for one last time, we had time to squeeze in Monet Gardens in Giverny (about 40 mins drive from Louviers).

The Monet gardens were really pretty and the waterlily section was the best part. Tony took lots of photos of the gardens and flowers. It was a shame the waterlillies were not in flower but the gardens were still impressive. The Monet house was a little disappointing but the views in to the gardens were great.

We finished at the gardens and began a 3 hours drive to Calais, en-route we saw some fabulous river Seine views. As we made our way to Calais on the motorway, we were happy to leave the un-even town roads behind us (which seems to be a standard in all French towns). 

As we approached our final peage (toll booth), Tony managed to stop as far as way possible from the machine!! As you can imagine, hanging out half your body to inset the ticket and paying was a sight.

We got to Calais and boarded the Ferry, it was sad to finish this leg of our trip. Next stop is Saturday when we set off to Miami.