A lazy start would have been ideal given the sunburn plus drinks last night; however, breakfast included is not something we can afford to miss! Breakfast at the pool was therefore enjoyed
We spent the day walking, eating and drinking, some shopping thrown in for good measure including some nice tops for me!
Highlights were the southern most point, Rebecca’s new favourite “poké bowls” and a few beers, plus of course some random chickens and finally the Mile 0 marker
Breakfast. A huge omelette for me!Happy girl
Heading back to the apartment, we showered and left for what I think was our 4th meal of the day somehow! Rebecca decided it was time to try the new cowboy boots out
After wandered looking for something similar to the previous night, good food, live music and not too busy, we finally gave up and headed back to the same place for dinner!
William stretched the boundaries and had an enormous New York strip steak, which he enjoyed very much
Li at home again
On a roll, we headed back with the aim of leaving the kids again, but William had been drinking coffee and coke all day and was now buzzing so we played some cards with him whilst Rebecca slept and finally headed out about midnight, same bar, different music but still good. We joined the hundreds of others and left our mark there before leaving
We felt quite sad to be leaving Key Largo given the fun we’d had; however, decided to get up and out fairly quickly to attend one last activity before leaving. Off to John Pennekamp National park for some snorkelling, relaxing on the beach, and getting some sunburn!
The park has a lot more than expected, snorkelling, kayaking, walks, glass bottom boat, etc. We just stayed in the shade on the beach, and did some snorkelling.
Initially we tried with fins but later decided that it really was too shallow. Rebecca decided that despite all advice she’d get ready in the beach and walk in, which did have the advantage of a nice photo
The rocks provided great hiding places for the fish and Rebecca and I happily spent 90 minutes with our back to the sun looking at the fish, including what we think was a lion fish at one point. I braved taking my phone in as well, it is meant to be waterproof, and appears that it is.
We did snorkelling and to start with I got scared because I couldn’t see infront of me and there was very little visibility however I did find some pretty shells in the sand and saw some teeny tiny little fish and a funny crab which had a tiny body and long legs with a piece of seaweed on it’s head. Later on after eating some conch fritters and lots of goldfish (little crackers) I went back into the sea. At first I waddled in with my shorts and cross back swim suit (that detail is very important). When wading out the little rocky bit I was wearing my flip flops (the same bright orange ones I brought with Lissy last summer for scout camp) due to this the water was mean and broke my left flip flop. That was the end of the iconic orange flip flops life (I was very sad). But after recovering from the sadness daddy came and gave me my neoprene shoes and I stuck them on.
After realising I could see lots more fish I went back to mummy and took my shorts off and got my snorkel and mask and went back out to sea. When I was in the sea I took a deep breath and plunged under water (i then realised this was unnecessary because I was wearing a snorkel).
I saw lots of fishies while underwater (it wasn’t really underwater though it was about 2ft). I was a silver fish with yellow horizontal stripes and some other silver fish which were sparkly. I also saw a massive (normal size) crab and it ran away and that was the last time we saw that crab. However we (me and daddy because mummy didn’t want to get wet and William well I don’t know what he was doing to be honest) saw this red and white spotty and stripy fish which we have very scientifically proven was a lionfish (I basically took a random guess and daddy agreed and it sounded cool so it was definitely a lionfish).
Daddy decided to take his phone into the water (don’t worry it is still working apple didn’t lie and the phone is waterproof) so we got some cool pictures. Afterwards we got out and got changed and mummy told me to go rinse of first because I had been in salt water (obviously I didn’t because the water out the yucky showers was cold and I couldn’t be bothered so instead I just rinsed my legs and got dried and got changed. Later I realised the STUPID SWIM SUIT HAD GIVEN ME A STUPID TAN LINE. (I was not impressed as the entire holiday I have been trying to get a nice tan line and 3 hours on a stoney beach and I look so dumb).
Daddy then told me that he thinks my skin is peeling as I very confidently said I washed off all the salt (I definitely hadn’t) in his defence though it did look abit concerning. Anyway that was the end of me wearing that swim suit again this holiday because it was silly. Also after getting changed we went into the gift shop (very expensive for no reason abit like the rest of the things in Miami and the keys) but daddy brought a long sleeve top (yes long sleeve in the boiling hot weather) I brought a sticker and key ring and William brought a sticker and a magnet. I almost forgot daddy brought a mug as well (even though we have an entire cupboard of mugs). After that we left (we actually did this time) and we went for a long drive down to key west.
By Rebecca
We left about midday and had a lovely lunch in Key Largo before heading south
Li & Rebecca were happy with their food, William chose chicken tenders, for the 12th time, but seemed happier to be trying my beer than the food!
After a couple of hours drive to Key West we checked into the guest house, with a pleasant surprise that it was as big as it was. Even had its own mini swimming pool!
We spent the rest of the wandering in and around Duvel Street, of course had to witness the sunset, which unfortunately was personally great as the sunburn started to really make me feel sick, but thankfully recovered a few hours later
We found a great place for dinner, “Margaritaville”, which was a restaurant designed on the inside to look like you were outside! Li enjoyed the margaritas and the music for sure, whilst Rebecca loved the food platter!
Dinner done; kids tired! We headed back, as the apartment was only 5 minutes walk, then Li and I had a couple of sneaky beers in Willie Ts
Today we went deep sea fishing, at first we went into semi-deep waters and I was the first person to catch a fish it was a good sized yellow fin snapper (that was the most common fish that we caught).
Then I caught another yellow fin snapper still good sized then Rebecca caught again another snapper and then another.
Next I swiched bait to squid and caught nothing. Then mummy caught a sun-catcher and then I threw up (which wasn’t a nice exprience).
Then we move to deeper waters and as sone as we stop and put the big rods out daddy caught a massive nurse shark, 150lb (then I threw up again) then Rebecca caught a nice rainbow-runner then a spade fish.
Then all of a sudden daddy had a massive fish on the line and me and Rebecca helped reel it in and it turned out to be a massive bull shark, 300lb the man said.
After that our arms we aching from reeling in the bull shark but then daddy caught an amberjack which we landed onto the boat.
We moved to shallow waters and then mummy and Rebecca caught some more snappers and when we got back to the docks the skipper filleted the six fish we had caught that were the right size and we can eat. So at the end of the day we had caught one rainbow-runner, four yellow fin snappers and 1 sun-catcher which the skipper said was a great catch.
By William
We were given a recommendation for dinner, where they would cook our catch! The Fish House was a great choice and prepared our catch in three different ways, and by coincidence was also a triple D venue!
Early start today as we needed to be at the dive training Center at 7:45am. At least that’s what we were told, but as with all these types of activity, for some reason it’s just always slightly disorganised. So first told to leave and come back at 9am, then, 10 minutes later, we were now needed, but at a different location! Quite why this happens I don’t know, but it does, every time, so I expected it.
Practice for Rebecca and I in the holiday inn pool was good to be fair, really nice instructor called Jeff, relaxed and excellent approach to everyone. Very happy
Quick lunch in a diner for us all and then, after another disorganised wait of about 45 minutes, we headed out to sea with about 35 others on the boat
Two dives for Rebecca and I, whilst William was snorkelling and even Li went into the water which was very unexpected but lovely
The first dive was ok although my mask wasn’t great, saw quite a lot but mainly I was keeping an eye on Rebecca who was struggling slightly with her ears and buoyancy. But by the end of the dive, which was cut slightly short because one of the other students was burning through too much air, she seemed to get it sorted
We moved locations, and I thankfully managed to change masks, I entered the water for our second dive. This time Rebecca managed to sort out ears and buoyancy really well, and the fact that I could see just added to a great experience. We saw a huge selection of fish on the coral, every colour size and shape you could think of, including some barracudas, a fantastic bright green eel, and a huge grouper which must have been 8 foot long.
Today we went scuba diving, however first of all we had to wait on the boat, in the mean time I had a not so bright idea to make a sun cream tattoo (how it works the sun cream keep the skin white while the rest tans. While we waited for the boat to go I sat int he top deck on a metal bench (what a bright idea in the sun to put metal?). It didn’t end up working which was a bit disappointing but I did get a dumb tan line from the swim suit.
However the scuba diving was very cool because there were loads of fishies, they were; orange, blue, black, yellow, red, white, and silver. They were so pretty and not one that I saw a green eel, stingray and a GIANT grouper (dunno how to spell it). Me and daddy went for 2 dives and it was good on the first one but it was amazing on the second one because there were loads more fishies.
I looked very cool in my gear but it was really really heavy so I found it even harder to waddle in my fins to the edge of the boat. Once we jumped in we had to grab a rope then eventually we went exploring underwater. In total it was a very good birthday present as I saw lots of fishies.
By Rebecca
We returned from the dive and headed back to the apartment, decided to eat in tonight given we’d been shopping, so Li and I cooked steak and prawns, and we had some amazing tacos
A few beers inside, watched Freeguy, and another day is done
An early start as we had to pack and go, we managed to get out by 10 ish and hit the road towards Key Largo, stopping off at Walmart to treat the kids to the American shopping experience.
Rebecca was shocked by the size of the juice containers, food packaging and the unexpected items you normally get such as fishing gear, snorkelling gear and items like machetes!!
After several hours, we walked out with snorkelling gear, food and fishing rods!!
Fast forward a hour or so. We are in Key Largo, we managed to check in to the apartment early and headed out to sort out some activities.
Tony & Rebecca booked a diving excursion for tomorrow and William & I will tag along for the boat ride. William for snorkelling and I will just be a passenger.
We also booked an eye watering expensive deep sea fishing expedition for Thursday, apparently we can keep some catch for dinner and most restaurants around can cook it up for you.
We finally headed back to the apartment and since we bypassed breakfast and lunch, we went to a cafe opposite. It was an interesting place, next to the water front there were some amazing wildlife in the waters, pelicans, sharks, fishes and even manatees!!
We even stroked the manatees, it was such an experience. they were very gentle.
After a lovely selection of food of lobster bites, coconut Shrimps, conch fritters and chowder soup. I had a lovely refreshing crazy lady beer (and a 2nd) to wash it down.
The kids then got some raw fish bits to feed the wild sharks and there was so many of them! Certainly don’t want to be swimming in the waters.
A late start as all the sun, walking and late nights seem to have caught up with us.
We ventured downtown to Lincoln Road, stopping at a few places en route. I managed to pick up some shorts from Zara and Mango.
Rebecca picked up a bargain stash at Forever21 due to a closing store. She got some lovely cowboy boots, hoodie and puffy gilet for $45.
We caught up with some friends from back home for a lovely Cuban lunch (who happened to be in Miami at the same time). The kids enjoyed having their friends to hang out with for a few hours.
Jane and I managed to get a pitcher of white sangria, we assumed it was just white wine. However, it was also laced with peach schnapps and brandy. It was a lovely cocktail.
After lunch, we carried on Lincoln Road for some more mooching before retreating back to the hotel on the free trolley bus. We hit the beach for the last few hours of our last afternoon/evening of Miami Beach.
We decided to have our last dinner in the hotel, lovely food and 2 for 1 cocktails.
A struggle to get out of bed but we managed to drag our feet out the door by 10am.
We stopped off at a KFC en route to the zoo for some brunch, surprisingly the chicken sandwiches were very good and the kids loved the chicken tenders.
We got in to the zoo and was so surprised how big it was, sadly the cycle buggies were all reserved and booked up.
We managed to see some exotic animals such as the American Bald Eagle, Harpy Eagle, Florida panther, Australian Tree Kangeroos and Belizian Jaguar (which Tony and I tried to find on our safari many years ago).
Rebecca loved the frozen drinks, with lots of refills!
The park itself is great and landscaped extremely well. William was grateful of the numerous refillable water stations and water mists everywhere, plus very odd frozen bananas!
Unfortunately, the koalas were relocated to San Francisco zoo as they were unable to sustain the eucalyptus supply.
After a long day of walking, we retreated back to the hotel pool bar and hit tub. Tony took some time out to doze in the room.
We went out for dinner with the kids but it was marred by salty dishes and a disagreement over the service.
We awoke really looking forward to today. A breakfast on route, where a random nice guy bought me a delicious coffee in a Spanish breakfast place, and we quickly ended up at the Everglades Safari Park. Despite the cost, we decided that a personal airboat tour was the way forward and, in hindsight, it was absolutely the right decision. However we did have a couple of hours to kill before we departed so we had a little detour to the Ranger station first
There was some amazing wildlife to see, fantastic birds of all kinds as well as your typical local alligator and turtle
We only had a couple of hours and needed to head back for the airboat tour, departed ready for the trip
The best! A personal trip for the four of us. Wow it was brilliant. The guide was good but the fun and excitement was unreal
The speed of the airboat combined with the occasional stop to see the alligators was perfect.
Heading back and found a BBQ place to eat on the way. Great music and some real BBQ style food. Lots of flags!
Returning to the hotel we ventured back to the pool for an evening dip. Happy days
Early wake up today, apparently someone snoring woke up William around 5am this morning. Finally convinced him to go back to bed but of course I have been awake since then.
After several hours of lounging in bed, we all finally arose and was out the door around 9.30am. We found a lovely place for breakfast called Maxine’s.
The kids decided to go for chocolate chip pancakes, Tony went for eggs Benedict and I for breakfast tacos.
Think we under estimated the portion sizes as there was a lot of pancakes left over. Note for future breakfasts to opt for 3 x adkt breakfasts.
After breakfast we headed down Collins avenue to the end of south beach. We stopped off in a few store on the way, picking some souvenirs, clothings and other bits. We finally reach our destination Joe Stone Crabs.
We opted for the take out section, but we could dine in which was a bit strange as they provided the seafood forks, bread, sauces etc to the table. However, after a hefty bill, we ended up with 15 large crab claws and a portion of fries. Enough to make one’s eyes water as you could get a meal at La Manoir for the same cost.
Sadly William hasn’t been feeling too good but he managed a few crab claws. Rebecca indulged in them like there was no tomorrow.We all thought the fries were very good. Tony indulged in the bread and mustard sauce.
After the crab claw indulgence, we checked out the south beach at the far end before heading back on the free trolley bus back to 21st beach.
William loved the sea and both kids went straight in to the sea with Tony. I chilled out on the beach reading my kindle.The water was relatively warm, which was surprising. After a relaxing few hours, we went back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, the kids had no desire to venture back out after the shower. Straight in to PJs and Tony got take away pizza for them.
Tony and I decided to explore locally and ended up at Wilde on the porch, lovely music and good grub. Tony went for prawn tacos and I for chicken pita & fries. Plus a few beers and margaritas to wrap up the evening.
Got up late after a long evening, then it seemed like a nice idea to spend over two hours arguing with Air Portugal, again, about the luggage as once again we were told that I hadn’t paid for it. Thankfully got it sorted but not a nice way to spend the morning.
Finally we got out and decided to have a little walk in the glorious sunshine around the city. It really is a lovely temperature and a beautiful relaxed place.
Lunch in the main square, and Li decided she wanted the fruits de mer. Rebecca and I shared it given the cost and it would have been too much if there wasn’t 3 of us for sure!
And of course, no lunch is complete without a glass of bubbles for Li
Leaving the restaurant we wandered along the seafront and Rebecca decided to treat herself with a large pineapple drink. Very excited girl!
We continued our wanderings up into the main shopping area for a few hours, a little shopping was on the cards for Rebecca and Li, whilst William and I roamed a little bored until we found some beer for me and a very odd ice cream for William!
A final few drinks and some egg tarts, and we’re done. Ended up a nice day. Note packing and getting sorted to leave for Miami early tomorrow
