MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Sunday, 25 December 2011
Sunday, 18 December 2011
What a difference a week makes
We arrived home on a cold clear
sunny morning, since then we’ve had rain, hail, sleet, snow and icy nights!
While it’s great to be home, this
time last week we were enjoying surf curling onto white sand beaches, blue skies,
sunshine and 80F.
Wish we could’ve brought that
weather with us.
Ah well, time for a hot chocolate!
Have fun, we are!
Sanibel Island
Our last stop in Florida before we
flew home was Sanibel Island. The
forecast was a bit iffy, but we lucked out and apart from two late afternoon
showers the weather was fabulous.
Our hotel, Sunset Beach, one of the
Inns of Sanibel, is lovely right on the beach, with a great pool, and lovely
rooms.
A Sanibel Ordinance requires
hotels to remove all beach furniture by 6.00 p.m each evening because of nesting turtles.
Lots of shells on the beaches.
Horseshoe crab shell.
The Ospreys still have a nest
by the lighthouse.
Not to mention more fabulous sunsets.
Have fun, we are!
Dry Tortugas National Park
We first visited the Dry Tortugas National
Park many years ago and wondered if our return visit would live up to our expectations,
it absolutely surpassed them.
Accessible only by boat or seaplane,
the 7 islands that make up the Dry Tortugas National Park http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm
are 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico in a protected marine area.
This was our view of Garden Key and
Fort Jefferson as we arrived on the National Park Ferry.
Fort Jefferson was used as a Union
prison during the Civil War. Dr Mudd, the
physician who treated John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Lincoln
was imprisoned here.
The only campground (in the trees) in
the park is on Garden Key, it’s a very primitive campground and you really do
pack it in and pack it out, including all your water.
We strolled the 6/10 of a mile round
the moat and saw some lovely fish on the way round.
This is how the walls of the Fort
looked until they were restored, unfortunately funding has run out so it is not
known when restoration of the final wall will be completed.
The powder magazine.
The lighthouse on one of the
bastions, there is also a path around the top of the fort.
Have fun, we are!
Key West
Key West, as always, was simply
fabulous, our hotel on Simonton Street, Best Western Plus, Hibiscus Motel was
even nicer than the last time we stayed there.
Nearby and only 90 miles from Cuba is the Southernmost Point on the
continental USA.
Fort Zachary State Park isn’t far
away; we didn’t visit the Fort this time just spent a lazy day on the beach,
admiring a huge yacht moored just off shore.
There are some fabulous boats in the harbour.
Near the harbour.
Along Duval Street.
And last, but not least, we saw some fabulous sunsets from Mallory Square.
Have fun, we are!
Sun, surf & railroads
Bahia Honda State Park about half
way to Key West is absolutely gorgeous, we always spend a couple of hours
enjoying the sun, sand and surf whenever we pass this way.
The remains of part of the Flagler Overseas
Railroad are visible from one beach.
Henry Flagler and his wife arrived in Key West on the railroad on 22
January 1912, 3 days of celebrations followed.
Henry Flagler died at his home in
May 1913, without him running the railroad bankruptcy was declared in
1932. During a powerful hurricane on
Labour Day in 1935, hundreds of people in Islamorada lost their lives and 40
miles of track were destroyed.
The right of way was sold to the
State of Florida for $640,000, and was modified into the present Overseas
Highway which was opened in 1938. As well as a Florida Scenic Highway it is
also classified as an All American Road.
Have fun, we are!
Monday, 12 December 2011
The best Key Lime milkshakes in the world!
I love milkshakes, I’ve had good, bad
and truly dreadful, but at Robert Is Here Fruit Stand on the road between
Florida City and Flamingo in Everglades National Park I think they make
absolutely the best key lime milkshakes ever.
Lots of lovely fresh fruit and
vegetables.
At the rear they have a small
petting zoo and a splash pool area for kids.
There is also a rainbow eucalyptus
tree a type of tree we’ve never seen before from a distance it looks no
different than a normal eucalyptus tree.
But close up you can see all the
different colours on the trunk.
The colours are caused as the tree
grows and sheds layers of bark, http://eucalyptusdeglupta.com has more information about the process.
Have fun, we are!
Key Largo, Florida
Key Largo was our first destination during
our trip to Florida, we’ve stayed there several times before in fact twice in
the same hotel. Sadly in the 6 or
however many years it is since we last stayed there things have changed for the
worse. The bad Trip Advisor reviews we read,
unfortunately after we’d made the reservation, sadly all appear to be correct.
That aside, we visited some great
places while we were there, one of which was John Pennekamp State Park, there
is a nice swimming area.
The day we visited was very windy so glass
bottom boat trips were cancelled although you could still rent a
kayak. Years ago on a trip with our
niece we rented kayaks, niece and DB had a double one leaving me to paddle my
own. To start with, much to their
amusement, I could only make it go round in circles, eventually I did get the
hang of it. These people were doing so
much better that I did.
We visited the aquarium where I fell
in love with the cherub fish, they look so happy and cute they make you smile.
Have fun, we are!
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Catching up – Florida
Our journey to Fort Myers was a bit
convoluted involving connecting through Denver and Houston, unfortunately snow
in Denver meant our bags didn’t make the connection before we left the gate for
de-icing. I had visions of us spending
our time in Florida wearing trousers and fleece jackets thankfully they arrived
on the next flight!
We took I75 then 29 to Everglades
City, the town hall was decorated for Christmas, Santa is hiding behind a palm
tree.
Everglades City is a place we’ve
wanted to visit ever since we read Totch: A Life in the Everglades, about Totch
Brown’s life, as among many other things, an alligator hunter.
“Pit Pan” the small boat used by
Totch Brown.
Ted Smallwood’s Store, which is on
the National Registry of Historic Places, was established in 1906 at
Chokoloskee Island which is a Calusa Indian Shell Mound. The store served this remote area buying hides,
furs, and farm produce also providing goods in return, it remained open and active
until 1982.
The store counters have an inverted
slant this enabled women with hooped skirts to stand next to the counter
without their skirts billowing out behind and exposing their lower leg. Although hooped skirts went out of fashion
before 1900 Ted Smallwood drew on his childhood memories when building the
store.
Until 1955 the only way to get to
the store was by boat, something you don’t think about as you whizz down the
road in air conditioned comfort.
It’s an interesting area there is
also a very nice RV park in Chokoloskee that we hope to return to.
Have fun, we are!
Saturday, 10 December 2011
On our way home
We are, again, a little behind with the blog, BT and the Cougar are back in storage and we are on our way home to the UK via the Florida Keys.
Hopefully, we'll get updated before Christmas, just having too much fun in the sun I guess.
Hopefully, we'll get updated before Christmas, just having too much fun in the sun I guess.
Welcome!
We have a new follower, welcome Bubba Ray, we hope you enjoy following us on our holidays exploring the USA and places at home in the UK.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Bisbee, Arizona
One of our favourite places is
Bisbee. In between enjoying coffee, or
in my case hot chocolate, at the Bisbee Coffee Company, we spent a few hours
ambling around town.
some of the houses are reached by very steep stairs.
There are some quirky things to see around town.
Not sure if this is a home or a store.
How about this for a pretty mural?
Have fun, we are!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)