Friday I-Wish-I-Were-There (Florida Keys)

Welcome to my Friday I-Wish-I-Were-There Blog.

From one extreme to the other—last week I was shivering in the Canadian Rockies, this week I’m headed south, waaaay south, to the beautiful and relaxing Florida Keys.

Highlights:
Key Largo and the John Pennekamp Coral Reef. On a glass-bottomed boat tour to the reef we saw moon jellyfish, gorgeous colored coral and the elusive barracuda. Well, some of us saw them. One of our party of four (and that would be me), struggled not to let the New Zealand name down by being violently sea-sick on her sandals.

Bahia Honda State park. On one of the many ‘Keys’ (Islands) is the stunning Bahia Honda State park. The park has two swimming beaches, Sandspur beach, populated by mama turtles laying eggs in the right season, which faces the Atlantic ocean, and the other, more sheltered bay, Calusa beach, where we spent hours snorkeling, faces the Gulf of Mexico. Both were incredibly warm – something we’re not used to after swimming in New Zealand’s cool (okay, it's icy in my opinion) seawater.

Key West. Funky, touristy, and kitschy, but still great fun. We had a blast in Key West. Had the obligatory photo taken at the Southernmost point of the Continental U.S.A monument, plus a walk around the famous Mallory Square and along the popular Duvel St. The highlight here for me was my son’s excitement when he got to pat a little shark at the Key West Aquarium.

Key Lime Pie. Real Key Lime pie is a pale yellow colour (only packaged stuff is green) and oh my, one slice is not enough.

Sun, sea, sand and family. Nothing could be better. Now I’m going to take a few moments to imagine I’m still there floating in all that lovely warm water, instead of huddled at my desk with the heater on full.

Tracey