Florida 2023 - February 6

Run: I woke up and ran around the island of Key West.  I did an out and back on a road with a sidewalk that runs along the shore.  I watched the sun come up.  It was amazing.  It was also stupid humid so I did this as a run walk. 

I was on my own for site seeing in the morning.  So I hit all the nature places. 

Key West Butterflies: This exhibit was magical, and I say that having experienced the Krohn butterflies several times. One of the things that helped is I got there super early in the day (before 10am) so it was not at all crowded.  The place was really filling up by the time I left.

West Martello Tower and Key West Garden Club: this is an outdoor garden that's built into what used to be a fort.  Parking is free.  Admission is free, but donations are requested. This was also a special place.  If Mom had come with me, she really would've enjoyed it. 

Bahia Honda State Park: Was hard on my bucket list and one of the things I was super excited for (along with eating seafood out of a shack). I love that beach.  And the water.  The water is really shallow and has a lot of sea grass and other non-stingy, non-scary things to see.  I swam, I walked along the shore and looked for shells, and then I napped a minute. 

One last shack: We hit the Cracked Conch on Marathon Key.  Totally worth a stop.  I think Dungeon Master was done with my seafood shack needs by then, but this place had a lot of other really nice food so all was well.

And then we drive: I finally just gave up worrying what anyone things and listened to my weird podcasts on this drive home.  In Defense of Plants told me about orchid bees, which are a thing.  No Stupid Questions told me about working on an airplane.  And I think that's all I heard before Dungeon Master got on a conference call.  

We got in before 10pm local time and headed to bed.

Florida 2023 - February 5

 Travel to the keys day.

In a surprise move, I actually used the hotel treadmill.  Because it was raining cats and dogs when I woke up.  There was technically a sidewalk by my hotel, but not really.  It just wasn't worth it. 

Then, we drove.  The ride from the mainland to Key West is just slow.  The speed limit in a lot of places is 45mph, and there's very few opportunities for passing.  Luckily, it's gorgeous.  Dungeon Master was curious how I'd do but the bridges didn't bother me at all.  I'd been over them before so I had an idea in my mind of what to expect.

Ft Zachary Taylor: First stop in Key West was a state park.  Luckily it was culture day so everyone was dressed up in costumes telling us about their life in the civil war.  It was fascinating.  Long story short: Florida did secede from the union, but the Union always held the Florida Keys. 

Southern Most Point: It was very important to Dungeon Master to have a picture next to the buoy.  So we waited in line and did the thing.  I totally missed all the iguanas on the rocks the first time around.

Fried seafood: I was on a mission to basically eat all the fried seafood I could find, and bonus points if it's from a building that looks like a shack.  It was at about this time we discovered that several shacks are closed on Sundays and Mondays.  Boo.  DJs clam shack was open and they did me a solid. 

Shopping: We got some souvenirs, including for the person who's watching my plants, and my most favorite 3 year old.  (Side note here, I really only know one 3 year old well.  Thanks Pooky.) 

Sunset on the beach: We had such a good time we went back to Ft Zachary Taylor state park, sat on the beach, and watched the sun set.  It was amazing.

Hotel drama: Then we checked in to a super expensive hotel, not for amenities but just for existing on Key West.  Okay. So, we walk around to our rooms and the hotel keys don't work.  Dungeon Master walks back to the front desk to get that sorted out. Then we get in the room and there is a millipede just chilling on what would have been my bed.  This sucker was enormous.  It's a first floor room in Florida.  It was one of our preference to ask for another room.  This time the keys did work.  There were no visible bugs.

After that excitement I sat outside in my shorts and talked to Mom and Dad for a while