After a great visit with RIck, we were off to Key West and Dry Tortugua.
So fun to spend an afternoon with Elizabeth’s mom, Adrianne, near Jupiter. What a lovely woman and an incredible place to summer. Spent the next day on South Beach in Miami before leaving for the keys.
Worth a stop, we enjoyed Aquarium Encounters in Marathon, FL. Such a fun thing to watch feeding of a 400 lb. grouper in one of the canals and many nurse sharks in the open ocean nearby.
Key West is the place for sunsets, the Southernmost point in the Continental US with the most bars per capita! So much history – well worth the drive.
Key West promotes a wonderful butterfly/bird exhibit that was a feast of colors.
Traveling back up the coast included a stop in Naples. This is a city that can best be described with words like “new” and “wealth”. Accidently the US Open Pickleball Championship Tournament held being held there so we stopped in. Privately owned, identifying itself as the largest PB tourney in the world, with 64 courts and a draw of 3000 players and 30,000 fans throughout the week it was a bustling affair.
Driving through Ft. Myers on the way up left the coast left us saddened by all the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian. The beaches are still as beautiful as ever. The bridge to Sanibel Island has been temporarily restored, and the island is slowly to returning to its previous bustling vacation destination status. The beaches are beautiful, and the people, though exhausted and grief stricken, are determined to rebuild/restore their home. South Florida watermelon rivals the best I’ve had – YUM!!
One more quick trip through St. Pete and a yummy grouper dinner with RIck, and memories of his homemade key lime pie, left us wanting to return again soon.