Believe it or not our friend who lives in Key West Florida invited us to return to the Keys for another visit as their house was empty for a while. Doing what normal rational people do we immediately packed up the car and drove five hours back down to Key West for a four night stay.
While I have probably said enough about the Keys I would like to share one useful tidbit for those of you who take your car down to Key West. Parking is pretty expensive there with most costing $4.00 per hour but we discovered that there are many free parking spots scattered in the neighborhoods surrounding popular areas in Key West.
When driving on the back streets if you pay attention you will notice many of the parking spaces are marked RESIDENT PARKING. However, if you pay real close attention you will also notice many of them remain unmarked which is where we mostly parked.
The beauty of parking in random spots all over the city is that we had the opportunity to check out the charm and whimsicalness of the houses in Key West while walking to and from our parked car. Seeing these homes, their art, their landscaping and their uniqueness turned out to be one of our favorite things we enjoyed this trip.
Of course no trip to the Keys by car would be complete without stopping at the Everglades National Park for a mid drive break. We absolutely love walking in Shark Valley to observe the native critters of the everglades. This trip we were excited to be able to watch a Blue Heron spear (with its bill) a large Oscar fish. No sooner had it done so, an Anhinga tried to snatch it away sending both birds sprawling into the water.
When they splashed into the water, it did not go unnoticed by a lazing American Alligator who sprung into action to see what tasty morsel was in distress. Luckily for the Great Blue Heron and the Anhinga they managed to escape back to the shoreline having nearly met their fate in the jaws of an Alligator. It was indeed a National Geographic moment and despite all of the action the Great Blue Heron actually managed to keep and eat its captive fish!
When we returned to our park we only had a few days to pack up all the stuff we had spread out during our three month stay in south Florida. Then the day came we said our goodbyes to our “winter friends" from the north and we pulled out to begin our spring journey heading west…
NOTE: We are now at Little Manatee River State Park for a few days before moving over to Lake Louise State Park for two nights…
Always nice to get back on the road again, safe travels.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed your time in the Keys.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy your new adventures.
It's about time.
Key West and the Western Keys. My favorite community in all of the states that I've visited in my 72+ years. That said it sure has changed in the last 20-25 years.
ReplyDeleteThe Keys are a very special place:)
ReplyDelete