Goodbye To The Keys

Today we say a reluctant goodbye to the Florida Keys. We’ve been here just over two weeks and enjoyed every minute of it. Even though we didn’t get to do any fishing or boating, the variety of fresh seafood around here is phenomenal and the scenery is spectacular.

And if you haven’t been to the Keys yet, you really owe it to yourself to make a visit down here. Yes, it’s expensive. But if you come in the off-season, or the mid-season like we did, prices are tolerable if you budget for it. We spend a lot of nights in free or low-cost campgrounds and membership campgrounds, so while we can’t afford to do this every week, once in a while it’s nice to treat ourselves.

I mean, look at some of these campsites! Those really are million-dollar views!

You can opt for a site that’s not right on the water to save a little bit of money, and you’re never more than a short walk away.

The water is so crystal clear that it is amazing. If you’re shoveling snow up in Michigan or Montana, I won’t mention that people were swimming and wading at the beach when we stopped by yesterday.

And the view is not all palm trees and water. I know, I saw those girls in their skimpy bikinis at the beach yesterday! But really, it was just a quick glance.

If you like plants and flowers, you’ll love it here.

Everywhere you look there are birds. Egrets, seagulls, pelicans, and dozens of other species that I couldn’t identify even if I had a guidebook in my hands.

I’ve even learned to handle most of the bridges down here. Well okay, I am going to make Miss Terry drive across the Seven Mile Bridge when we pull out. I mean come on, it’s seven miles long! I could handle most of the seven miles, but that big hump in the middle is a real deal breaker for me.

Lately I’ve become enamored with power boats, and I’d love to have one. I don’t care about going out on the open ocean after marlin, but it would be really cool to fish for barracuda, tarpon, and snapper around the bridges here in the Keys. And when you want to take a break, you just pull up to one of the uninhabited islands that dot the waters around here and have lunch.

There’s a marina here at Sunshine Key RV Resort, and every day we walked down to see the fish and manatee and admire the boats. Something like this Key West would be perfect for here and on the Indian River up around Titusville. We’re not going to get a boat because it makes entirely no sense in our current lifestyle, which we have no intention of changing soon, but it’s a nice dream. I get bored if I don’t have something to dream about.

We have about a 260 mile trip today, up the Overseas Highway to the mainland, and then either across US 41, the old Tamiami Trail, or else I-75 to Florida’s west side. We are going to to spend one night at the Encore Park in the Fort Myers area so we can meet Dale and Lisa Roberts for dinner. Dale created the excellent covers on my three Big Lake mystery novels and I’m looking forward to meeting him and thanking him in person.

Then on Wednesday it will be another 185 miles north to the Three Flags RV Resort in Wildwood. We will be there for three weeks, while I get the next issue of the Gypsy Journal ready to send to the printer, and Miss Terry wants to spend some time working on her loom. She says she’s been so busy “relaxing” that she hasn’t had any time to do some of the things she’s wanted to get to. We could never retire, we don’t have enough time as it is!

Thought For The Day – Time is like a river. You cannot touch the water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment of life.

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