(ICYMI - Here’s Part 1 + Part 2 of our trip!)
On our last morning in Key West, we were feeling sad to have to say goodbye to a new place we fell so in love with, but had a peace about leaving (because we missed Bax and were excited to come home to see him) but also because we knew we’d be back again someday soon!
We wanted to catch the sunrise before heading back to Date & Thyme for breakfast, before packing up and making the drive back up through the Keys to fly home. So we headed over to the east side of the island to the White Street Pier, with the sun about to rise on one side, and the moon rising on the other.
I couldn’t get over how clean the light was, how crisp and fresh the air felt too. Honestly I don’t think I would enjoy the humidity, and wouldn’t necessarily want to visit any later than early spring, but it really was gorgeous and so clear and clean.
I loved this Robert Frost monument at the entrance to the little park nearby, where we parked the Jeep before walking over to the pier.
Several people had gathered to watch the sun come up. It was a lazy hazy sunrise, with some moody lavenders and pinks… I absolutely couldn’t get enough of the morning light here… There wasn’t so much blue and green reflected light like we have here in Maryland + Pennsylvania, and the way the morning sun made everything look was just so dreamy to me.
We headed back to Date & Thyme for more Avocado Toast (with an egg on it this time!), an Acai bowl, and Breakfast Wrap, smoothies and coffee, and headed back to our hotel to pack up and load the car.
It was bitter sweet because we weren’t ready to leave yet, but grateful for our time there. <3
The drive goes quickly and before we knew it, we were passing Bahia Honda, where we’d spent part of our second day in the Keys on the beach. Was cool to see the old train rail (before they redid the bridge in the ‘80s) from the other side. It was another gorgeous day!
We got a little stuck in some traffic heading back, so we decided to pull off at Long Key State Park to use the restroom, stretch our legs, and take a little break from the drive. We ended up venturing out on their mile-long nature trail, which was a fun little unexpected part of our trip!
I thought it was SO cute how the “stay on the trail” sign was a loafer, hehehe…
The sun felt great, the weather was awesome, and we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves until all the sudden the trail stopped and was flooded out by water. We took our shoes off and kept going, which was really fun and refreshing, with little minnows swimming around our toes, and sand crabs popping up all over… We did have to watch out for those, but they were fine. :) I’d say almost half of the trail was covered in about 6-8” of water so it was fun..
Eventually the trail ended and we found the Jeep waiting for us to climb back in and get back on the road… We didn’t have much leeway in our schedule in order to make our flight, so we kept on moving…
We took a pit stop at Islamorada Brewing Co. so I could have ONE LAST NO WAKE ZONE before we left. I’m telling you, that beer is awesome… It’s so perfect for summer and I love it so much… So we stopped in for a couple drinks and two orders of Avo Tacos + Pineapple Shrimp.
I won’t talk about the hour between arriving into Miami and sitting in our seats on the plane… OMG. All I’ll say is, make sure you have enough time driving back, and when you leave the airport in your rental car, DROP A PIN where the rental car entrance is so you know exactly where to go when you get back there. Our cell service went out about a half mile outside of the airport and we had to find it by memory… We had to return the Jeep, ride the train car thing back to the terminal, and go through security and get to our gate of course, which was fine with a few minutes to spare. We did it, and all was fine, but just make sure on your return day, if you’re driving up from KW to Miami, that you give yourself about 6-7 hours in total. It takes about 3.5 to drive the keys, and then another 40 minutes or so (depending on traffic) to get to the airport, and THEN you have the hour or two of the airport experience. So get breakfast and then leave, and choose an evening flight home so you can be prepared. Or you can just stay overnight in one of the northern Keys to cut your trip back short, which is what we may do next time. :) Learning lessons!
We were SO blessed and lucky to have such a fun trip, and can’t wait to go back down sometime, hopefully next spring! We want to go back to try some of the fine dining restaurants, maybe ride the trolley train to get a nice educational tour of the island, check out a few other other beaches, and maybe do some snorkeling! The vibe down there is amazing, everyone is so nice and HAPPY, and over all it’s such a refreshing and rejuvenating place. There are many other places we want to visit in time, but before then, like they say on LOST… We have to go back to the island!
Tyler and I have recently decided that we’d like to continue traveling and seeing new places. Without having kids (hopefully we will one day, but not just yet!), we want to look back and be “glad we did” rather than say “we wish we had”, so we’re wanting to make the most out of our free time and go see new places and do fun things! We’re thinking of doing Zion in the fall! I’m the beach girl, he’s the mountain man, so we will be doing a little bit of both… :) Thanks for traveling along with us!!! xoxo
Obviously we’ve only been once, but if you are heading down and have any questions about our experience or any tips we may have learned along the way, feel free to ask and I’ll offer what I know the best I can!! :)