Back from a Break

We just returned from five delicious days in Florida together sans kids. It was intended as a trip to celebrate Ron's 40th birthday, in addition to all the other festivities we had around here during his actual birthday week. We hadn't been anywhere warm during the winter together in six years, so we were really looking forward to a little escape from the cold. We are very fortunate to have both sets of parents living nearby. I'm not sure that our children even noticed we were gone because they were so busy playing happily with their grandparents.

Neither of us had ever been to Florida before, so we figured that a trip to Miami and the Keys was a good introduction to the Sunshine state. We began the adventure in Miami with a trip into the Little Havana neighborhood for lunch at Versailles, a cornerstone of Cuban cuisine in Miami. Later in the trip we explored several other Miami must-see locations, including Miami Beach. We didn't have our suits on, but still strolled the beach for a few blocks and did plenty of people watching. I love the bright colors everywhere in Miami, especially on this life guard stand.

On the way down towards Key West, we stopped at a place called Robbie's where you can pay a buck to sit on their dock and watch the tarpon fish jump. For two bucks you can get a bucket of fish scraps to toss in to feed them. Unfortunately, the weather has been unseasonably cold, even for Florida and the tarpons haven't been coming around. It is just too cold. Instead we sat on the dock for free and enjoyed a cold beer and the comings-and-goings of boats in the marina. The Keys are filled with small Mom-and-Pop beachside resorts/motels such as this one where we stayed. Not fancy, but certainly comfortable, reasonably priced and very fun. Our room was literally 20 feet from the ocean and even closer to an ocean-side basket swing for two.

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting our friend Sam in Key West and touring his sailboat, er, home. He took us out for some true Key West night time entertainment one night, then toured us around the marina in his dinghy. Renting bikes made it very easy to check out alot of the local haunts, cafes and tourist posts.

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We returned home after four nights/five days of relaxing, reading and enjoying being just the two of us together. I feel like a new person. Now, if we could just do something about this cold January weather.

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More on the food, of course, on another post.

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Have you ever been? Are you off to anywhere warm soon?