Day 0 - Travel to the Keys

This year we are only doing a short vacation down to Florida Key, because there is a lot of uncertainty in Washington. Thus, we left DC at 6:00 AM on a flight to Miami via Atlanta. After a slightly bumpy flights we arrived in Miami around 10:30AM and delt with the confusion of the Miami airport. We had to then navigate a very unclear indirect route to the rental car location; the signage was horrible in the airport. After picking up our Mustang Convertible (why wouldn’t you drive a convertible in the Keys) we were on our way.

First stop was a grocery store and lunch. We ate at Senor De La Taco. They had very good tacos. Then we stopped at Publix to grab some water and snacks. Since it was still relatively early and we couldn’t check into the resort before 4:00PM we headed to Everglades National Park.

We drove out to Everglades National Park and stopped at the visitor center to get a few recommendations on short hikes and pick up magnets for the fridge. We asked about the hike to the Nike Missile site, but it was “closed for the season”. So, we did a short 1/3-mile Anhinga boardwalk hike. Amazingly enough I saw wildlife, usually I don’t see any wildlife beyond the stand squirrel or chipmunk. We saw several types of birds, giant grasshoppers, and several alligators. After the hike we started on our way down to keys, with a quick stop at Roberts roadside stand to get Key Lime milkshakes.

We got to the resort a little after 4:00PM and it was busy due to a wedding taking place and a lot of late check outs. I went to check in and our room wasn’t ready. We killed a little bit of time by running over to the gas station but came back and the room still wasn’t ready. They did give us our welcome drinks, I had champagne, and Jim had the pineapple mojito. Then we sat in the lobby for a while then went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. Right after we ordered they called me to let me know the room was ready at 5:38PM. So, I ran up to the check in desk to get our keys and room information before finishing dinner. Since having to wait an hour and a half for a room is unacceptable, the hotel gave us $100 resort credit. I don’t think they would have given me the resort credit if I didn’t complain and site, I was a platinum member. Sadly, they couldn’t give us a room upgrade. We got to our room a little before 6:30PM.

It was a long day. I also started to pack up my bag for the snorkel trip I thought I had scheduled for the next day. But I had it scheduled for the following Monday, not good. I scrambled and rebooked for Tuesday as Monday was supposed to be rainy with thunderstorms all day. So, the problem was solved.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow as it is supposed to rain all morning.

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