Well, actually there isn’t – although there
is a place off Montego Bay, Jamaica that was formerly known as ‘Kokomo Island’,
now known as Sandals Cay… but the Beach Boys’ lyrics nicely sum up the amazing atmosphere
that is the tropical Florida Keys. This is really what I want to talk about!
Some say ‘bucket list’, others say ‘dream
destination’… for me it’s just been a life-long ambition to visit what was once
almost a mythical part of the world to me.
I’d seen the movie on the Sunday
afternoon TV re-runs when I was a kid (the 1948 Humphrey Bogart / Lauren Bacall
film noir classic, Key Largo); I’d listened to it sung about by Bertie Higgins
in the early eighties (Key Largo, 1981) and then of course the Beach Boys
‘owned’ the atmosphere in their hit song ‘Kokomo’ from the ‘Cocktail’
soundtrack in the late eighties.
Whatever the driving motivation was, I just
had to the Florida Keys one day… and this day, I did!!
Last week, we drove down the East Coast of
Florida from our home here in Tampa, crossed the infamous ‘Alligator Alley’ and
spent a night in Miami.
Leaving the car at the Hilton Hotel, we called our
friends at Uber and managed to get around to check out some of the ‘sights’
(nudge, nudge).
Taking it as a strong recommendation from
friends, we took in lunch at the Versailles Cuban Restaurant in ‘Little Havana’
before heading over to South Beach. Wow – for a beach-side Florida city, there
is certainly a wide variety of fashion statements, ethnicities and
individuality to be found!
Of course, summer in Florida is hot and
humid and this day was no exception. However, we are obviously not unaccustomed
to the weather (think tropical weather for most of our lives – Qld, Australia,
Singapore and now Tampa, FL)... So we soaked up the rays and after making our way
to the beach via Ocean Drive and back across to Espanola Way, we landed at Lincoln
Road for some of the most well-needed ice cold milkshakes that we’ve ever had. J
There begins our tropical holiday!!
The next morning we trekked across some of
the Miami shopping areas before heading south to the beautiful Keys. Through
the planning stages, we had decided that we wanted to stay somewhere laid-back
but at the same time, somewhere close enough to drive around and take it all in
– including the world-famous Key West. This thought process kept taking us to
Key Largo, where we stayed for three nights.
As usual, Sammi had done her homework well
– the Hilton Key Largo resort was everything we had expected… water sports,
private beaches, activities for everyone and a lovely (albeit very expensive)
‘Treetops’ Restaurant.
The location was also central enough for us to laze
around the resort, head out whenever we needed and of course, a stone’s throw (less than 2 hours) from Key West.
After terrorizing the other water vessels
enough with my wave runner antics, we made the trip down to Key West on the
second day. This is where things rose to a whole new level.
Although it was very ‘whirlwind’, we
managed to take in some of the key ‘tourist must-do’s’ such as the Ernest
Hemmingway home and the ‘Southernmost’ point of the continental USA (go figure…
it’s just 90-miles from there to Cuba) to name a couple, but the highlight for
me was lunch at the very original Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.
Of course, I
had to have the ‘booze in a blender’ and we ‘wasted away again’ for a while,
but I didn’t get any more tattoos – I’m not sure what the ‘Mexican Cutie’
would’ve translated to anyway.
So there you have it – fitting a 5-day
vacation into a few paragraphs doesn’t come close to doing it justice, but I’ve
hit on some of the high points.
If you’ve sometimes (or always) considered
a holiday to the Florida Keys, you can take this as my unwavering strong recommendation…
perhaps it’s time for me to start thinking again about investing in a holiday
home J
Ohhh... and by the way - happy anniversary to my darling wife - the sunset cruise dinner to celebrate when we arrived back in Tampa pales in comparison to your beauty!! (Brownie points earned)
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