Beach Condition: Heavy Seaweed

At the Keys, the water is a breathtaking color of blue and green.

From the bridges, your are tantalized by how refreshing it looks.

Knowing there is a lot of coral along the coast, we felt lucky to find a hotel that was beachfront and cleared for swimming.

After touring around, we were excited to finally cool off in the tropical ocean.

So off we go...down to the beach, past the crowd floating contently in the hotel pool.

Ahh, the beach. All to ourselves. How lucky is this! And, where is everyone?

At the sand's edge, the water temperature had to be near 98 degrees. It was so hot it stung our feet. It was so hot, I'm sure I could've boiled a box of Ronzoni in it.

Amazingly, you get used to the temperature but we had trouble getting beyond the wide seaweed line that ran along the shore. You either had to swim in it or through it, to get to the deeper water. Or have some type of boat to float over the weeds.

Now the kids are complaining they are going to die.

They're hot, the water is hotter and in their defense, I didn't want to swim here either. Who knows what creatures were swimming in the seaweed or beyond it.

And then there's the stench, coming from the piles of seaweed that were baking on the beach!

All around, this was not a good mix.

Apparently no one mentioned to us that at this time of year, the Keys have an enormous seaweed growth. What to do?

We did an about-face, to join the rest of the hotel guests in the pool.

We learned that the seaweed season lasts a month ("or so"). Too bad, we won't be around when it clears but, this is something to note when you are making plans to come down this way in the summer....

I'm chalking this up as another 'Key Weird' experience...

A Cat with Six Toes

Cats with opposing thumbs can easily pick up food with their paws.

Ernest Hemmingway believed a cat born with this recessive gene, meant good-luck.

(Some cats were even born with 7 toes...)

My family was getting mad at me for renaming Key West to 'Key Weird'. But after they found out that Hemmingway raised cats with a six toes...they started to agree with me.

The Hemmingway Home Museum was amazing. The author's life on the island was restored beautifully and the legendary cats (40 at the moment) were the most bizarre, memorable detail of the tour. I would return here again.

Relax Momma, you're in the Keys!

The Weekend Warriors from the cruise ships have taken over Key West.

And yet, even with all the business from the tourists, you still can't 'will' something to happen quickly.

The island motto is obviously, "relax, things will get done", or something annoyingly along those lines.

Why am I not sympatico with the islanders? Probably because I'm walking down Duval Street, with my three daughters, in the middle of the day when the temperatures are cranked to 102 and there are hundreds of partially clothed, inebriated adults, belting out expletives.

Yup! At the moment, my 'relaxed-attitude' has escaped me.

End of the Road

Key West, FL

Something to be said about driving to the end of Route 1. Everyone is sipp'n and chill'n.

Daddy on Board

We are eating three meals a day, our sleep schedule has improved and there is way too much PLANNING!

In other words, we are back in a ROUTINE!

Yikes!

Before this new dynamic takes over our trip, we are hitting the road again.

We are packing the car and driving to the southern most point of the US.

Key West, Florida!

Momma, Who?

At the airport to pick up daddy...

It was similiar to a "Hallmark Moment' to see him again after three weeks.

The good thing is we are all back together.

The great thing is; the kids and daddy are off exploring the island while I rest in peace and tranquility!

Silence...something I missed!

Jet Blue: Newark to Fort Meyers

The kids are getting homesick but wanted to continue creating more adventures.

So we rethought our plan and decided to invite the Dads to join us!

Our group is changing and so are our destinations.

As a group, we are going to split up but our travels will continue.

Our friends will head west and we will continue South to the Keys!

It's a plan that feels good and everyone is happy, even the Dads.

The roadtrip inpired us. We traveled over 1000 miles and many hours to get where we are. For three weeks, we had a great time creating memories that will be with us forever.

It was a good ride....!

Onward!