South Beach & Stuart

Our Odyssey continued up the coast through Miami and eventually all the way up to Stuart, FL before heading toward Orlando.  Miami was hot, chic and fashionable…all the things i am not.  But, loved it all! We walked Ocean Drive and spent some time at the beach.  We told the kids, you can put your feet in but don’t get wet…30 seconds later…both girls were soaked. But, they had a blast.  We went through the Art Deco Historic Area and drove further North…definately want to return “sans” kids some day soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, Stella fits in nicely with the South Beach dress code

 

A few hours later we arrived in Stuart, FL a really cute seaside town with a historic downtown area, just South of Jensen Beach. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids were famished and grumpy.   They acted like we had not fed them in 4 days, when they had just eaten an hour before…oh the joys..Lucia’s face below says it all.

So, we had an early dinner at the Key Lime Cafe with the ultimate laid back Florida vibe to it.  The kinda place where dogs dine next to you and rushing is just not allowed. A sign on the fence said “women are not served here, bring your own”…hmmm….that’s the kind of place we’re talking about. But, the food was great and they made fresh squeezed margaritas, so all was good.  I would highly recommend checking this place out, lots of outdoor cafes, live entertainment. It reminded us of a mini-version of Austin, Texas.

We finished the evening with ice cream, of course. But, at this stop we happened to find STELLA COFFEE ice cream.  Very exciting for a certain three year old.  Keith ordered it in her honor. She chose the Superman flavor…a wierd flavor that looked like you threw Superman into a blender. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case anyone is wondering what a car can look like after traveling for so many days with 3 kids…take a look.  I especially love the pink soccerball and all the pails and shovels stuffed in there, random non-essential items like slippers, lego pieces and camp chairs.  At each stop some random shoe or something falls out of the car… just wanted to give you a glimpse of this luxurious gizzi travel accommodations.

Wallyworld, here we come!

Fly Like An Eagle

We were up bright an early on Friday to see the sunrise (thanks to Keith and Stella).  But, it was well worth it.  Just georgeous!  Another day of activities and relaxation. But, by far the highlight of the day was parasailing for ALL the kids and mommy.  Lucia really wanted to try and it before we knew it, all of them were counting on it.  At the last minute, the Captain needed more “weight” so Mommy was asked to join.  No comments on the weight thing please…

They LOVED it!  Every second of it…including Stella.  She is a pretty brave three year old to try it and of course, she has no fear so she loved it!  They were giggling, screaming and laughing with delight the entire 14 minutes.  The Captain had told us he would keep us pretty low at 200-300 feet.  But, before we knew it we were all the way up to 600 feet.  He later told us he could see the kids were having a ball so he let the rope all the way out.  Mommy almost hyperventilated…. but, it was so much fun to be up 600 feet with them, still can’t believe we all did it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, Saturday, we leave Cheeca (so sad), but we are off for a few hours in Miami and Stewart, FL (featured recently in Coastal Living Magazine) on our way to Orlando. The last part of our trip looks like this:

Sat, Sun and Monday night – Orlando

Tuesday night – Jekyll Island, GA

Wednesday night – Charleston, SC

Thursday night – sleep through the night in car (ugh). Arrive in DC early morning.

Friday night – DC hanging out with Grampa

Saturday night head home after a day two days with Grampa- Drive through the night

Sunday – arrive back in Plymouth (collapse)

Last night,  on the way home from dinner, Stella said out of the blue…. “Mommy, on Sun, Monday, Tuesday and Friday I didn’t know where we were…I never know where we are….where are we?”  Poor little confused three year old…. 🙂

We’ll check back with you soon!  Lots of packing to do…

Morada Bay

Another great day today, nothing too exciting to report as we just relaxed all day.  Stella and Lucia tried some golf with mom today, interesting to say the least.  Hugo has played two days and seems to really love it, too.  A few other things to note:

Lucia swam the length of the pool with a snorkel, underwater

Hugo finished his Big Nate book

Stella recognizes at least 15 of the 26 alphabet letters, she is obsessed with “S”. She continues to boss everyone around and demand to push the elevator buttons every single time. Lucia and Hugo don’t have a chance…oh the joys of a three year old.

A few facts about the Keys in case you were interested:

• The Florida Keys have over 800 islands.  Only about 80 have names.  20+ are connected by roads.
• The entire coastline (2,800 sq. ft.) is designated as a National Marine Sanctuary
• Islamorada is deemed the Sport Fishing Capitol of the World
• Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West most of his life. There is a replica of his fishing boat on display in Islamorada

We tried a new place for dinner, Morada Bay, just about across the street from the resort in Islamorada (see photos). Talk about perfect…couldn’t ask for a better spot.  And the food was really, really good. If you have any plans to travel through the Keys, this is a must see place, Morada Bay at Marker 81.6.  We ordered some mussels, edamame, mahi mahi tapas and coconut encrusted snapper…delish!  Key Lime Pie was my favorite so far…and sad to say, I think we have tried at least 3-4 others.  This place doesn’t look like anything special from the outside but, so glad we tried it.

For those of you from the Cape, this is exactly the type of place we don’t see enough around us…other than the Welfleet Beachcomber.   Great vibes, tables on the beach, live music and great food.  Maybe some day we’ll open a place like this up North…a girl can dream.

Speaking of that, we have seen tons of boats for sale and for rent.  we ran into a couple with a one year daughter who live on a boat. They told us there are tons of FREE boats down here but they need work.  We were briefly thinking about the idea of towing one home… but, don’t think that will happen considering we already look like hobos, can you imagine a really old rickety boat behind the minivan?   So Griswolds!   They also have house boats for rent…many people just come down to the Keys and hang out on their boat and go from island to island…sounds like a great life to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lazy Dayz

We spent the day just hanging out at Cheeca today. We started with biking around property, within the first 4 minutes both girls had fallen. But, we recovered and continued for only another 30 minutes. Couldn’t handle much more…

From there we tried to teach the kids how to play tennis. You can imagine how that turned out. Tennis ball chaos!

Keith and Hugo tried some golfing and also got matching summer hair cuts.

We did some swimming and stayed in for dinner. A quality movie rental, Yogi Bear got tons of belly laughs and some left over key lime pie and pineapple ice cream finished out the day.

I am convinced we will be evicted off property because we are so loud! But, so far, so good.

The kids have mentioned several times missing everyone from home…Aunt Alyssa, Brody, Caroline, Marcus, Mom (my mom), Kathi, Donna, Nanie, Ellie (our cat) and various friends from school. Lucia was talking about Mom and said…”I really wish she could be on our trip with us. I miss her so much…I just miss everything about her.”

Mom, we’ll call you tomorrow. 🙂

Only 90 miles to Cuba

We had an amazing day in Key West today. Such a great spot! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to answer some interesting questions regarding some questionable tshirt slogans, but other than that we had SO MUCH FUN!  We had our fill of homemade ice cream at Flamingos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half price Oysters and Margaritas at Pepes ( they were out of key lime pie…??? But the coconut cream was to die for…).  Pepe’s is the oldest restaurant in Key West and a classic hidden gem.   Hugo and Lucia tried oysters for the first time and didn’t quite love them, but I give them credit for trying.  Check out Hugo’s photo below and Lucia’s face. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also got Key Lime pie to go from Kermit’s and Island Fish Company in Marathon ( marker 54) Loved the thatched roof there, would be perfect for a warm summer night. Temps are a little chilly here for Florida…low 50s. Don’t cry for me Argentina…

Hugo continues to document the trip with his new video camera. He spent the day filming things like old cars, weird decorated bikes, old guys with parrots on their shoulders and runaway chickens. Hilarious footage as Lucia and Stella insert themselves into the filming without notice which causes all sorts of commotion.

But he did mention today, “Mom, I don’t like the trip….I LOVE IT”

So, we did make it to the Southernmost point in the US and recorded 2,154 miles so far. We celebrated by drinking out of fresh coconuts.

Lucia’s favorite part of the day was finding the huge red high heel which was “dropped” on New Year’s Eve. This 8′ high heel is suspended from the town’s center on Duvall Street.  Stella got a kick out of it, too.  I would expect nothing less from Key West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way out of town, we got a tip from a local of one of the best beaches in town called Smathers Beach (South Side). We were there for sunset…this is also where they film the Corona commercials. See photos below…

I think we have been to at least 45 public restrooms..nice…some much better than others…Remember, we have only been away for 7 nights. 12 more to go…yikes…All in all, great day. Heading back to hotel two out of three are asleep. Life is good. Ahhh…

Paradise Found

We arrived in Islamorada yesterday and found our spot at the Cheeca Lodge. Amazing!!! Thank you Jetsetter! It’s a tropical paradise with tons of vegetation, beach, golf and pool.

We’re taking the kids to where the road ends today, Key West. The kids have always asked us “Do the roads ever end?”..today they will see for themselves. We also found out that Shel Silverstein had a house in Key West, do you think that could be related to the title “Where the Sidewalk Ends”? Just food for thought…

 

Alligator Alley

Headed to the Keys today, but visited the Sawgrass Recreation Area for an airboat tour. We saw lots of wildlife and alligators! One in particular was just 2ft from the boat and looking right at Stella and Keith! Kinda creepy…but he must have been intimidated.

Found an amazing Columbian place for lunch outside of Miami and then headed south. We just passed 2,000 miles just before we crossed into the Keys!!!! More to come later…

 

Hollywood Beach

Last night we walked the Hollywood Beach boardwalk. It goes for 2 miles and has tons of shops, outdoor cafes and restaurants. We found the hotel where Kathi and Ski are going to stay in a few weeks. Looks cute, lively and part of the action. Just steps to the beautiful beach!

So much activity…bikes, music and energy. We ate dinner at Vedu’s Burger & Fish outside and watched all the people. Stella almost got hit by a few bikes. Lucia was thrilled to get new flip flops and Hugo found a one a kind shell statue where frogs are sitting around a poker table smoking cigars. Classic seashore souvenir…I think we used to sell them at Holiday Hill. We also found some fabulous headwear – see photo.

Long day, headed to the Keys next.

Keith takes one for the team

In an attempt to get all the kids to nap, we cut swimming short for the day. Keith stayed in the room while I went to the pool. But, he didn’t let that stop his sun time. See photo below.

He is pretty resourceful and found a tight spot for some sun on our nonexistent balcony. Apparently he fell fast asleep…:)

Happy New Year

Greetings from Sunny Florida! Gorgeous weather today! Hot and clear skies…just relaxing pool side today. Kids swam for 4 hours this morning. Lucia is a fish and can even do underwater flips now, Hugo is so much better swimming under, too. Stella has no fear.

Kids are napping, mommy is happy by the pool. Life is good.