Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Lemons into Lemondae

Father's Day this year was not a fun day for any of us. We spent hours and hours in airports trying to make it to the Virgin Islands. Mark had gotten airline employee discount tickets on AA and DL. That meant we could go if there were enough seats available. By 9pm Sunday night we made it as far as Miami. We were exhausted and frustrated. The next day was not looking much better for stand-by passengers. Our much anticipated trip to the Islands was quickly going down the tubes. It was time to cut our losses. We were stuck in Florida, how bad could it be?

Mark and I had visited Key West for a few hours five years ago. We were on a cruise and that was our first stop. We have always wanted to go back. So we did. Mark's mom is a travel agent, so we called her and she got us a great room at a decent price. We rented a car and took off.
We stopped to see the sunset on the trip down. It was beautiful. This was right before the 7 mile bridge. Yikes!

We arrived in Key West Monday evening and stayed until Thursday afternoon. We already want to go back. Here are some highlights:

The Southernmost Point of the United Sates. In KW you are close to Cuba than to Miami. Jackson was fascinated with this marker. His souvenirs all have this image on them.
We took the Conch Train Tour. It took us all around the older part of KW and told about the history and interesting things about the island. The boys were a little bored, but they were good sports.

We went on a Sunset Cruise. Clouds got in the way, but it was still nice.

On Wednesday we went on a tour called the Ultimate Adventure. We went out on a boat to an area where they had a water trampoline and a floating rock wall. We were divided into groups and took turns riding Sea Doos, snorkeling on a living coral reef and para sailing. I was terrified, but it was beautiful up there. Mark and the boys LOVED it.

Here the boys are playing around in the roots of a Banyan tree. They are the craziest plants I have even seen. This one is on the lighthouse grounds.

We climbed up a circular iron staircase, about 86 steps to get to the top of this lighthouse.

It was worth it. The view was breathtaking.

We did not get the vacation we had planned for and hoped for, but we did have a wonderful time.

3 comments:

Melissa said...

wow, beautiful! Looks like you guys still had a really good time.

Anonymous said...

Plan B has become the new plan A don't you know? Looks like you had a great time anyway!

Julie said...

Love the title of your post - it's perfect! We love Keywest! Did you have some key lime pie? Yummm. I want to go back and do all that stuff YOU did - ya'll really know how to vacation! :)