We left Miami the morning of October 29th. On the way out Bill helped Allen move their swing between campsites as Allen and Joyce settle into their winter campsite.
We drove to SR997, topped off the diesel tank and headed south to where it met US1 in Homestead and into the Keys. We stopped for lunch at a nice spot:
Our view during lunch on the driver's side:
The way south on US1:
After 130 miles we landed at Bluewater Key RV Resort site #74, which is on the waterfront.
Notice the patio area and the sea in front:
We also have our own dock:
The view from the dock:
Looking back from the dock to the motorhome.
This is by far the most expensive campsite we have ever had. But we can see reasons why it is expensive. The campground is at milepost 14.5 on US1.
We met Virgil, who is workcamping along with his wife Jo here. They are good friends of Bill and Helen, who we last saw at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, MD. Virgil and Jo were also in Alaska in 2006 and Bill and Virgil kept in touch during the trip though our paths did not cross.
Once set up we decided to go into Key West to watch the sunset and have a nice dinner.
October 29th sunset in Key West
October 30th we decided to see if we could find some Key Deer so off we went to Big Pine Key.
October 31st we again headed into Key West. It was Halloween so we had appropriate Aloha shirts on.
Here is a highlight of our day, a manatee:
More from spending Halloween in Key West
November 2nd we again went to Big Pine and No Name Keys hoping to see more Key Deer. We did not succeed but did notice that those islands had received more rain and Blue Hole was deeper.
The alligator was underwater when we came:
But soon came to the surface, maybe looking for a handout?
Some white ibis hanging out close to some houses:
Our day in Key West and back home on November 3rd.
November 4th we went into town and saw the Powerboat parade, Part 1. Part 2
November 5th catamaran trip to Dry Tortugas National Park Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
November 6th we went to see another sunset in Key West
November 9th day at the Powerboat races
November 10th we didn't do much. Our only excursion was to walk to Baby's Coffee, about half a mile up the road. From the bridge we took some photos back towards our campsite, but it was in the afternoon and they are a bit dark. Here is the best one:
This crop shows our campsite, the red arrow is pointing at the bush at the edge of our campsite:
Here is Baby's Coffee, about the best espresso we know.
We only scared one iguana on our walk. Virgil and Jo scared up over 15 on one walk going to Baby's.
The next morning, November 11th, Bill took some photos from our campsite towards the bridge and our surroundings. This is from the end of the dock towards the bridge.
This is away from the bridge and shows the boat lift the neighbor two away has that does show up in the photo above from the bridge.
A telephoto shot of the bridge from by the bush:
These morning photos have two advantages over the photos the day before from the bridge, one is the sun is making everything brighter, and two the Nikon camera is just a bit better at detail than the Canon. If we were not leaving the next day Bill would have gone back and taken morning photos from the bridge with the Nikon.
After lunch we went out and toured. First we went to Big Pine and No Name Keys and then we headed into Key West to see our last sunset celebration and have a nice final restaurant meal in town. Here are the photos from our last day, Part 1. Part 2
We certainly picked the best restaurant for last. Sarabeth's was wonderful and is our first 5-star restaurant meal since we went on the road. Diane had the best mahi-mahi she remembers and Bill had the crab and shrimp cakes and they were wonderful. Except the catch of the day all entrees are under $20.
We visited with Virgil and Jo one last time after coming back from town. We expect to see them again down the road.
Other restaurants we liked in Key West were Caroline's Cafe (4-star), Conch Republic Seafood Company (3-star), El Siboney (3-star), Rusty Anchor (3-star), and Turtle Kraals (4-star).
Key West is a great place to hang out. We treated it as a vacation spot since the campsite cost was quite expensive. We ended up paying out more per day for the campsite than the food, gas, and tour expenses combined. But we have spent much, much more per day when we have taken a cruise or flown somewhere for a vacation. It is in all how you look at things.
We will say that the Keys are more like a Caribbean country than south Florida. Much more laid back. Evita even liked it.