Mother - Daughter Weekend 7.0

April 8th - 11th

This year for our Mother-Daughter weekend, we decided to head for warmer weather, Key West, Florida. We met in Richmond for a quick flight to Miami, FL where we rented a convertible so we could truly experience Key West by enjoying 166 miles, 42 bridges and tons of smaller Keys between the airport and our hotel.

After a few random pit stops along the way, we ended out at our hotel in time for dinner. We weren't ready to tackle Duval Street so we found a great little place, Hurricane Hole Restaurant, by the water and walking distances from our hotel.

The next morning, we were up bright and early to hope on the Old Town Trolley that would take us all around Key West. It was great! The driver was so funny and we even learned things about that little island.

We rode for a while and got off so we would take the tour at the Ernest Hemingway House. What an interesting life that guy lived. It was full of romance, drama and lots and lots of travel. I think we both really enjoyed the tour and the property.

When we finished at the house, we went walking down towards Duval Street. We walked for a while and explored different shops and enjoyed a little people watching.

We ended up finding the Turtle Kraals Restaurant where we stopped for lunch, on the water, of course.

After lunch, we did some more walking and found the Key Lime Pie Company. We won't pass up key lime pie in Key West, it is what they are known for! I loved it but it was a little too sweet for mom.

We were able to make it to our next stop, the Truman Little White House, just in time to catch the last guided tour of the day. I really enjoy this house. It is all really fascinating. It is pretty amazing that President Truman was able to relocate for periods of time to Key West. Who won't love working in Key West in the winter!

You can't go down to Key West without stopping at the beach, the Southern Most Point and Mile 0 on Route 66 so of course, we had to join all the rest of the tourists for out pictures too!

Before our final stop of the night, we stopped for our traditional dinner of cheese and bread with wine at Vino's on Duval. We sat for awhile and watched the night life to roll in.

Our final stop of the night was at Mallory Square to watch the sunset and all the people. It was a beautiful sunset and a neat experience with all the extra entertainment all over Mallory Square.

For our last day, we still had lots to cover, so we were the first people at the entrance of Fort East Martello Museum. We learned so much about the role Key West played in the Civil War and this building was used many other times through out its history.

 When we were done at the fort, we started our drive back up to South Beach. We ran into lots of traffic so we made a lunch stop at Green Turtle Inn.

We had plenty of time to explore South Beach once we got in and settle. There was a huge Pride Event right in the heart of South Beach so there was a lot going on. It was a great atmosphere.

After a walk on the beach, we settled in to Wet Willy's to grab a few drinks and enjoy the view and the people watching.

It felt like such a quick trip and we had so much fun! I can't wait to see where we head next year.

A Trip to the Keys- Part 2

June 1st & 2nd

Saturday morning we slept in and enjoyed the hotel breakfast around the pool that was just outside our door. We took this time to plan out our strategy for the day.

First up: The Southernmost Point of the Continental US.

It was crazy hot but we didn't care, we had to see it, two southern points of two different continents in two months.

Second: The Original Margaritaville.

After walking around in the heat, we decided to cool off with drinks & lunch at Margaritaville. We couldn't come all the way to Key West and not stop here!

Then: Mallory Square.

We didn't get to enjoy the sunset from here but we have to at least go over and check it out before we headed north.

Next: Key West Key Lime Pie Co.

There was no way we were going a day without Key Lime Pie especially if we were in the Capital of Key Lime Pies! This place has been featured on tons of tv shows, won many awards and was really good.

Finally: Mile Marker "0"

One more place that you can't leave Key West without seeing. This area was a lot quieter then I had expected except for all the roosters.

We ended our adventure that day in Key Largo and found a super fun local bar/restaurant, Sharkey's, for some good food and fun live music and finished the evening in the hot tub. What a perfect way to end the night.

After all the touring around the Key's, it was time to finish our drive up the coast. But before we got on the road, we stopped at Midway Cafe for a great breakfast.

We had a fantastic time drive with the top down, hanging out, laughing and just talking. Once we made it to Homestead, FL, we took Terri on yet another random, weird Castro find, Coral Castle.

This place is absolutely worth it! It is just amazing. This tiny little dude built all of this for his finace that stood him up the day before there wedding. He never won her back but what he was able to create was truly amazing. I loved this place.

Our final stop on our drive today was South Beach. It started to rain off and on but we weren't going to let that stop us. We walked around, people watched, did a little shopping, checked out Wet Willy's, and the Art Deco area.

We have a super early morning so we had a great last meal at Larios On The Beach, and took one last troll down Ocean Dr.

Sunday morning, we were up so early that the valet & hotel front desk employees were both still sleeping. We made it to the Ft Lauderdale airport with plenty of time before our flight and landed at BWI with no issue.

Since we had the entire day, we decided to explore the local area a little. First order of business, breakfast! We found some really fantastic places to try but continued to strike out. We settled on Sofi's Crepes in Annapolis.

They were good and it was great to be able to sit outside and relax and eat but we definitely regretted our crepe decision when we happened upon at the Greek Festival. We were too full to get all the fantastic looking and smelling food they were serving for lunch, but we powered through and tried a few of there pastries. SO GOOD!

After the Greek Festival, we dropped Terri off at her car and we took off separate ways (heading to the same final destination). Jed and I had to drive through Fredericksburg for Carl's ice cream and La Pizzera pizza before we finished our drive home.

It was such a fantastic trip and I hope we didn't wear out Terri too much. There are plenty of other places that we need to explore together.