Key West + the Everglades

December 18-26, 2018

TL;DR: White sand. Blue water. Fresh fish everywhere you look. The Keys are a relaxing getaway, home to a laid-back local crowd that couldn’t be happier. The Everglades are also beautiful and expansive, reminiscent of Africa and full of wildlife.

The sights

Key West

Because there’s only a single one-lane highway and the streets are pretty narrow in the Keys, we basically had no choice but to rent a car.

The minute we arrived at our campground in Key West we were greeted by an incredible orange iguana.

We got settled quickly and drove into town. We got to the water right in time for happy hour, the tarpon feeding, and the rain, which would be torrential for the next 12 hours.

Our second (and last) day in Key West, we took a self-guided walking tour of the town, and it was pretty extensive. Practically every other house is historic, from Truman’s Little White House to the smaller, colorful houses.

Also made it to the southernmost point in the continental United States. There was a big line to take a picture in front of the buoy, which we obviously didn’t wait for.

Upper Keys

We stayed up in Key Largo for the last three days of our Keys journey, and were pretty casual and relaxed about adventuring. Checked out the Lower Matecumbe Key and were close to going paddle boarding but it got pretty windy, so we opted out. Played chess and watched football outside, which was wonderful. Even just walking around our RV park was fun: It felt very festive, with people going ALL out with their Christmas decorations, both inside and out.

Our Christmas Eve book exchange was very successful and set the day up for some relaxing reading at John Pennecamp State Park. It was super windy and not very beach-like, with tons of birds, and a cannon right on the sand. Still lovely.

The Everglades

This was a super cool drive and park. We stayed at two different spots before and after Key West (see Where we stayed). It sort of looked like an African safari with white birds everywhere (Bri thinks they were mostly egrets, and also osprey). As far as the eye could see were marshlands, savannah grasslands, and different trees and birds.

Flamingo Canal toward Coot Bay, Everglades

Right at the Flamingo campground is a starting point for tons of boat tours, or you can rent kayaks. We decided to do the latter and as we were getting ready we saw two crocodiles in the water. They were pretty long—we’re thinking maybe 12 feet. Unfortunately (fortunately?), we didn’t see any more on the kayak down the canal.

But it was still really pretty with tons of mangrove trees.

Coot Bay was practically deserted save for wildlife.

There was an osprey nest right at the kayak launching point.

On our way back to Layla, we even saw a few huge manatees hanging out.

Details, details, details

We’ve started to watch the original Blue Planet, which we realized was from 2002 (!).

Key West gypsy chickens are pretty amazing.

Key lime pie + Christmas movies in bed is pretty close to perfect.

There was an awesome magician at Lorelei’s (see Roadfood below).

We did a book exchange on Christmas Eve and it’s definitely a new favorite tradition: We go to a bookstore, then split up to find a book for the other, and give it to each other on the 24th. Bri got Jess the first of the Game of Thrones books; Jess got Bri a green architecture book.

For Christmas, Mama and Papa T got us these beautiful Portuguese sparrows from Lisbon. Apparently sparrows mate for life, so that’s just the cutest/best ever.

Our first solo Christmas day was a great success: After making French toast and bacon and finishing Die Hard, we made our way back to the Everglades visitor center, then our campsite. Took a walk under the clouds, then played chess (JESS WON), made a feast of stone crab claws and mussels, drank Champagne, and watched Love Actually.

There’s a cool stretch on 41 with the swamp/river next to it: tons of gators, birds with their wings open, birds hunting and flying. Would love to come back for more of that!

On the 26th, we drove from the Everglades to Tallahassee for a grand total of 525 miles in one day.

We got down to 11 miles until “Empty”. Whoops.

On our way from Tallahassee to Pensacola we saw a ton of destroyed billboards and downed trees from the storm about a month ago. Scary.

And then this happened…

On our drive down to Key West, Jess was in the rental, so Bri was alone in Layla. He had the windows down which somehow caused the engine cover inside to start coming off and Bri had to hold it down for 20 miles by himself. Womp.

In Key West, we were walking right by Mallory Square and a car blew through a stop sign and got so close to hitting Bri that he had to jump and push himself off the hood.

We were heading to Florida City amidst a bit of traffic and the car in front of us just stopped on the bridge. We weren’t sure what happened so we got out and asked if she needed help, but she said she had already called someone. Hoping she’s OK!

A Christmas Eve peppermint bark attempt was successful, if slightly stressful. It all began with the candy canes. They didn’t have regular ones at the store so Jess had to get these huge ones which were a beast to cut/crush. Still ended up with a delicious end product.

We think we may have underdone the mussels on Christmas. But the stone crab claws were amazing.

Now we know

In Key West, we usually parked (the rental) off White Street on either Fleming or Southard, and didn’t ever have a problem finding parking.

Bri discovered that we can drain water from the fresh water tank outside to clean our sandy feet before getting in Layla.

We’re somehow missing the mysteriously sized Allen wrench that “comes in the info bag” to lock and unlock the inside engine cover. Helpful.

The ending of the original IT movie is incredibly disturbing. So glad we own it.

Road food

Hugging the water, Alonzo’s is a Key West favorite known for happy hour: an opportunity to eat Gulf shrimp, mussels al diablo, & raw or baked oysters.

Breads, cakes, croissants, crunchy palmiers, and even a cup of brie-tomato soup at Old Town Bakery.

Fresh fish however you want it at the aptly named Fish House: blackened, broiled with paprika, or Matecumbe-style with tomatoes, shallots, basil, & capers.

The local vibe of Hogfish Grill is strong, including diver-caught hogfish, fried grouper cheeks, peel-and-eat shrimp, & Key lime pie.

A huge wooden mermaid at mile marker 82 signals Lorelei’s Cabana Bar, a place to watch the sunset, drink Key lime piña coladas, & enjoy fresh coconut shrimp.

In a small yellow building, Harriette’s is a Key Largo breakfast stop for conch Benedicts and muffins so big they arrive with steak knives.

Where we stayed

Night one: The Flamingo Campground, Everglades National Park

We couldn’t for the life of us find the dump station here. Drove around the complex a grand total of three times before we saw it right where we had passed before. Not embarrassing at all.

Night two: Cracker Barrel, Florida City

Nights three and four: Leo’s Campground, Key West

Cool little spot just before Key West with charming white picket fences and huge multi-colored iguanas.

Nights five, six, and seven: Bays Palms RV

Everyone here is very chatty, including Glenn at the front desk. Had a drink on the dock and saw dolphins swimming in the water. Also a very welcoming, festive RV group.