We stayed with Tom in Miami Beach the
first 2 nights, then drove to Key West. The drive is just like you see in the
movies: a long, straight road connecting a string of little islands with blue
sea on either side. Nice drive.
Unfortunately our visit coincided with
Spring Break, so we got out of Key West as quickly as possible. From our
base on Big Pine Key we lazed around, visited a local State beach, and went on
a snorkeling trip. But the sea was too rough for snorkeling. The
disturbance clouds the water and you just bob about in the waves.
After 3 days and made our way back to
Key Largo and used this as a base for more exploring. We did a couple
more snorkeling trips (lots of live coral, but I had my first
encounter with Florida's notorious "sea lice") and trips into the Everglades (lots of
alligators and tropical birds). Note the tropical colors in the photos!
There's nothing subtle about Florida.
Miami Beach is a show of well-toned bodies and outrageous clothes covering a few bits of
them, against a backdrop of very nice art deco buildings. It’s
fun. We spent hours people-watching along the main pedestrian zone (except you
need to dodge the bikes and roller blades.)
The Keys are a total contrast. The
people get fatter and most go fishing. Students on Spring Break drink.
We ended our visit with another 2 nights
at Tom's. His apartment has a fantastic view where we enjoyed hours of
talking and a few glasses of champagne!
See "photographs".
