South Florida Exploration
Dry Tortugas National Park, Key West, Marathon, Islamorada, Everglades and Biscayne National Parks
Here is the in-depth version of our road trip to South Florida.
If you are looking for a bite-sized itinerary version of our trip click HEEERRREEE.
We're from Tennessee, y’all!
We’ve got businesses to run and no time to spare so we flew from Nashville to Miami.
Quick flight - then picked up our rental car and were on our way south by early afternoon.
Our first stop was Everglades National Park.
Here, we spent the afternoon taking the trolley around Shark Valley Visitor center. Check out this in-depth look on how it went.
We stopped along the way in Key Largo at The Lazy Lobster for all things lobster - duh. It was great but I do want to point out that Florida lobster and New England lobster are not the same. I love Florida but New England takes the cake on the lobster rolls!
One of the biggest things for me was I wanted to “drive the Keys”.
WOW!
There is something magical about cruising south on the Overseas Highway at sunset that makes you feel grateful to be alive.
We arrived at The Grand Maloney Hotel around 9pm. This is a late 19th century, boutique style, beautifully renovated home was just off of Duval street - close to the action but quiet enough for these old souls to get a full night’s rest!
I am an early riser especially on vacation - there is so much to see and do! This serves us well when we are in busy places like Key West. We walked right in for breakfast at Two Friends Restaurant. Famous for their patio, pet rooster & bloody Mary’s it made for an iconic Key West morning.
Our next adventure took us even further south -WHAT (actually the southernmost point in the U.S. is NOT the big buoy, it's Dry Tortugas National Park!) See all about our seaplane adventure to Dry Tortugas here.
Dinner that night at Bagatelle’s, overlooking Duval St, was spent in awe of the incredibly beautiful day we got to share together. Next up (told y’all we like to go hard!) was a ghost tour around Key West. Some of you might be rolling your eyes right now but all i’m saying is ROBERT THE DOLL.
Our meal the next morning was at The Breakfast Club, where we shared a very large but very delicious skillet! We drove over to the iconic Buoy for a picture because if you don’t get one, did you even go? Then headed just down the street to the Hemingway House. Yeah, it’s touristy but also one of those things that you need to do at least once! Well preserved and beautiful place - even if you aren’t a huge fan of six-toed cats, I still recommend.
We then headed to the docks where a private boat took us to Sunset Key. Here, we had a lovely lunch at Latitudes. There is no rush to leave so we stayed - enjoyed lunch and a few cocktails, walked around the beautiful grounds and then headed back. I can’t imagine you can go wrong with anything on their menu but the crab cakes were DELISH. This is the perfect place to relax and celebrate with the people you love. Book well in advance for this one & try to get a sunset reservation!
Once back in Key West, we walked Duval and spent some time in St. Paul's Episcopal church. We went to the church the night before on our ghost walk but this time we got to go inside and WOW the architecture and intricate stained glass are incredible. We had dinner at A&B Lobster House - we did not have reservations but were able to snag some seats at their speakeasy-esque bar with red leather seating and moody lighting. Our favorite was the Lobster Thermidor. As you can tell we love trying new things and this one was a good choice! It was so tasty we only managed to get a picture of the butter (HA!) Highly recommend this classy place - book in advance for seats on their patio overlooking the harbor. We finished our night with a gorgeous walk and a chocolate covered frozen key lime pie slice from Kermits! Gotta have Key Lime when in Key West!
On our final day we needed coffee! With so much cuban influence in Key West we didn’t want to sleep on having a true cubano. So on our way out of town we beelined to Cuban Coffee Queen. Everything about the place felt authentic - from the walk up counter to the knowledgeable staff (original location) we definitely recommend if you love coffee.
Earlier we made reservations to tour the Hemingway Rum Company- home of Papa’s Pilar Rum. The tour pays homage to Ernest Hemingway’s spirit of adventure and the tasting after the tour did not disappoint. If you are a fan of the Kentucky bourbon trail (i’ll do a blog about that at some point) this is definitely a must.
Our last stop before leaving Key West was lunch at Seaside Cafe at the Mansion - we set outside by the ocean, had delicious lobster Bianca (pizza) & I had a cute strawberry mojito with a sugar rock candy stick - I haven’t had rock candy in years - it was more fun in an adult drink!
HEADING BACK UP THE KEYS:
We drove for about an hour and stopped at Bahia Honda State Park. We were interested in this location because of the pictures we’ve seen of the old railroad bridge. The views of the bridge from the park are not spectacular so if you’re just stopping for them specifically I wouldn’t recommend it. You can see it much better from the highway. BUT if you are really interested it’s a very short hike to the barricade. They also offer snorkeling trips, swimming/beach, & campsites. $8 to get in the gate.
Just north of Bahia Honda Key is the incredible 7-mile bridge - this is not the time for a nap! Absolutely surreal views of the Keys and why I wanted to drive instead of fly!
We had an airbnb booked in Key Colony Beach - when we arrived we immediately knew this was a motel situation that was advertising as an Airbnb. What I thought was a condo being rented by an individual (I did not do enough homework here - lesson learned) was not. The place was decent and I’ve been in much worse but instead of two nights in Key Colony we only stayed one.
We woke up the next day, enjoyed some time overlooking the ocean then headed to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon. This place rescues injured turtles, rehabilitates & releases them back into the wild. They are doing incredible things and are passionate about the work they do. Reserve a tour here.
Just up the road in Marathon we made reservations for snorkeling with Captian Pip’s who took us out to Sombrero Reef and lighthouse for the afternoon. I would suggest this to people who are good swimmers and have been snorkeling/scuba diving before. This is open water and in my opinion not for beginners. The coral was beautiful and we saw lots of fish, I even spied a massive turtle (wish I had an underwater camera!)
On our last night, we made reservations at Islamorada’s Islander Resort. Because it was slow season, we had a fantastic ocean view room. The grounds were beautiful and well kept, and service was phenomenal. We had dinner at Lazy Days; the broiled seafood platter and view were beautiful! We walked before and after dinner around the grounds at Islander and enjoyed the peaceful sound of the ocean. We would absolutely vacation here again.
The next morning we got up early to enjoy some ocean time before checkout then went to lunch at Robbie’s in Islamorada. VERY TOURISTY. There were lots of birds and iguanas walking around while we were eating - personally, not a fan of that. Lots of nick nacks to buy, and the food was decent. You can pay to feed the tarpon, also not a fan. (SORRY!)
We then headed up the keys and stopped at Biscayne National Park which was very quiet this time of year. This spot offers a serene jetty trail but the park is mostly underwater. Our plan was to stop and see if it would be worth coming back in the future and the answer is yes! With six shipwrecks and lots of marine life, this is our on list to snorkle/scuba dive and it’s only a short drive from Miami!
After a whirlwind few days, we then officially headed to the Miami airport.
A truly fantastic trip - we learned, explored and got to be with each other.
True gifts - incredibly grateful!
