Like others we’ve cancelled trips throughout these past Covid wasteland YEARS. I’ve observed others travelling, ‘threading the needle’ between Covid surges and Level IV designations and wondering “have we been too cautious or paranoid despite being fully vaccinated, boostered, and masked?” Our Patagonia trip has now been postponed into a 4th year. Greg was still testing positive by PCR 3 weeks after his Covid symptoms had abated* and fearing the difficulties this would create, we decided a road trip rather than a flight was in order. Desperate for a break in any form and inspired by friends with similar ambitions we headed for Florida. *You can test positive by PCR for up to 90 days after infection, though not be infectious.
Greg and Christina, my personal travel agents, were on it immediately once our ‘spontaneous’ decision was made. Deciding over MLK weekend that southern Florida was our best, warmest, bet, plans were set in motion for travel to begin the following week. We headed back to PA to work a few days on Dan and Anna’s house before sheetrock was installed and then began our vacation. First stop: Lorton, VA, just south of Washington D.C., to the Amtrak AutoTrain station. This is not a train that is set to ‘auto’, but rather, a car carrier train that takes both passengers and their cars 800 miles overnight (17hours) to Sanford, FL (just outside Orlando). We drove by Philadelphia and then jumped off I95 onto 301 through Delaware and Maryland and over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. 301 was a beautiful new highway, devoid of traffic (unlike I95) so we arrived early to the train station after a quick trip to the car wash to scrub off the layers of road salt. We deposited the Tahoe with the Amtrak crew, who, after filming the outside of the vehicle (liability), drove it up the ramps onto the train car. There was no particular order to loading so there was no knowing when it would come off at the end of the trip. A few cars are eligible for quick offloading but we booked too late to sign up (and pay) for that privilege. We also booked too late for a sleeper car or roomette so the cheap seats were our destination.
Greg and I took turns walking about while we waited for departure. Coincidentally, our friends Neil and Bev were on the same train. They, however, had booked their sleeper room months in advance for their 3 month stay in Florida. We had a nice visit with them prior to loading and while waiting for our cars to be offloaded at the other end. I do love Bev and how wonderfully she listens as we walk. As for other train occupants, we were on the lower end of the average age range and thus could walk the aisles without tottering into everything and everyone. Our seats were very comfortable, basically overlarge recliners, although still not great for an overnight sleep. Nevertheless, that was 800 miles we didn’t have to drive and we arrived in Florida on a sunny, warm day. Once offloaded, we headed south towards Miami and our destination beyond: the Florida Keys.
Our 6 hour drive from Sanford to Grassy Key and our VRBO rental was made somewhat longer by the 2 hour highway shutdown due to a burning truck full of empty pallettes. Angry and frustrated at first, we settled in for the delay surrounded by other turnpike travellers, vacationers, and truck drivers. Once on the move again, we made a quick detour in Miami to pick up Christina who had flown down and would be working remotely while with us. Then we followed highway 1 halfway through the FL keys to our destination on Grassy Key.
Our rental was large and spacious and freshly renovated. Greg immediately began inspecting the house construction, wiring, and pool maintenance deeming it ‘inadequate’ by current building codes, but it was beautiful nevertheless. We then unpacked, wandered the beautiful yard, then headed out to dinner. There were many local dives and tiki bars to choose from; we ended up at Herbie’s for conch chowder, conch fritters, fish tacos, beer, and of course, key lime pie.
The next day Greg and I headed down to Key West to pick up my brother Ed from the airport about 1.5 hours away. Then the relaxation began. Greg read his fill from the Lee Childs’ catalogue of Jack Reacher books. I burned through several beach reads and mysteries as well. Time was spent rotating from pool to hammock to shade to snacks to afternoon siestas to ‘5 o’clock somewhere’ libations. Our friend Christopher joined us a few days later and spent time with Greg photographing birds and sunsets and other scenic vistas. Christina and Ed and I biked and played tennis frequently. We hit a few beaches and many tiki bars throughout our 10 day stay.
We spent a full day in Key West all together. Greg and I were last there 40 years ago. Although the quaint pastel colored bungalows haven’t changed (except in price), traffic certainly has. Duvall St is now a barhopping party street with many people in costume onesies for some reason. (Not the best choice of outfit for a full day of drinking, I’d say.) We did enjoy a visit to the Hemingway House and saw the many 6 toed cats on the premises. Later in the week we returned to Key West to drop Ed off for his return trip home and spent another afternoon meandering further throughout old town Key West. On our way home we stopped to photograph old bridges and state park beaches on the in-between keys.
If you’re heading down to the keys, here’s a list of the places we enjoyed:. -Herbie’s, a local dive, good beer selection and fish tacos. -Island Fish Company, ok beer choices, good conch chowder. -Isla tacos, food truck and tiki bar, small but tasty tacos. Bottled beer only. -Bongo’s, our favorite place. Laid back tiki bar and botanical gardens. Fresh mint for my mojitos! Very good draft beer selection and great food. Get the fried avocado pita sandwich. Located next to the Lagoon water sports school. -Angler and Ale on Duck Key, higher end restaurant. I had the hogfish, delicious! And good seared tuna nachos. Also really good beer selection**. We also visited 2 run of the mill places on Key West, neither worth mentioning other than we had a good time there. But the best key lime pie we found was at the Key West bakery. We decided their coconut key lime pie was our fav, although it was worth sampling the pies everywhere we went. **Indicates good beer selection based on IPA and draft choices. I don’t drink beer much so I’m judging based on Greg’s glass count. Christopher and I also cooked a few tasty meals throughout.
Weather report: sunny and high 70s except for one day which we spent meandering Key West anyway. Luckily we missed the previous week’s cold spell in FL (46F!) although we didn’t miss it up north (0F!) Greg survived without his typical sunburn. He barely survived attacks from no-see-ums. The rest of us were pretty much protected with bug spray from these invisible biting midges but not him. He wore socks around the pool. Such a dad!
After 10 days of relaxation we began our trip home. First stop: Hutchinson Island. Next blog entry: 1,600 miles or bust!
My new reality 