And I’m back! Last week we were in Florida for a little sunshine getaway but we are home and back to the usual grind. We went to Miami and the Florida Keys so Andrew could dive and I could have some beach and pool time. We ended up not getting much of either of those done thanks to the weather but it was still a decent trip overall.
I really like writing up these travel recaps because it’s a fun way for me to hold onto the memories but I hope that they are also helpful to you if you’re planning a vacation in the near future.
Why We Went
We were already going to Indiana to visit Andrew’s family and decided to tack on a warm-weather trip to the end. Seattle is beautiful in the spring, summer, and fall but winter is so long and grey and wet that a trip away just to see the sun is a must. We decided on Florida because Andrew is a scuba diver and wanted to do some warm water diving. I’ve never spent much time in Florida except for the odd layover so it was all new to me, especially the Florida Keys.
Where We Stayed
We actually ended up moving around quite a bit on this trip. It’s not our normal style but ended up that way, unfortunately. It makes for an especially un-restful trip. On top of that, Teddy had a hard time sleeping because we were in a new location every two or three days, which was not fun for anyone. If we were to do this trip again (not likely), I’d just do one day in Miami then pick a spot in the Keys and stay put for the rest of the trip.
We started by flying into Fort Lauderdale and staying in an Airbnb in Hollywood, FL, a suburb between Ft Lauderdale and Miami. It wasn’t that nice of a place but the location was excellent and it was only for the one night so it was fine overall. Our flight from Indiana landed in Florida on the later side so we just needed a place to crash. We walked along the boardwalk in Hollywood in the morning and it seemed like a stretch of beach that was mostly locals. There were tons of families and elderly people.
From there we drove down to Florida City which is a town on the mainland right before you get to the Keys. We stayed in the Best Western there for the night. It was also fine. Nothing fancy but a newly built or remodeled place so it was a decent place to spend the night. We didn’t hang around in the morning but packed everything up and headed out to our next stop, Key Largo.
Since Key Largo was our main destination on this trip, we had a nicer Airbnb booked for this section of our trip. It ended up working out really well. While it wasn’t fancy or new, the location and amenities were great for what we needed and wanted. It was about five minutes away from Andrew’s main dive location, it had several pools, beachfront, and easy parking. Also since it was a two-bedroom apartment with a fully stocked kitchen so we were able to cook for ourselves the whole time, which was really nice since vegan food options on the Keys are few and far between.
After our time in the Keys, we drove back to Miami to stay for a day before flying out in the evening. We ended up in a really cute hotel in North Miami Beach. It was a little one-bedroom apartment which again allowed us to fend for ourselves food-wise.
What We Did
Like I mentioned earlier, this trip was centered around Andrew’s scuba diving but aside from that, we managed to have some fun outings as well.
Andy’s parents happened to be vacationing in Naples, Florida at the same time as us. We didn’t plan this trip together but it happened to work out that way. Anyways, they came and stayed with us for three days in the Keys. It was really nice to have that time with them. Since they live in another state, we only see them every couple of months or so. So I really appreciate that they had plenty of one-on-one time with Teddy on this trip.
Our Airbnb in Key Largo was pretty close to the Coral Restoration Foundation educational facility. We stopped in there on our first day down in Key Largo and listened to their entire presentation. Andrew was going to sign up to volunteer for them (they have volunteers who dive help plant coral) but the weather didn’t work out. However, they are a great resource if you’re interested in learning more about the death of coral reefs and how you can help slow the destruction.
We had one chill hang-out sort of day that involved walks on the beach, time at the pool, and plenty of blended drinks thanks to Andy and his bullet blender.
I could probably write an entire travel post just about our day trip to Key West but I’ll try to keep it semi-brief and to the point for your benefit.
We made a day trip of it and made plenty of stops along the way. The first was the History of Diving Museum. If you’re interested in scuba diving or have an avid diver in your family, it’s worth a stop. The whole collection is set up well and it’s nice to support smaller collections like this one. We probably spent less than an hour there.
Our next stop on route to Key West was Bahia Honda State Park. A friend of mine from the gym told me about this spot and I’m glad that we made the time to stop. It is possibly the nicest beach in the Keys. It’s basically a spit of land that goes out from the highway and one side is calm turquoise water and perfect white sand beaches, while the other side is exposed to the wind and waves and is much more rugged. I could have spent an entire afternoon there, it was so beautiful and peaceful.
Once we finally made it down to Key West we walked over to the Southernmost Point. There is a giant boulder there that marks the Southernmost Point of the continental United States (although the actual southernmost point is actually a couple of miles away on the nearby military base). You’ll know you’re getting close because everything is suddenly the southernmost fill-in-the-blank. Coffee shop, house, hotel, trolley stop, you name it.
Since there was a line for pictures at the Southernmost Point, we just snapped a quick pic from across the street then continued walking. We walked the final mile or so of Highway 1, although we did stop for lunch along the way, and did another photo stop at mile marker zero. From there we walked back to our car along Duval Street, taking in all the tourist madness that was going on along that main drag.
What we didn’t realize until later was that we were almost to Mallory Square but turned to go back down Duval Street too soon. There was more to see just a couple of blocks away. After that, we simply wandered around a bit more then made our way back to the car to make the 2-hour drive back to Key Largo.
On our final day in Key Largo, Teddy and I went to the beach one more time then went to John Pennekamp State Park. I thought it was going to be like the Bahia Honda State Park but I was gravely mistaken. The “beaches” at John Pennekamp are man-made dredged out faux beaches with crocodile warning signs all around. So instead of spending time with Ted on the beach, we visited the aquarium instead. It was actually really cool and I learned a lot about the marine life of the Keys as well as how the reefs along the Florida Keys help naturally manage the hurricanes that pass through, and much more. They have free public guided tours of the aquarium, so we joined one of those groups and had a fantastic ranger/guide.
As far as things to do in Miami, we didn’t really get into it. Most of our time there was spent on or near the beach. Our first day, we walked along the boardwalk in Hollywood. We were in search of coffee but didn’t find anything decent but had a really great time with Teddy. We walked back along the water and that kid loved walking and standing in the sand and surf.
On our last day we mainly just hung out on and drove along Miami Beach. We were staying in North Beach and it was a really nice beach. I wish we had more beach gear so we could make a full day of it. Aside from that we just drove along Miami Beach and enjoyed looking at the spectacle and all the fancy houses.
What We Ate
We didn’t eat out much on this trip. Since we were mostly staying in Airbnbs that had kitchens, we ended up cooking most of our own meals. Our first night in Ft Lauderdale, we stopped into a Publix to get the bare essentials (bread, almond milk, oatmeal, peanut butter) but the following day we hit up both Costco and Aldi to get the rest of what we needed.
I wrote an entire post recently about how we’ve gone from vegetarian to a full vegan diet and that makes eating out kinda hard. Especially in the Florida Keys, there just aren’t a lot of options that don’t involve fish. So we made most of our meals. We had pasta, veggies, and salad one night, tacos another night, and honestly we ate a lot of snacks. Since we don’t normally have snacky foods at home, we went all out on this trip.
We also brought our Ninja Bullet Blender with us on this trip. I will admit that I rolled my eyes REAL hard when Andrew said he was going to pack it but I’m happy he did. We had Pina Coladas almost every night which made up for the fact that the weather ended up being pretty cold.
All that being said, we did end up getting food out at a couple of spots. No pictures of the food because I never remember to take them before chowing down:
Starbucks – This one is a little silly but we went to Starbucks every day (sometimes multiple times a day) for coffee. Andrew doesn’t like Cuban coffee and that was what most of the coffee shops we stopped at were selling. Starbucks was the only place that was easy to get a decent cup.
The Conch and the Cuban Cafe in Key West – We found parking right outside of this place when we got into Key West and just stopped at their coffee bar. From the outside, it looked really promising and super cute but the coffee was terrible. Andrew gave me some of his and it was pretty disgusting. I’m guessing that it was just the coffee that was bad because the place was happening.
MoonDog Cafe & Bakery in Key West – Easily the best meal that we had the entire trip. It’s not a vegan specific spot but they had a handful of vegan options and even more vegetarian options. I had the blackened tofu tacos and they were delish. Andrew had the Green Giant veggie burger and it was pretty tasty too. The seafood lasagna, Key Lime sangria, and the shrimp tacos that my in-laws ate also looked really good. We also stopped at their bakery on the way out for a treat. I got a vegan ginger molasses cookie and it was so good! Perfectly soft and sweet.
L’Artisane Creative Bakery in North Beach, Miami – A 100% vegan French bakery! I was in heaven! We stopped in to pick up breakfast and everything looked so tempting. I got a guava danish and Andrew got an empanada and both were completely delish. We also got iced lattes to go and the barista made them with cashew milk and I was kind of shocked at how much I liked it. I’m not normally a coffee person but we had had a pretty sleepless night with Teddy so I wanted to boost. However, the cashew milk was so creamy it was like having regular half&half in your coffee.
Milk Gone Nuts in North Miami – Andrew found this place so we could get a little treat on the way to the airport. I had the pistachio soft serve and it was nice. Andrew got a chocolate peanut butter shake and it was a little disappointing because he makes something pretty similar at home and the ones that he makes was better than the one we paid $9 for. Bummer.
What I Wore
Sadly the weather did not cooperate during this trip. I was planning an entire post about what I packed for this warm weather vacation much as I did for last year’s New York trip but I ended up wearing the same thing for most of the trip. These chambray pants with a sweater layered over long sleeves. Only one of my cute dresses was pulled out and that was because it has sleeves. Booo!
Next Time…
Andrew and I were joking that the next time we go to Florida, we’ll probably be heading to Orlando for the classic family Disney trip. I’ve actually never been to Disney World, only ever Disney Land in California (west coast problems?).
Yeah, while this was a nice trip, I don’t see us coming back to the Keys in the future. Andrew expressed some interest in going back solely to scuba dive so maybe he’ll go back in the future but that would likely be without me and Ted.
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