Aww! it's over!

So, I'm finally rested up from our vacation.

Yeah, it took an entire week. :)

So, where was I at? Key West.

Wednesday was our last day in Miami. And that happened to be the most gorgeous day of all! It stinks. Or stunk. We said our goodbyes to Dale (who is the most awesomest big sister in the world! Lyda and I claimed her as ours. lol) and headed north.

Our first stop was Daytona Beach. Which was the most beautiful beach that we'd been to so far! And it was so disappointing because we couldn't stay too long because we had a hotel reserved in South Carolina. *pouting* The sand was white and powdery and the water very clear. No seaweed! We sooo were not expecting Daytona to be so pretty. We were just gonna pop in and out, just to say we'd been there. Oh, well. Jen and I console ourselves with the fact that we will go back. As we headed back to the highway, we got stuck on a bridge because some guy on a bike decided to pick a two lane bridge to collapse on. The police stopped traffic and I have no idea why I'm mentioning this. But the weirdest part was, a man was walking from the scene and passed our car, smiling really big. As if he'd had a part in the other guy's predicament. Super odd.

Anyways, so next was Savannah. But we got into town when it was dark so we could not see a single thing. Wednesday was turning out to be a drag. So we drove around for a while (don't ask me why, the sidewalks were already rolled in for the night) then headed to Charleston.

Our hotel was located in Isle of Palms, north of the city. We checked in, tossed our bags inside, then headed out to find something to eat. Jen found a man at IHOP. I'm not sure if he came from the islands or not, he couldn't seem to make up his mind. :) After giggling for an hour straight, we headed back to the hotel. Only to be stopped by a bored cop. Hey! I was only going 14 mph over the speed limit! He was nice, though and gave us a Spring Break discount! Apparently he stops quite a few Texans in that area. Watch out for him, ya'll.

The next morning, at 6:30 sharp, Jen and I awoke to her alarm clock. Lyda did too but she rolled back over. lol We pulled on our hoodies and tucked our cameras in our pockets and headed out to welcome the sun. Except he (Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun) chose not to grace us with his presence that day. But we had fun walking the beach. Searching for seashells. Trespassing on a private pier. (that was Jen, not me. wink, wink) Taking pictures of one legged birdies. And dead starfish. Then getting caught in the rain walking back. That was fun.

We visited a fort, just for the fun of it. It was fun!

We checked out of the hotel and went to see Charleston. I drove around for a while, while Lyda was learning to be a photographer (that chick seriously needs a camera) until I found what I was looking for! Rainbow Row. I could not remember what the name of the street was so I couldn't put it in the GPS but I figure, how could we get lost in Charleston?! Anyways, we'll be back, Charleston. No worries, buddy.

So, since Jen wanted to see Savannah during daylight, we headed back to Georgia. Where it was raining. We drove down River Street, bumping along the cobblestones, but we didn't have umbrellas so we didn't get out. We got smart and went to buy some. We found a nice little Italian restaurant and had lunch/dinner and by the time we were done, it was not just raining anymore. It was pouring! And I got to walk in the rain for the second time that day! I love the rain, can you tell?! So Jen and Lyda were cursing me during the 5 block dash to our car. *sigh* They just didn't come prepared. I had boots on, but they were wearing flats. Who wears flats on a rainy day?! lololol Just kidding. So by the time we got to the car, we were pretty much soaked. It was great.

And then we headed home. Driving the back roads of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama at night was an interesting experience, I tell you. Well, I assume it was. You'd have to ask Jen. She was the pilot this time. lol. We even stopped the car at one point, Just so we could stick our heads out the window and check out the stars. Simply amazing.

And that was it. It was the most awesome Road Trip ever! Pictures to come soon!

Whew! I survived Key West!!!

LOL - Now that was fun! We left around 9ish this morning, heading south on highway 1. We passed through all the smaller keys until finally, 3 hours later, we arrived at Key West. The beaches we quite vacant due to the sky being slightly overcast and chilly. *snorts* If you call 65 degrees chilly.

We drove around for a while, searching for the southernmost part of the USA. We weren't exactly sure where it was and received about, oh, say 4 different directions from the locals. (I think that's a source of amusement for them. Sending people in different directions from their intended destinations.) I think we covered the width and length of that island 3 times, at least. :) Until we finally found it. There wasn't even a sign to say what it was! Just a pier and a sign with the name of the pier on it. Supposedly its only 90 miles to Cuba, as a crow flies, from that point. And I read reviews (last week) about how small the beach there was. No exaggeration, folks. It was postage stamp sized. And crowded! Hilarious stuff.

So we headed back to the beaches that we'd passed on our way in. Keep in mind that not an hour has passed since we arrived on the key. We parked the car (that was an event in itself), grabbed our gear and headed onto the beach. Much to our surprise, IT WAS STANDING ROOM ONLY! I am so not lying! I'd have taken a pic but would probably get into trouble for that! lolol Seriously, though. Spring Break arrived in Key West! And all the college kids finally woke up from their hangovers and decided to come tan! Fun times.

So we backtracked and went further up the beach for more sand and less bodies. We set up camp and went to test the waters. Yeaaaah...the water was cold. Disappointing. And we were too chicken to go all the way in so we sat near the water's edge and let the waves wash over our legs. And that was our day at the beach! lol No, not really. We had a lovely lunch and rested in the shade of two palm trees until the sun decided it had enough of us and went down.

Then the night life began.

Apparently, Duval St. is the place to be in Key West! We walked up and down the street for a while (like, once up the street and once down the street...not up and down like idiots without a clue what to do :) then stopped in at Hard Rock for dinner. Fun times. People watching is sooo much funny when there are crazy (and drunk) people involved! Apparently, it's hip to walk the street in your wedding dress. You get free drinks that way. Not that the bride needed any more. She'd already had one too many!

So, fun times on my first trip to Key West. Next time, hopefully, I get to actually eat some Key Lime Pie! (yeah, it really bites that I didn't get any)

Miami via New Orleans

That's what I'm calling this trip.

So...we (Jen, Lyda and I) lit out of Dallas on Friday evening en route to a tiny town in LousyAna (just kidding, ya'll!) called Alexandria. We knew we wouldn't be able to make it all the way to New Orleans, our first stop on the trip.

Free Advice, folks. Don't stay in the Econo Lodge on MacArthur. We did and we probably won't again. But we got some sleep.

The next day (we slept in until late morning) started the 3 hour trip to New Orleans. We arrived in the city late afternoon and walked around for a while, ogling the buildings and the interesting people! One dude had no pants on, literally! He had some sort of plastic loin cloth though. Praise God. We saw a couple silver guys (they spray painted themselves) and a gold one. Much, much more but we'll stop there! It was hilarious! We also went in St. Louis Cathedral and attended evening Mass. Okay, not really. Well, Mass was going on and we were in there soooo...maybe we did. :) We stopped at a restaurant on Bourbon Street (I think!) and had dinner. The gumbo was awesome but the rest of the food was so spicy that Lyda and I didn't really enjoy it. Dessert was a bread pudding. Which was ho hum. Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed at my long awaited Cajun dinner. No worries, though. I'll be back to the city someday and hopefully have a better dining experience then! Who Dat?! Whatever.

French Quarter


So. After that we headed east on Highway 10. Entered Mississippi. Exited Mississippi. Entered Alabama. Exited Alabama. Entered Florida. Killed a poor possum trying to cross the highway. We found a rest stop and rested for about 4 hours before heading out again. We encountered some interesting people in central Florida...some not so friendly McDonald employees. Maybe they were just angry because they had to work on Sunday morning. Who knows?

We finally reached Plantation (which is about an hour north of Miami) at around 1pm. We met up with Dale, Jen's older sister and went to her house.

Welcoming us into her home were her 4 cats (they didn't really welcome us, they stared at us as if to say, "Who in the world are you people?" Then, "Why are ya'll just standing there?! Feed us!" And an obese (I kid not) dog named Moose. Quite fitting. He actually did the welcoming. He led us up the stairs and literally showed us to our rooms. Then went back downstairs and peed about a gallon and a half worth of doggie urine on the carpet.

After a long awaited nap, we got dressed and went to church at Bro. Johns'. It was a good service. Great message. Very timely as well! My favorite part of the sermon is where he told the young, single ladies that we need "a man with a lot of money". No kidding! He seriously said that! It's going to be fun telling Pastor that. :)

After church we visited one of Dale's friends for dinner. And I realized that I do not care for curried goat. But nevertheless, I ate what was set before me.

This morning we got up and headed south to Coral Gables. I had Googled (like a good tourist) local attractions and found a museum and gardens called Vizcaya. Oh. My. Word. It was gorgeous! I am so glad we went! I won't go into too much detail because I would probably quote everything the tour guide said! I was that much into it! The house was 1914 and was probably one of the most ornate homes in the state at that time. Mr. Robert Deering spared no expense in building his home. He incorporated antique pieces from all over Europe (Denmark, Greece, England and France) as well as locally made pieces to creat a home that looked as if it had been built over 4 centuries prior to when it actually was. The rooms were a blend of different times and eras but it all came together to form a grand home. Bravo to the three designers! Oh, and the gardens were lovely as well! :)

After that, we headed to South Beach. Fun times. We dipped our toes in the water but the beach was too crowded for our tastes so we walked down The Strip until we found a seafood joint and had some tasty blackened grouper. I had my mind set on Red Snapper but no luck. I don't think I will ever get some. I've been trying to eat some good Snapper for YEARS but no luck. Sigh. Miy camera died at Vizcaya so for pictures of South Beach, visit Jen's site! :)

People watching on The Strip was hilarious. Fun times. We did a bit of shopping and came back home. Ate some ice cream on the patio and now here I am. Blogging like a good little nerd. lol

Stay tuned!Tomorrow is Key West!