On the Road in the Florida Keys with the Girls!

Back from vacation! I could post a photo of the snow I came home to, but that would not be near as exciting as photos of what we left behind in the Florida Keys! For the first time ever, E, B joined me for a girls only vacation. We all met in Ft. Lauderdale, picked up a rental car and drove to the Keys. Our first two days were spent in Key Largo at the Manatee Bay Resort. This is a former Doubletree hotel that is being remodeled by new owners. We took a risk by booking our stay without much knowledge of the place, but we lucked out with this one. The girls and I took advantage of the pool and small beach area. All it took to get us in vacation mood the first few hours was lots of sunscreen and reading material! Of course a pina colada, some local beer and a margarita might have been involved in the attitude adjustments too :) If you've ever been to the Keys, you know the one "must" is watching the sunset. I've so many good photos of sunsets, it was hard to choose. This was the winner for this post. If I remember correctly, this one was from the pier at the original Islamorado Fish Company. We stopped there to watch them feed the sharks and tarpons.
On Wednesday, we drove on down the Overseas Highway to Key West. We were blessed with beautiful weather for the entire week. The only rain conveniently came late at night so the skies were gorgeous as was the ocean. We stopped to take a few photos at the Seven Mile Bridge. I think it was Daytona Bike Week so there were several motorcycle groups on the road down in this area too. The traffic moved along nicely though and we didn't have any trouble with the drive. Of course, it's not easy to take the wrong turn, because it's pretty much a straight shot! Our destination in Key West was the Merlin Guesthouse. Several older homes had been combined in a bed and breakfast format. Our room was large with a separate sitting room/kitchen and dining area. Nothing fancy, but clean and quite adequate for us. The location was ideal though as it is only one block off of Duval Street and pretty much right in the middle of the island. We parked the car and walked the entire time were there. Exercise that we needed with all the good food we consumed during the week!

An example of ONE of the pieces of Key Lime Pie that we shared during the week! This one had raspberry sauce, probably my personal favorite. Yum!

Key West is known for the chickens roaming the island. I don't know the story behind them, but they're everywhere, even in the open air restaurants! As you walk down the streets, you can hear the roosters crowing in the morning and also the new chicks peeping in the bushes.

I've got many more photos I could post, but Blogger is not being cooperative with the photo uploading tonight. (Anyone else having trouble uploading more than one at a time?) So maybe I'll save them and try again tomorrow. Overall, I think we had a great time. We tried snorkeling, some of us more successful than others. And of course, participating in our favorite common hobby - shopping! I don't think I should say any more about the eating! Other than we decided that now that we've spent all our calories and money on good food, we'll be trying the Campbell's Soup Diet for the next few weeks (or at least until another trip is necessary!).

It was nice to spend the week with my two daughters, but maybe they were tired of Mom after our "bonding" time! I know they both were happy to get away from work and dreary winter weather for a few days. Hopefully the next time DIL J can join us. But it is always nice to get home and it was nice to sleep in my own bed last night! Thanks for joining me for a taste of the Keys!

Kansas Crops and Sunny Skies

We were truly on the road this past week for a quick trip to Kansas. But we were blessed with beautiful weather for the flight(s) then the remaining highway travel on Friday morning. We have traveled across I-70 many, many times over the years but this trip we came by a sight that was new to us. For several miles we saw these wind generators sprouting up in the pastures. I guess the price of oil has this Kansas farmer looking for alternative "crops" ! If you look closely in the center of the photo, you can make out the original windmill. What a great contrast for the changing times! I didn't even see it (we were traveling about 70 mph at the time) until I downloaded to my computer. After a wonderful tribute to one of our favorite aunts, many of us gathered at the Circle Inn Restaurant for a family meal. Though our spirits were saddened by our loss, we enjoyed an rare occasion to visit with family we hadn't seen in awhile. It's unfortunate that it takes a funeral to bring us all together. Perhaps we'll be able to get that family reunion planned that we keep talking about so we have a happier event to bring us together. Thank you, Aunt E and Aunt F and cousin Jo for reading this! I really appreciate your kind comments. I know some of the other folks in this room are readers too - just lurking in the shadows - right? I would get a thrill out of hearing from some of you or better yet, those of you who couldn't be with us. There's a comment button at the end of this post. How many will put it to use?
The Circle Inn is one of the few restaurants in my little hometown. They have faced many challenges in the past few years. First a devastating fire destroyed the original building. But after a cooperative effort with many local residents, they were able to re-build, but bigger and better. When our mother was a resident at the local nursing home, we would wheel her across the highway in the wheelchair for dinner out. It was a real adventure for her that she always enjoyed. Then last summer, a tornado severely damaged the Circle Inn. Luckily, no one was severely injured in either event, but it took them awhile to get the restaurant back up and running again. One of their signature meals is the Chicken Fried Steak. Presentation is not their thing - just good old home cooking with all the calories included! Maybe motorcycle riding days are on the way again. We were able to get out this afternoon for a cruise up to Mann's Harley-Davidson near Columbus, Indiana. It was so nice out! Bright blue skies and temps in the low 60's made an ideal day. We even had to to turn off the seat heaters, as our buns were quite toasty!
I'll be gone for a few days as the girls and I take off for a little beach time! So this is all for tonight but be prepared for plenty of vacation photos on the next post. Back to packing for me - just got to make sure that nosey cat stays out of the suitcase!