All the way to Key Largo...

...and then some. Time to spill, eh? Well, Jon and I had a rare opportunity (and by rare, I mean for the first time since we became parents 17 years ago) to hop a plane and skip town together for a few days. Jon's been doing a lot of his company's Florida business of late, and two jobs lined up together for this week. Then the wheels started turning, and we realized that we had timeshare points for a little place about halfway down the Florida Keys. Allison, you guessed correctly! We also had a free airline voucher and a couple of free rental car days that Jon had been saving, plus a grandma willing to cover for us. So we cashed it all in and booked our flights for bright and early Saturday morning...and I do mean early...and landed in Fort Lauderdale by 11:30 am!

The drive to the Keys took slightly longer than anticipated. First, Jon just couldn't resist a little jaunt through downtown Miami on our way south. While I did find myself nearly hanging my head out the window, inhaling the aroma of Latino food that fills the air, I was anxious to head south and feast my eyes on the blue waters of the Keys. To top it all off, the skies were overcast...not your typical blue Florida skies...and it was spitting rain on and off. Then, when we finally got back on the only road headed that direction, we quickly found ourselves in a traffic jam, bordered on both sides by crocodile-filled swamps and road construction. Ugh. Turns out there was a big bike race in Key Largo, and that backed the whole highway up for miles!!

Yeah, not quite what I'd been waiting for...

Finally, we broke free of the traffic, and, despite the cloudy skies, the vistas of the Florida Keys did not disappoint. Blue waters stretched as far as the eye could see on either side of much of the Overseas Highway. I was a little apprehensive of all the bridges, but they turned out to be no big deal...even Seven Mile Bridge...more on that later. By the way, it also turns out that there was a foot race across the Seven Mile Bridge, also backing up traffic all the way up the Keys!

Now that's more like it...

We made to Marathon, a little over halfway down the Keys, and found our little resort, The Hammocks. First thing, we were snagged by the concierge, whose job it is to get people like us to sit down for an update (otherwise known as their chance to sell us more). No way were we doing that now, but we happily agreed to take their $50 for listening. I not-so-happily almost punched the guy in the face for repeatedly...not exaggerating here...repeatedly stating that we wouldn't be able to enjoy any of the wonderful things about the Keys on the next (our only) full day there because it was just going to pour rain. Oh, and it never does that there! I finally asked him to stop. It was better than punching him.

The Hammocks...

...out the back door of our resort.

We drove around for a while, checked out Sunset Beach (missed the sunset), and ended up grabbing dinner at the resort's Tiki Bar and eating our first of the trip's many outdoor meals. There's just nothing like sharing a meal under the palms, with an ocean breeze wafting by. Some days I wonder WHY we live in land-locked Indiana, far away from those palms and blue waters. Did you know that the high school in Marathon is practically right on the beach?! I'm not sure the kids would miss the marching band all that much!

The Tiki Bar out back...

Sunset Beach...

Next up...our three-hour tour...that turned into four-and-a-half when our boat broke down! I'm not even kidding.