Key Largo - Day 1

Key Largo is about 30 minutes from us and that is something we need to start taking advantage of.  Both of us were in need of a getaway so I went on Airbnb to look up some places to stay.  My first thought was to go to Universal Studios but the more that I looked into it the more it seemed like it would be a huge pain in the ass and not very relaxing.  Going to Universal Studios was a huge fight that I used to have with my ex, Robin.  Because I weighed so much more than I do now I never felt comfortable going to a place like that because I didn't want to suffer the humiliation of not being able to fit on a ride.  She really understand that so it was never a good conversation when it was brought up.

Over the past couple of years I've tried to maintain a friendship with Robin to no avail.  I've been nothing but friendly with her.  It seems that her girlfriend is very jealous and not very trusting.  Considering Robin's cheating history I can't really blame her but isn't it ironic that it's she who doesn't trust when she is the home-wrecker?  Interesting.  Anyway, she probably found out that Robin came to my office to see me out of the blue (when we were both in relationships!) and then sent me a text later that night asking me if I was interested in having sex with her.  Huh?!?!  No thanks.

In yet another attempt to be civil I sent her a text asking her about Universal Studios.  I was confused about the fact that they had two different parks and wanted to know which one was the best.  Robin is the only person I know that has been there that I can think of so I asked her.  Right off the bat she was nasty.  In the end she said something to the effect of "You live in Florida - go ask a neighbor!" and after realizing that I have lost weight she said something about me being able to fit on rides now.  How nice.  Who says something like that?!  What is she?  12?!  Her girlfriends go-to nasty comment was calling me "Fat" so why am I surprised??  Why do I try with her?  I never really knew this side of her but apparently she's in a hostile, distrusting environment and it's worn on her.  So sad.

Anyway, fuck Robin.  This post isn't about her...

A while back a friend suggested trying AirBnB for travel accommodations so I decided to check it out.  I wanted to go to a place that was the epitome of relaxation so we decided to go the opposite direction of Universal Studios, and not too far from home... Key Largo.  After looking at several places we found this one estate that had several rooms for rent.  The room we chose was off the side of a main house with a large bathroom and French doors leading to the water which was only a few steps away.  It looked like heaven and just what we needed! 

(Above photos from hosts Airbnb site)

Tabitha had Wednesday and Thursday off last week so we booked a two-night stay in the waterfront room at the estate in Key Largo and after dropping Murray off at the Rover sitter we headed South to The Keys.  Check in was at 4pm and we got there about 3pm and contacted the owner to see if we could check in early.  We didn't immediately hear from them so we drove around until receiving a text with the gate access code.  We were told to drive 3mph on the road leading into the estate because of the coral dust being kicked up, go to the end and honk twice to let the owner know we were there.  Before we honked we saw Mrs. Bennett, the owner,  come out of the house to greet us.

After introductions we were brought around to the other side of the house which was on the waterfront to our room.  The room was exactly as described, opening with French doors and decorated in an ocean theme with calming off white and blue shades.  There was a huge photo of a wave above the king size bed.  The room had only a small refrigerator, a Keurig, two side tables, bed, armoire and bathroom.  There was no bathtub, only a shower, which was fine with us.  After showing us around Mrs. Bennett left and we collapsed into bed for a moment.  It was super comfy!!  Hanging out in the room didn't last long because we wanted to take full advantage of what was offered to guests.  We headed outside to check out the kayak situation. We didn't have to go far to get to the waterfront from our room.  I should have counted the steps, not that it was many. 

 

 We wanted to get in the water before it was too dark and decided to take two individual kayaks instead of the tandem kayak.  We gathered our oars, life vests, bottles of water and camera and headed out into the Gulf.  As we were on our way out we realized how strong the winds was which made the water incredibly choppy.  We headed toward the left because there was a large island in the middle of the bay.  After paddling for a while we realized just how far away that island was.  We knew that even with the wind blowing us it was at least a mile away and there was no way we could get there and back with the current conditions so we just stopped and enjoyed floating and occasionally rowing.

 

Even though it was getting into the evening hours the visibility in the water was pretty good. There were spots where we were at least 10-15 feet deep and could see down to the bottom.  We saw a few reefs and paddled over to check them out.  It was so nice floating on the water, listening to the waves, feeling the wind, smelling the sea and doing nothing.  Paradise!  I still can't believe we didn't see any dolphins though!  Tabitha wanted to swim so we headed back to shore which was a challenge due to the wind.  We finally arrived, put the kayaks and life vests up, grabbed our snorkels and hit the water.  It wasn't exactly reef-like but there were some interesting things to look at.

The only thing that was really on my mind was that this was when the sharks come to life and I didn't want to be dinner.  The visibility wasn't so great that I could see 10 feet in front of me so I was feeling very uncomfortable.  We did that for a bit then sat on the lounges to watch the sunset.  Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy so it wasn't that great.  



After the sunset we decided to get dressed and get something to eat. By that it was after 9pm and since it's a small town there's not much to choose from at that hour.  We settled on Upper Crust Pizza and had their BBQ chicken pizza.  Sooooo good!  We should have gotten dessert there because we realized that there was nothing open except the gas station.  Nothing like a Hershey bar for dessert on a mini-vacay!  When we got back to the room we went to bed since we had a full day of activities ahead of us when we woke up... snorkeling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park - yay!