The ship at the back is a Disney cruise ship which provided some great entertainment later in the day.
Docking was very smooth and we would soon be heading off to explore Key West.
Key West was a hive of activity as many people were taking the opportunity to celebrate St Patricks day.
They reckon you can easily put 7lbs a week on when cruising, looks like we have put on considerably more than that!!
It was a lovely warm day as we wandered around soaking in the atmosphere on Duval Street. We stopped for some lunch which of course had to include a slice of Lime Key Pie, Les introduced Rodney to Samuel Adams beer which was to be his drink for the rest of our time in the Florida Keys.
We also visited the little White House, now a museum.
There are lots of really pretty houses once you get off the busy main streets.
We were due to leave Key West at 4:00, so we headed back for our last afternoon cocktails!
We were slightly delayed as we had to wait for the Disney cruise ship to leave before us. She was a beautiful boat and as we sat on the back of our boat watching her pull away, we were entertained by her horns, which instead of the usual loud blast ships make, she played "When you wish upon a star" - so Disney!!
We were due to disembark at 9:00 in Miami, which was again well organised. We were booked to go on a final trip to the Everglades and then be dropped off at the airport, where we would pick up our hire car.
We enjoyed a great trip on an airboat and saw several Aligators on the trip.
At the end of the airboat ride we were able to enjoy a short presentation with some baby Aligators and a very big frog!!
Time for one last photo before we headed back on the coach for airport.
The cruise was over and it was time to say goodbye to Les and Lin -aka Dad and Mum, who were flying home whilst we had a further 4 nights on the Florida Keys. Thanks for taking us under you wings, showing us the cruising ropes and being great company.
Looking forward to coming to see you in Spain.
Once we had our luggage we just needed to get the car, which was really easy and then find our way out of Miami not so easy!!!! We got there in the end and were finally on Interstate 1, on our way to the keys.
The views were beautiful as we headed towards Duck Key.
We were staying at Hawks Cay Resort, which was lovely but very big and very busy, after the intermacy of the cruise ship, it was a bit of a culture shock but it was a great base for exploring the keys and we soon found that it had a tranquility area which was a real haven.
The next day we headed out to explore the keys. The scenery is impressive and it is quite something to be driving down the road with the ocean either side of you.
As we headed south we crossed over 7 mile bridge, which is exactly what the name says a bridge that runs for 7 miles linking two keys.
We also explored the harbour on our own key where we saw some amazing wildlife including Manatees.
The next day as we continued to explore we ended up unintentionally back in Key West, we weren't stopping as we had already spent time here whilst on the cruise, but we were surprised to see the distinctive gold wrap BMW that we had seen when walking around a few days earlier, I suspect it is owned by a poser who just drives round Key West all day!!! Nice work if you can get it :-).
When we woke the next morning it had been raining and was overcast and a bit breezy so we took the opportunity to visit the Dolphin research centre. We spent several hours here watching the dolphins being trained and playing.
They really are the most beautiful and intelligent creatures, most of the dolphins at the research centre have been born there, with a few that have been rescued.
There was also a resident Iguana and some sea lions.
On our final full day we took a kayak out for a couple of hours, was great being out in the open, although we were not that good, steering is not as easy as it looks!!
We spent the afternoon by the pool recovering.
For our last night we ate again at Sparkys after visiting 7 mile bridge to watch the sunset, unfortunately it was bit cloudy.
Our first and last selfie!!
On our last day our flight wasn't until 21:45 so we headed to Miami beach, to check out Miami Ink and to get Rodney a mini Ipad. Driving to Miami beach was interesting, and certainly a lot busier than the Florida Keys.
We then headed to the airport and checked in. Everything was going great and we boarded on time, but unfortunately we were delayed from taking off for about half an hour as Miami airport was closed as Airforce One was landing!!!! How inconsiderate of Barack Obama! Still after the nightmare of arriving into Miami, it wouldn't have been right for it to be all plain sailing on the way home.
It had been the most amazing holiday, everything we had hoped for and so much more, absolutely awesome!!! We will definitely be taking another cruise - just have to decide where to go.
So we are now home and back on the move on By The Way.
With captain Brown back at the helm :-))
And I am adjusting to the fact that no-one makes my bed, cooks my meals, serves me drinks, or turns down my bed each night and leaves me a chocolate - well no-one but me. :-))). We have a further three months before real normality returns. Here's to a great three months - no frozen Mojitos but lots of proper cups of PG Tips!!! Oh and some great british weather - fingers crossed :-).
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