On January 30th we flew down to Ft. Lauderdale for a week of fun in the sun. We would be seeing my brother, sister before the 2 hour car ride to Key Largo. Of course, the trip started out crazy, we sat on the tarmac at the Albany airport for 2 hours and 40 minutes before taking off to Newark. Once at Newark we missed our connection and ended up staying the night in the city. We had to be back the airport for an 8am flight to Ft. Lauderdale, but we had no clothes to change into, no toothbrush and a 2 1/2 year old to boot, so needless to say it was not fun! We finally made it into Ft. Lauderdale at 11am on Saturday. We would be greeted by Dan and Maria and cold, cold weather. We couldn't believe it, but it was only in the 50's. Yikes!!!! Well, we made the best of it, picked up our rental car. Stopped by Nova for a quick visit with my sister Alex and stopped in to see my Dad on the way down south.
Off we went, headed south for some major relaxation. We arrived in Key Largo about 4 o'clock and checked into our condo. It was amazing, more beautiful then we could have ever imagined and now we really felt like we were on vacation. We took a tour of the grounds, went to the grocery store and went out for an amazing dinner at the Fish House. One of the best restaurants in the Keys. (The Key Lime Pie is to die for!) Of course, we crashed that night and were up early Sunday. We spent some time at World Wide Sportsmen, we all got a chance to hold a few famous wild birds, and we spent a little time by the pool. My brother and his girlfriend, were on their way down to spend a few days with us, so we were really looking forward to their arrival. Monday we spent out on a boat with them, and Maddy caught her first fish. It was AWESOME! I hooked it with her Dora fishing pole and she reeled it in. She was so excited and screaming, it was absolutely the highlight of the trip. We spent the whole day on the boat, we caught a ton of fish and even got a little sun. Tuesday we spent by the pool and the family headed out in the afternoon. Wednesday morning we went to Key West, we had a great day there, we went on a trolley tour ride, ate at Sloppy Joe's, visited Mel Fisher's museum, watched the sunset at Mallory Square and fulfilled a life dream for me. Bill bought me a necklace that I've wanted since I was a teenager. It is a silver necklace with a rare coin from the sunken ship The Atoche. It is so beautiful and was an amazing early Valentine's Day Present... Thursday morning we went to Theater of the Sea, and spent some time picking out a vacation house to retire in. Thursday evening my Dad and Sister arrived. We enjoyed the time together and went out on a glass bottom boat tour on Friday. Before we knew it, it was Saturday and time to check out. We had a great time, just wished the weather had been a warmer. I can't wait to go back.
