Good day! We started out the day V-E-R-Y Leisurely for a change. No place to go, no road to travel, just hanging at the Keys…a wonderful thing! It is a beautiful morning to have breakfast outside, listen to the birds and enjoy the tropical breeze (and the deep blue sky, and 75 degree weather). 
It ends up that the friends we visited yesterday on the way through Pompano Beach were able to come down and spend the night with us so we are hanging at the Lazy Lakes Campground today until they arrive. Traffic was not cooperative with Jay and Sara and their arrival was delayed so we headed out on the bikes to see what we could see. In this section of the Keys (mile marker 20) the bike path is separated from the road and easy to navigate north. We biked through the KOA campground, within walking distance of our resort, then over the bridge to the next Key passing several pelicans ‘fishing’ off the bridge. As we passed the giant birds roosting on the bridge railing, they were eyeballing us, spreading out their wings as if they were ready to take off if we made any unusual moves toward them.
The bike path then crossed the highway and delved into the shady trees and past the Mangrove swamps. If you have not seen Mangrove, the roots shoot out from the side of the plant in search of a place to start a new growth, creating a network of roots, massively intertwining amongst themselves. It seemed impossible that any creature would be able to navigate through the maze but as we biked along northward, a small Floridian deer ran across the path and into the maze of Mangrove roots and branches. I am not sure how it got through but disappeared in an instant. Biking 8.6 miles is pretty easy when it is flat! At one point we raced each other and got up to 17 miles an hour, but that lasted all of 5 seconds
.
Our friends arrived and we visited a bit, starting happy hour with some slushies made with Peach cider we purchased at a road side stand in Georgia on the way down.
We all went to Key West for dinner…New Orleans with a bit more family flair. (Update 2.13.17 – I have decided it is like Bourbon street meets the beach) Not to say you can’t get into trouble here, because you sure can, but it was just a little less ‘dark’ here and more popular type music rather than the New Orleans jazz, (which we loved to hear when we were there a few years ago.) We first stopped at Malory Square where the street performers were celebrating the sunset, which we caught on the way to Key West.
Blue Heaven was an out-of-the-way restaurant where we had dinner. Very eclectic and unique with chickens running around (did I mention it was an outside restaurant?) and live music. Delicious scallop dinner – really wonderful. After walking for a bit to get there, we had really worked up our appetite. As we meandered back toward Duval Street, where all the action was, we did a lot of people-watching and tried to take it all in. Ending up at Sloppy Joe’s Bar where they had a great live band doing a mix of old tunes and current ones. If anyone knows the “Salsa Baby” story from when we went to Telluride…. It was like that.
A Late, Late night (or early morning, depending on how you look at it), a good time was had by all. As the Designated Driver, I got everyone home in one piece. A short night’s rest brought us to Day 7.
No miles today unless you count biking 8.6! Over 13,300 steps, that should give you an idea on how much we walked around Key West!
Love the pics and the description of your day…glad you have your DiSorano along too!