Don't Stop - the Florida road trip section UPDATED 3/16 - Page 39 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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You've now officially passed me on the Keys. I have only made it as far as Big Pine Key, where I stayed almost exactly 36 years ago at Seacamp, a marine biology/oceanography camp at the Newfound Harbor Marine Institute.
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Seacamp! I remember it well, went there several summers in a row probably around the same time. It was lots of fun! I wonder if it still exists?
Cheryl, I am loving all your pictures of Key West. My parents tell me that I was there when I was little but I do not remember a thing except the marker for the furthest point in the United States. We plan to get there someday and take our son. Sorry about the rain, it can be very intimidating and I don't know how Mark managed to drive through it. Good Job in handling all that Mark!
Cheryl, I live in snow country and SUVer's are no better in the snow. I always chuckle when I go out in a storm and all the cars I see that have run off the road are SUV's. I think some people think they are invincible just because they have 4 wheel drive.
Glad you got to your desination safely and I hope the sun comes out tomorow.
Just catching up.....boy did I miss a lot!!! I can't believe all the rain, Cheryl. It must have been very scary driving in it. The hotel is beautiful and how cool to have a bar on the roof. Hope you get some good sunset views (sans rain) from here on out.
Friday 18 December – part seven: a perfect romantic meal
Then it was back to the room to decide what to do for dinner. I looked at my guidebook and it recommended an Italian place a little further down the road called La Trattoria, so we decided to try that. We got some twilight shots on the way and I found Bath and Body Works, so popped in to get some more of my hand cream.
We quickly found La Trattoria and it was a beautiful little place, just perfect for a romantic meal.
We were told to take our time with the menus, which fitted in with Key West’s laid back atmosphere. We opted to get a bottle of Columbia vineyards Riesling, which was beautiful. Mark had the mussels for appetiser, which I shared. There was no way I was going to get it for myself, as it said that they came in a spicy wine sauce and it was spicy as well. I couldn’t have eaten it on my own.
For main course, Mark went for the scallops, which were good from what I tasted, while I had the ravioli Trattoria, which was made of seafood, including lobster and crabmeat and there were loads of both of them in the dish as well. It was superb and easily the best meal I had had so far this vacation.
The only shame was that we were both too stuffed for dessert, as I had fancied the ice cream and Mark eyeing up the key lime pie, but neither of us could manage it.
A word here about our server Libbie. She was superb, very attentive and happy to talk to us about the food and wine here, but also about the whole island. She told us that it’s home to something like 30,000 people and I couldn’t believe that, especially as we could see both sides of the island from the top of our hotel. She said that they make very good use of the space here. They have to, with that many people here. It was fascinating to talk to her, especially when she told us that if you wanted to go and see a concert or a major sport event, then you’re faced with a four hour drive up to Miami. I just couldn’t imagine living like that, it’s too cut off for me. Great to visit, but to live here, no thanks.
The whole bill, including the bottle of wine, came to $120 for the two of us. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but it was an amazing meal.
La Trattoria:
Appetiser 9½ 9½
Entree 10 9
Service 9½ 9
Atmosphere 9½ 9
Value for money 8½ 8½
Average score: 9.20
When we came out of dinner, we decided to walk up the road to see Sloppy Joe’s bar. However, as we had taken the last of our bottle of wine, it was proving pretty hard for me to take photos, so I suggested that Mark take that back to the room and I would meet him in the lobby. It was lovely to just sit there and enjoy time, relaxing in the lobby.
When Mark came back, we sat there for a few minutes longer and then set out to explore Key West at night. It’s an interesting mix of shops, restaurants and bars and, while there were a lot of families out and about and I always felt safe, I was also a bit surprised by all the advertisements we saw for adult only venues. I’d only ever seen something like that before in Las Vegas and had no idea that we would run into here as well. I guess it makes sense, as it’s such as laid back place, but I was still surprised by it.
We walked down to Sloppy Joe’s bar, getting photos on the way and then on the way back up to the hotel.
I kept looking for a T-shirt while we were out and about, as I had seen some nice embroidered ones in the shop next to the hotel, but didn’t know if they were a good deal or not. Looking at other shops, it was clear that they were a good price, so we stopped in there on the way back and got a T-shirt for me.
With that done, we headed back to the room and off to bed.
The weather today was torrential downpours on the way down to Key West and rain for much of the day, but with temperatures still in the 70s. The best thing today was seeing the Biltmore Hotel and its amazing pool and our wonderful dinner. The worst thing today was the weather on the drive down to Key West. Today we tried going to Vizcaya And the result was it’s a beautiful place, but sadly we didn’t get to see the gardens, because of the rain. The most magical moment today was getting to Key West in the end.
Glad your evening was better than the afternoon! The restaurant looks so cozy and romantic, plus your meal looked delicious. I've had some good times at those bars. Our fave is Irish Kevins...definitely a good time to be had there
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I couldn’t have eaten it on my own. 
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