After a lovely night sleep, we filled up on the complimentary breakfast and headed out to spend the day exploring the Florida Keys. We could still feel the beginnings of a cold coming on but it was not too bad. We met Greg and Beata and the Brazilian couple they told us about at a gas station just at the entrance to Key Largo. Romulo and Mirella have been traveling for a year and plan at least another two years. They have a website documenting their trip.
We planned to drive through sightseeing until we got to Bahia Honda State Park. We stopped for pictures a few times along the way. It was warm and sunny when we entered the park but the predicted clouds soon rolled in and the temperature dropped quickly. We checked out the beaches on both the ocean and gulf sides and they were beautiful. We walked up to the old bridge and the views were spectacular. Greg was determined to swim despite the cool weather so we found a spot on the beach for our chairs and Greg and Romulo plunged into the water. The rest of us watched from the shore. They tried to persuade Francis to join them but it was too cold for his African blood. After swimming, we hung out under the picnic shelter for awhile waiting for the rain to blow over then headed to Key West.
We found a parking lot with a reasonable price. Mirella and Romulo needed wifi to upload some material for their website so they headed to Starbucks. Greg and Beata headed to the waterfront to take some photos and Francis and I went in search of dinner. By this time we were both starting to feel our colds kicking in, especially Francis. We found a bar with a food truck selling Korean barbeque and fish tacos. By the time we got our food, our parking time was almost up so we took it to go and hurried back to meet the others. Greg had found out there was a parking lot where we could spend the night as long as we waited until midnight. We were both tired and feeling crummy by this point so we decided to skip that and head back out of the Keys. We said our goodbyes in the parking lot and promised to keep in touch so we could meet up again in the west.
We drove about an hour before we pulled into a church parking lot to spend the night. It was very hot in the car and got hotter when Francis started running a fever. We opened the car door a few times to get some air but we did not want the light in the car to attract attention in such a public place. Finally, Francis got out of the car and slept on a blanket in the parking lot to get some relief.
We planned to drive through sightseeing until we got to Bahia Honda State Park. We stopped for pictures a few times along the way. It was warm and sunny when we entered the park but the predicted clouds soon rolled in and the temperature dropped quickly. We checked out the beaches on both the ocean and gulf sides and they were beautiful. We walked up to the old bridge and the views were spectacular. Greg was determined to swim despite the cool weather so we found a spot on the beach for our chairs and Greg and Romulo plunged into the water. The rest of us watched from the shore. They tried to persuade Francis to join them but it was too cold for his African blood. After swimming, we hung out under the picnic shelter for awhile waiting for the rain to blow over then headed to Key West.
We found a parking lot with a reasonable price. Mirella and Romulo needed wifi to upload some material for their website so they headed to Starbucks. Greg and Beata headed to the waterfront to take some photos and Francis and I went in search of dinner. By this time we were both starting to feel our colds kicking in, especially Francis. We found a bar with a food truck selling Korean barbeque and fish tacos. By the time we got our food, our parking time was almost up so we took it to go and hurried back to meet the others. Greg had found out there was a parking lot where we could spend the night as long as we waited until midnight. We were both tired and feeling crummy by this point so we decided to skip that and head back out of the Keys. We said our goodbyes in the parking lot and promised to keep in touch so we could meet up again in the west.
We drove about an hour before we pulled into a church parking lot to spend the night. It was very hot in the car and got hotter when Francis started running a fever. We opened the car door a few times to get some air but we did not want the light in the car to attract attention in such a public place. Finally, Francis got out of the car and slept on a blanket in the parking lot to get some relief.
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| Bahia Honda |
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| Key West |
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| Restaurant in Key West |
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