Back From Key Largo

We’ve been back from Key Largo for over a month now and I’m just now getting around to writing about it. We jumped right back into work within hours of getting in, then left for the OBX a few days later, so I really haven’t time to get my thoughts together. That’s part of it. The other part is that I’m a little conflicted by our trip there so I might have been subconsciously putting it off. Now that we can work from anywhere, we’re hoping to spend our final time stateside in the Keys where we’ll be warm and able to dive all the time. I expected it to be a slam dunk and it wasn’t. That’s exactly why you have to experience places first hand! Other people’s opinions & online research only go so far. There’s no substitute for firsthand experience.

I don’t mean to sound negative about the Keys, there’s definitely a lot to love about the area. I’m very much looking forward to spending the winter there and thoroughly exploring the area. Before we went, I thought we’d hurry and try to sell our house before the winter and just stay down there but now I think 10 weeks away from home and coming back is better. I have a lot more to say on leaving an area we love so more on that in another post.

If you’ve been reading a while then you know what’s coming next! My beloved pro-con list. They’re great for visualizing an area/experience and really help me with making big decisions.

Pros

• Sunsets – every night of our trip we were treated to some of the most gorgeous sunsets I’ve ever seen. I can see why Key West celebrates the sunset daily. The waterfront bars in Key Largo all had their own nightly ritual too.

• Diving – the diving was very easy. The boats leave from the canals and it’s a short ride to the sites. The reef sites are all very shallow, great for taking pics since there’s a lot of light and also for new divers. The water was extremely warm too! I was far too warm in my 3mm and ended up buying a shorty, I needed a little something. My other half went with no suit as did a lot of others. It was jellyfish season too and the moons were so thick we opted for a negative entry at one site. The vis was just okay while we were there but a tropical storm blew through a week earlier so that was probably to blame. The currents were also unfavorable for visiting the Spiegel Grove wreck, the site I was looking forward to the most so we’ll have to hit that over the winter. We dove with Rainbow Reef, a fun shop that’s very well run. We’ll definitely dive with them again.

• Manatees – what’s not to love about these sweet creatures! We only saw one during our trip in the canal. We were at lunch at Skipper’s on the water and while the waitress was reciting the specials, we excitedly jumped up, pointed at the manatee, watched it till it disappeared and promptly forgot everything she told us. She was nice enough to come back & repeat it once the manatee had moved on. I’m definitely looking forward to some closer encounters with them.

• Nature – there’s a lot of opportunity to be close to nature. We were only there a few days and saw a lot of cool stuff. We checked out Long Key & Pennekamp state parks. Holy mosquitoes! I got destroyed by them! We’ll visit a lot more once we’re there for the winter.

• Warm – it was hot and steamy morning, noon & night and I loved it! I especially love those temperatures in the morning and at night. It got a bit hot mid-day but we were diving, in the pool or reading in the shade so it really didn’t matter to us much. It’s 7pm right now & 65 degrees here, it’s 86 there, enough said!

• Beautiful  – other than the main road which isn’t much to look at until you get further south where it’s surrounded by water, everything off of the main road was pretty on both sides. I love being surrounded by water and there are nice views awaiting you on both sides.

• Thunderstorms & waterspouts – not sure if waterspouts qualify as a true ‘pro’, surely not if you’re caught in one. We’ve never seen one and have always wanted to and we saw 3 in 5 days. Thunderstorms & lightning are in the pro list for us, we love a good storm and every afternoon we were treated to a spectacular natural display. They never lasted long and who doesn’t love the smell after a fresh rain on a hot day.

• Great bird watching – there’s a huge variety of birds in the Keys & I can’t wait to go back and spend more time with them. Below is an egret grabbing a snack!

Cons

• Quiet Places  – I really like some quiet time especially when it comes with a water view. I spend a lot of time in the summer sitting in the shade at the beach reading & relaxing. I didn’t find many spots to get away from it all but I think we just need more time there. Both sides are surrounded by water so there’s gotta be a quiet park, etc where I can set up a chair and read a book. So this con might go away after our winter trip.

• Nowhere to run/hike/bike in the woods – I’m totally spoiled with a phenomenal state park just 10 minutes from our house. There are biking and hiking/running trails with beautiful marsh/lake/sound views. It’s definitely unique and we’re lucky to live so close to it. I’ve been 4 times just in the last week, I’m really going to miss it & there doesn’t seem to be a replacement in Key Largo. Again, I’ll have to look a little harder over the winter. Maybe the roads in Pennekamp will be a good place to go for a jog and get some quiet time in nature. I’ll see.

• Ocean Access & Long Walks– this is only a small con for now…it seems that every neighborhood has a little community park with water access for launching SUPs, etc so again more time might solve this one too. We also love to go for long walks with our dogs and are lucky to have the beach and park where we live now. Everything seemed to just dead end from the main road leaving no where to walk a long distance.

• The Restaurants – most places were heavily mediocre. They were probably fairly edgy 40 years ago but they need to step up their game and stop relying on a beautiful view. We had a lot of very uninspired food & I’m hoping we just didn’t find the best spots due to our short trip.

Well, now that the pros and cons are all laid out the Keys are looking pretty damn good. See? That’s the beauty of the pro-con list exercise! I’m glad we’ll have the winter there to check it out in more detail and hopefully put some of those cons to rest while we’re there.

A little post thunderstorm treat one afternoon…

Till next time!

Warm Thoughts to All!