Keys Life – Week 10

Hi from the Keys! Week 10 already? I can’t believe a week from today we’ll be waking up in a hotel in Savannah on our way home. 10 weeks. It went by fast and slow at the same time. I love it here, we both do and neither of us wants to leave. I do miss a lot of things from home and once we move I think 10-12 weeks in will be the point we start planning a visit back home. Luckily my boss has said he’ll bring me on-site 4 weeks a year which is awesome! My other half also works from home he can join me on those weeks.

Things I’ll Miss:

I’ll really miss everything about our life here … but these are the top things that come to mind:

• Warm morning walks with my dogs listening to podcasts. I’ve started almost every morning here with a 2 mile walk. It’s such a nice way to start the day. I’ve been listening to Dear Sugar Radio lately, a classic advice column format with some tough love & objective, well thought out advice dished out by Cheryl Strayed (author of Wild) & Steve Almond. Check it out.
• Paddling in the mangroves & in the gorgeous, clear turquoise ocean. It’s so nice to paddle in clear water. We’ve seen a huge variety of life out there: rays (southern and spotted eagle), nurse sharks, barracudas, jellyfish, tons of birds, needle fish… and the list goes on.

• Key Largo Yoga – I love this studio, it’s so welcoming and laid back. My practice has definitely progressed leaps and bounds there this winter. Can’t wait to come back. If you’re in the upper Keys, drop in for a class!
• Being able to walk and bike to everything. Some weeks we move our car just a single time to grocery shop & I absolutely love that. At home we used to have “no car weekends” where we made it a point not to drive anywhere. Now that we work from home full-time and live somewhere so walk-able we’ve been able to seriously extend our no car periods. To give you some perspective, we haven’t used a full tank of gas in 10 weeks and that includes our day trips to Sombrero and checking out neighborhoods.
• Jacob’s Aquatic Center – I’ll really miss swimming on my lunch hour and after work. It’s awesome to have an outdoor pool in biking distance. I love seeing palm trees every time I take a breath.

• Sunsets! They never get old & every one is unique. I do my best thinking & reflecting by the ocean.

• Random wildlife like these two horseshoe crabs getting it on the other night.This was off the dock at Bayside – one of our favorite sunset spots and Yuengling for $2.25 till 7pm. The beer struggle down here is real people!

• Biking to Eco-Eats for lunch and eating it at a picnic table in the park. Call ahead to save time!
• Coffee on the lower deck in the morning & wine on the upper deck for sunset.
• All the quirky things you see and stories you hear down here. The other day a guy got off his motorcycle at Diver’s Direct with his pet macaw.
• The weather! It’s truly an endless summer here. We’ve been outside a good portion of every day for the past 10 weeks. Nothing is better to me!  The seasons here are really hot, hot & warm  – perfect 🙂
• The laid back attitude and vibe.
• Lunchtime runs to the ocean and back. What a great mid-day reset and the view is just amazing!

Things I Won’t Miss:

This is a really short list – I love this quirky, laid back rock…

• Crossing US 1. It’s definitely an adventure if you don’t live close to a crosswalk which we don’t. Right after work and holidays are of course the worst. If you’re planning to visit the Keys, please make sure you know which way you need to turn onto US 1! I can’t tell you how many people we’ve seen going in the wrong direction only to be greeted by headlights coming right at them at which point they pull off into the separated bike path – extremely dangerous for everyone. Double check the signs before you pull out!
• Smoke in bars and restaurants – enough said!
• The food! Someone really needs to open a good restaurant in Key Largo. You’ll make a killing.

What I’m looking forward to at home:

Some of these have been pretty constant trends in my posts but here they are all in one place!

• Seeing family and friends. I’m just not a good phone talker, never have been & I almost never make calls. Looking forward to catching up with everyone in person!
• My bed – the one in our rental house is from 1950 and there are springs popping up all over the place. Our rental is pretty shoddy all around. They say “furnished” I say “advanced camping.” The location is great though & the view is gorgeous.
• Seeing my dogs sweet faces when they go back to their doggy day care and greet their dog and human friends! They’re going to be really excited.
• Great beer – we’re lovers of good beer & a brewery opened a block from our house in an old fire station back in September. I didn’t realize how how lucky we were to be able to walk to awesome, small batch craft beer until we came to the beer dessert that is the Florida Keys. If you’re thinking of opening a brewery, do it in Key Largo – we’ll be friends for life 🙂
• The beach and the park. I’m looking forward to walking our favorite trails & to letting my little guy run free on the beach and seeing his cute smiley happy face while he runs as fast as he can! There aren’t many places here to let your dog run.

• Good food, particularly extremely spicy Indian food. Ohhh yeah…. gobi manchurians, paneer tikka masala, bhindi masala, mattar paneer, veg korma – YES PLEASE. With a side of chili garlic naan and a tall, cold beer.

 

We’re off to go for a final paddle through the mangroves & out to the ocean then to meet Big Betsy and shop for a few gifts to bring home.

Keys Rating is a 7 on week 10!

No where has it all but Key Largo has enough for us. See you later Key Largo! We’ll be back as soon as our house sells.

 

 

Until next time …

Warm thoughts to all!