The thing about the Florida Keys is that the beautiful spots are very well hidden. The best beaches you can find in private resorts. The highway itself is a bridge over  the open sea at some points and, yes, it’s interesting to see and experience, but there is really absolutely nothing exciting going on! As I mentioned in a previous post, the distances are not to be underestimated and with the strict speed limits of the American highways, this journey seemed endlessly long to me!

So if you happen to visit Florida and have limited time or patience but still want to travel south, I would definitely recommend a drive to Islamorada! It’s not so far away from Miami and has some wonderful paradise spots! We made a stop for a refreshing drink at Morada Bay. This may have been the time I felt the most relaxed throughout the whole vacation! It’s the best place to recharge your batteries!

The beach, the music – it’s just picture perfect!

But our destination was Key West and after an eternity we found ourselves in front of the Southernmost Point…but there was a waiting line to take a photo with it! A long, long waiting line! There are a lot of monuments and attractions all over the world, where you have no choice but to wait for a long time to see and enjoy them and it’s so worth the wait! But there are others where it is a total waste of time and they’ve become one of those places travellers stay away from. We were so extremely tired from the drive that we had absolutely no intention to waste hours waiting… so we took a quick look at it from the car and thought “there must be something else to do or see here!”
But since the weather was so nice we decided to look for a beach! Well, it didn’t really go as planned. Apparently, we were driving in the wrong direction but as it often happens on an adventure, we found a coast and a beach.

Not just any beach, but one where you can take a nice walk… with your dog! It was so funny and cute and there was also a botanic garden, which was so beautiful and had the most interesting cactuses! I had never seen anything like this before! For better or worse we were almost the only visitors. It was really calm and we could enjoy it peacefully and apart from that the entry fee (which by the way was pretty inexpensive) is a donation to keep all these incredible plants alive. So if you happen to be in Key West, pay them a visit and support this pretty place!

We then had dinner in the city centre and went for a little walk afterwards. The main street is very touristy and all about the fun (it was spring break at the time,  need I say more?!) but the small streets on the left and right were pretty amazing! I was fascinated with the cute houses and villas. This is exactly how I always imagined the South reading Margaret Mitchell when I was younger!

I am glad we spent a day at the Florida Keys and the most beautiful and undoubtedly my favourite was Islamorada!