Steve_Warner
06-21-2003, 04:06 AM
Hi all,
Well, I 'm back from my trip and let me start by saying..........DAMN, it was hot and humid. I almost melted away, but barely made it. ;D We flew into Miami and rented a car(vert) to drive to our destinations(Key West and Little Palm Island). Upon our EARLY arrival (4pm-scheduled at 4:15pm) into Miami, we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours, 10 feet from our gate. Why, you ask...........There was a lightning storm within 5 miles of the airport and they told us that they weren't allowed to dock at the ramp until it was outside the 5-mile range ??? (new one for me) Anyway, this put us 2 hours behind schedule >:(, so I got to drive down the Keys in the dark and didn't see squat >:( >:( We arrived in Key West at about 11:30pm and were dead tired, so we checked in and went to bed. The next day, we hung out at the hotel pool and beach. I went to get in the beautiful ocean to refresh myself and the water was 90 degrees :shocked: Totally unacceptable for the ocean! We had some great food while there and went to a place called Shula's one night. What an excellent dinner we had there. I had Grouper, the wife had a huge steak and we did the sharing deal. Our desert was an order of Creme Brulee and it was the biggest one I've ever seen in my life. Ya know we had to take a pic(not digital, though). Well, we basically just relaxed in Key West for a few days, then packed up the ride and drove to meet the boat to "Fantasy Island".....I mean Little Palm Island ;D I swear I thought Tattoo was going to greet us at the dock when we arrived at the island. It was a nice place, but kinda isolated. We had a nice hut with a view of the Gulf from our balcony and a view of a discus pond ;D from our bedroom. Boy, what I could do with a nice pond like that! One of the days, I took a snorkel trip out to a place called Looe Key, 5 miles offshore. I had been briefed about the wildlife out there, but was really impressed by what I saw. There were 200-pound Tarpon cruisin' around with me, as well as 4-foot Baracuda :yikes: I also saw 2 spotted Eagle Rays the size of a VW bug and I bumped into a nice little jellyfish, but we went our separate ways, before getting intimate ;D I didn't get to see any Black tip reef sharks, though :( Back on the island, there are these deer called Key deer, which are an endangered species. I guess they swam over there(3 miles) and swim all around the keys. It was a very weird site to see a deer staring at you while swimming in the pool. There was one particular dude named Kenny, who had the routine down to a science! He would come right up to your table at lunch or dinner time and bat those big, brown eyes at you to reel ya in! I really liked him and we talked quite a few times ;) There were also big green Iguanas cruisin around the place, feeding on all the luscious vegetation there......oh, and the occasional Terradactyl-size mosquito! The only thing was that this place is for people who want to REALLY get away from it all, as there ain't much to do! There are no TV's, Phones, clocks, etc. My wife really relaxed while I searched and searched for discus in the ponds ;D I did get to see game 5 of the NBA finals on the ONE TV in the game room, so that made it bearable! ;D All in all, it was a fun trip and I wish I would've got to spend more time exploring the state. I especially would've liked to explore the Everglades......maybe with the Croc hunter! I've attached some pics for all.
Steve
Well, I 'm back from my trip and let me start by saying..........DAMN, it was hot and humid. I almost melted away, but barely made it. ;D We flew into Miami and rented a car(vert) to drive to our destinations(Key West and Little Palm Island). Upon our EARLY arrival (4pm-scheduled at 4:15pm) into Miami, we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours, 10 feet from our gate. Why, you ask...........There was a lightning storm within 5 miles of the airport and they told us that they weren't allowed to dock at the ramp until it was outside the 5-mile range ??? (new one for me) Anyway, this put us 2 hours behind schedule >:(, so I got to drive down the Keys in the dark and didn't see squat >:( >:( We arrived in Key West at about 11:30pm and were dead tired, so we checked in and went to bed. The next day, we hung out at the hotel pool and beach. I went to get in the beautiful ocean to refresh myself and the water was 90 degrees :shocked: Totally unacceptable for the ocean! We had some great food while there and went to a place called Shula's one night. What an excellent dinner we had there. I had Grouper, the wife had a huge steak and we did the sharing deal. Our desert was an order of Creme Brulee and it was the biggest one I've ever seen in my life. Ya know we had to take a pic(not digital, though). Well, we basically just relaxed in Key West for a few days, then packed up the ride and drove to meet the boat to "Fantasy Island".....I mean Little Palm Island ;D I swear I thought Tattoo was going to greet us at the dock when we arrived at the island. It was a nice place, but kinda isolated. We had a nice hut with a view of the Gulf from our balcony and a view of a discus pond ;D from our bedroom. Boy, what I could do with a nice pond like that! One of the days, I took a snorkel trip out to a place called Looe Key, 5 miles offshore. I had been briefed about the wildlife out there, but was really impressed by what I saw. There were 200-pound Tarpon cruisin' around with me, as well as 4-foot Baracuda :yikes: I also saw 2 spotted Eagle Rays the size of a VW bug and I bumped into a nice little jellyfish, but we went our separate ways, before getting intimate ;D I didn't get to see any Black tip reef sharks, though :( Back on the island, there are these deer called Key deer, which are an endangered species. I guess they swam over there(3 miles) and swim all around the keys. It was a very weird site to see a deer staring at you while swimming in the pool. There was one particular dude named Kenny, who had the routine down to a science! He would come right up to your table at lunch or dinner time and bat those big, brown eyes at you to reel ya in! I really liked him and we talked quite a few times ;) There were also big green Iguanas cruisin around the place, feeding on all the luscious vegetation there......oh, and the occasional Terradactyl-size mosquito! The only thing was that this place is for people who want to REALLY get away from it all, as there ain't much to do! There are no TV's, Phones, clocks, etc. My wife really relaxed while I searched and searched for discus in the ponds ;D I did get to see game 5 of the NBA finals on the ONE TV in the game room, so that made it bearable! ;D All in all, it was a fun trip and I wish I would've got to spend more time exploring the state. I especially would've liked to explore the Everglades......maybe with the Croc hunter! I've attached some pics for all.
Steve