Wrapping up the Last Hurrah

Well, it is Saturday night- the last evening of our vacation before this little turkey is born. We have had an amazing time and really have gotten to relax. I think this is the most active we have ever been on a beach vacation, though. Besides all of our water-sporting, we must have walked 50 miles or more this week around the island. Goodness! We have walked EVERYWHERE!

We ended up getting detoured a little bit for the Dry Tortugas day trip. There are 2 companies here that make the trip out there every day and the one we picked ($50 cheaper) happened to blow an engine about 30 minutes into the trip Wednesday morning. Luckily the boat had one engine left that was able to get us back to "the Bight". We had to go on the more expensive boat the next day. But, we did get a free sunset sail trip that night for our trouble- so that was pretty awesome. We enjoyed watching the infamous Key West sunset from a boat perspective and Bryan got to drink free booze! Yay! And I got to drink free gingerale!

Here's my belly compared to the sun setting on the horizon- it's huge!

The Dry Tortugas trip was interesting. The main island has a huge fort built upon it. It is the largest manmade brick structure in the western hemisphere. The impressive thing is that it was all constructed by hand and that there is absolutely NO fresh water anywhere on the islands. It sounded like a pretty miserable experience in paradise(?). For a little history lesson and to see the islands click here. We enjoyed the boat ride-2 hours each way-and the snorkeling around the island. It was pretty interesting being in such a remote area and knowing that civilization was so far away. There was really NOTHING on the island other than the fort. The snorkeling was good but we both had expected more fish. I didn't have the stamina to snorkel out way far into the ocean so I think we missed a little bit because of that. But, overall the adventure of it was just fun. I've realized that I am a pretty adventurous girl for being 6 months pregnant!




On to the food: After eating a few so-so meals, we decided to start following the recommendations of our innkeepers. They have compiled a short list of places that are off the beaten path of Duval Street (the main road in Old Town Key West). The first place we tried,Ricky's Blue Heaven, was an instant hit with me. I was sold the second we sat down and I saw baby chickens and their mommas running around the outdoor area where we were seated. So cute! The atmosphere was quirky and fun and the food turned out to be amazing. I had a Key West Pink Shrimp melt made on their homemade bread. It was really, really good! Since I can't imbibe these days, the food has gotta be good. We got to try out a few other spots on the list over the next few days and all turned out to be spot on. Bryan had a Key Lime Pie Martini last night that was so good we wrote down all of the ingredients to try to recreate it at home. That was at a place called Camille's. Can't wait to drink one post-baby!

This morning we ventured out for our final water sport- kayaking. We went on an eco-tour through a mangrove and on the open ocean with a small group and guide. It was pretty neat. Bryan did most of the paddling (thanks, babe!) so I felt like a little princess in the front of the kayak. We got to see all kinds of ocean creatures and even hold them. I didn't squeal once. Not even when I held a sea cucumber or a sea urchin. The mangroves were beautiful. They have little "rivers" that run through them where you can kayak and see all of the little animals that are living in there.

Well, I am getting sleepy so I'll have to finish this later. Here's some coconut ice cream in a coconut for your midnight-snack viewing pleasure. It was tasty in case you were curious! It is only one of nine hundred desserts I've eaten on this vacation. Most of the others were Key Lime Pie. Night-night!