The next day we headed further down the keys to Key West - the farthest south you can go in the continental US! Here was a piece of the (old) famous 7 mile bridge:
We decided to explore Zachary Taylor Park, where we had a picnic lunch:
We wandered the fort...
And then decided to hit the beach to swim:
We found a sign for the renamed Gulf of America:
And also saw lots of wildlife:
Roosters roam all around Key West!
We took an afternoon break at our hotel for the evening: The Laureate - also Hemingway-themed.
(Bunny ears on this manatee - it was Easter!)
And spent more time swimming:
Then we wandered Key West:
We passed Hemingway's Key West house:
And the Smallest Bar:
We got some food at the Conch Cafe:
And we stopped at the Southernmost point:
Then we went to Mallory Square for their sunset celebration:
We wandered around to find more Key Lime Pie! Then we headed back to the hotel for bed because we had an early morning the next day!
For spring break this year we went to Florida. We wanted to get out of the cold - this winter has had so much ice and snow (but not even really the fun kind) that we planned to head south. We wanted to check out the National Parks down that way to continue our streak of family National Park trips.
On the way there, we miraculously got an entire row to ourselves!
The kids were pretty tired once we arrived and slept in the car as we started driving down the keys.
Then we hit Islamorada! We were staying on a houseboat that night (much to Chris' chagrin, though he was the one who booked it).
The place we stayed, Treasure Harbor, was such a little gem! They had hammocks and swings, old school video games, and coffee.
The kids immediately hit up the pool when we arrived.
They loved the cozy little space. Ben, Rosie, and Jane slept up in the loft (which they called a "fla") and Eleanor got a bed to herself.
We stayed in the Hemingway, which sort of turned into a theme of our trip.
We were visited by a manatee! My favorite part!
We had dinner and morning coffee on the back deck of the boat:
And Chris went out and found us some key lime pie (which everyone tried but mostly only Eleanor and I liked).
This was such a sweet and fun place - wish we had stayed longer!
