Anyone want to go to The Florida Keys?

   I first must welcome back any people returning to my blog with a thank you for continuing to follow along. I also want to welcome those of you checking in for the first time. I started writing this back in 2024 to hopefully share and help average people take memorable vacations and short trips. My wife and I love to travel and have always gone on trips within 5 to 8 hours drive from our Alabama home, with a few exceptions flying on a few occasions over the last 23 years. Many of our favorite places, we have been many times on long weekends.

   Starting with our 20th anniversary trip in 2023 to Maine and after I had retired, I had plenty of time to plan. We spent 13 days there, 7 days in South Dakota in 2024, and a week in Reno and Yosemite in 2025. This year is 2026 and in a week we are going to The Florida Keys.

   If you have read my blog before you know we plan early and pay as we go to keep from running up a large amount of credit card debt. Instead we pay for these vacations over a period of 6 months or so, which works out very well. We start in January listing 3 or 4 places we want to go. We decide from there, where we are going, how long we will stay and what we want to see and do. My wife’s last day of work is Friday June 5th of this year, so the travel may become more often.

   Now, we have chosen the Florida Keys, a 125 mile stretch on The Overseas Highway. We decided to do June and lined our son up to house sit. We researched air, hotel, rental cars, and things to do. We then compared prices we find versus packages on travel sites. This time our best deal was a package deal on Expedia. We got airline tickets, hotel, and rental car. They had a non stop flight from our hometown in Birmingham, Al to Miami, Fl and a non stop back.

   We plan on going to several of the Keys; Key Largo, Islamora, Marathon Key, Long Key, Pine Key, and Key West. Therefore we chose a hotel somewhere in the middle of the stretch to cut down on some of the driving back and forth. We settled on Lime Tree Bay Resort. We plan to go from Miami to Homestead to The Everglades, to our resort on Tuesday after landing early. Then it will be easy drives south a couple of days, a chill day, and then a couple of days to the northern part of the Keys.

   We have several things planned at each stop we make and of course the different unique shops, sights, and wildlife the area has to offer. There are many things to do and see from beaches, historic places, exotic birds, snorkeling, kayaking, deep sea fishing, and museums. Remember Darlene and I are foodies, so be sure to hear of the different restaurants and cultural samplings we taste on this blog in a week or so. If you enjoy or like reading these trip ideas or hearing about vacations, please tell your friends. We will see you from The Florida Keys in a little over a week