One of the pros of not doing daycare right now, is the ability to take a vacation whenever it works for Justin’s schedule. We haven’t done a vacation just the 2 of us since June of 2021 so it was long overdue and much needed. Thanks to my Incredible Mama, we were able to leave the kiddos worry free and head to FL for some warmth and sunshine (although, not as much as we’d hoped)!
We flew out of Minneapolis on a Thursday morning and were in Miami, by 2pm. Our first stop, well, after grabbing towels and sunscreen at CVS and a couple of sandwiches from Joes & the Juice (which were delicious), was the beach. It was sunny and warm compared to the -25 we left in WI. We stayed until the sun started to set and it got a little chilly with the breeze and started making our way to Homestead, FL where we had decided to stay for the night. Traffic was nuts on the way out of Miami but we’re pretty good at rolling with the punches on road trips, especially when we don’t have 3 little beings to worry about. Got to Homestead and grabbed some dinner at Cracker Barrel, a favorite no matter where we are traveling.
Friday morning, we woke up and grabbed the hotel continental breakfast. We stopped at a place called “Robert is here”. It was this fantastic roadside stand with fruits, veggies, the biggest avocados I’ve ever seen, jams, and delicious smoothies and milkshakes. They also had a little farm out back where all these animals share a pen together in harmony. It was kind of beautiful and I wish Humans did a better job of living with diversity like these animals do. I’ll post pics below. We then started our way down to Marathon, FL where we had booked a hotel to stay for the next 3 nights. We made lots of stops along the way and realized too late, that we should have taken advantage of the 1/2 day fishing charter when we could because by the afternoon the wind had picked up all over and either boats weren’t going out or it wouldn’t have been much fun to be on one. All our water adventures that we had wanted to do went out the window for this trip, but it just makes it a great reason to go back! One of the places we stopped was Robbie’s. Great place to shop for souvenirs, feed the Tarpan (watch out for the Pelicans, it’s just like in Finding Nemo, “Mine, Mine, Mine, MIne”, or go out in a glass bottom boat and I believe other water sports. They also have a restaurant there but we didn’t eat so not sure how good the food is. Another stop we made, and hopefully, I’m remembering this correctly, has a huge 30 ft. lobster outside of it and then there’s all these great little artists shops with an area in the middle that was so peaceful and serene. We made it to the Courtyard Marriott in Marathon late afternoon. Now typically, we stay in pretty cheap hotels/motels on our road trips, but cheap isn’t really a thing by the Keys (hence the reason we stayed in Marathon and not on Key West and I’m so glad we made that choice); but this hotel was gorgeous and we will absolutely be going back…hopefully annually. There’s 2 pools (one an infinity looking out over the water), a beach, hammocks, Adirondack chairs, fire pits, hot tub, game area, movie area, bikes to rent and a bar with food by the pool, plus a Starbucks/bistro inside that’s open in the morning. Our view of the lighthouse and a bit of water was beautiful. We were also very impressed with the cleanliness and service at this hotel. We got changed and went for a swim and some hot tub soaking before going back up to get ready for dinner at FL Keys Steak and Lobster restaurant. The food was superb and I highly recommend going and making a reservation. It’s a busy place. Justin got the seafood platter (Mahi Mahi, crab cakes, shrimp and scallops…all delicious) and I got the steak and lobster…also delicious. Plus, the have amazing homemade bread that they bring out to you. I’d go back tonight if I could!
Saturday morning we woke up to lots of wind! It was sunny but very windy on our side. We grabbed a coffee for me and then headed out for a little exploring. We found this great beach (Sombrero Beach) that was getting a new playground while we were there and it was way less windy on the gulf side so I got a little bit of sunning in while Justin walked the beach. Later on, we grabbed sandwiches at this Deli/liqour store right in Marathon and sat out on the patio at the hotel to eat. The sandwiches were great and reminded me of being back in CT where there are deli’s everywhere! After that, we got ready and headed to Key West.
Now, there was a big reason why we chose the Keys over other areas on our want to go to list and that is because, for those of you that don’t know, I spent 12 years on the East Coast as a nanny. 10 of those years were with the same family and in that family were 3 kids, the youngest of whom, I was there from the time he came home from the hospital until right before he turned 7 when I moved back to WI. Well, now he’s all grown up and graduated from the Coast Guard Academy last May and his first station is in Key West. Lucky for us, he wasn’t out at sea for the time we were able to come down.
We took a beautiful drive over the 7 mile bridge (amazing btw) to Key West. D couldn’t meet us right away so we did lots of walking while we waited to meet up with him for dinner and the Packer game. We walked to the Mile 0 sign which is the start of Highway 1 that goes all the way up the East Coast and also took a walk to the southern most point where there was a gigantic line to take a picture with the buoy so that’s why the pictures we took are on the side without the words. We stopped and did some shopping for the kids souvenirs and just checked it all out. We met up with D and his roommate at about 7 at Pickles Pub. Great place to watch sports and it was packed and crazy in there. Soooo many Packer Fans which was awesome to see. Too bad it didn’t out how we hoped. Service and food was good too there so we recommend it for sure. We then took a very late night ride back over the 7 mile bridge which is actually a little nerve wracking in the dark. In the day, there were several memorials along route 1, especially closer to the Keys, as a reminder that you need to be really careful driving.
Sunday was another windy day spent going from sunny to cloudy. Right next to our hotel in Marathon was a Turtle Hospital. It’s a fantastic story of how it came to be and well worth the money to do the educational tour. It took about 90 minutes and was a fun way to spend midday. We then stopped at a restaurant called “Sunset Bar and Grill”. They have Sunday Funday from I believe 1-5pm. They have a pool in their patio that you can swim in, they had a DJ, they were doing a corn hole tournament and they had a great food. I got the bang bang shrimp (highly recommend) and some sushi and Justin had soup and a burger which was also fantastic. There was also this awesome older lady there that got out on the dance floor all on her own and was just living it up! It brought me such joy to watch her having fun and letting go out there and I made sure to tell her before we left. After lunch, we headed back to Key West. We didn’t do any tours while we were there but we walked around and enjoyed the Harbor area and some more great smoothies from Cuban Coffee before meeting back up with D for dinner. After dinner, D took us to his Coast Guard boat and gave us a tour. I am so in awe of the fact that he drives that thing and am so immensely proud of him. It’s because of D and his siblings that I knew, without a doubt, that I would be able to love any child we adopted like they were biologically mine. Their family is so, so special to me!!!
Monday morning, we unfortunately had to get up and pack to go home. We took a quick walk back over to the Turtle Hospital because I had forgotten to get a pick of the Turtle ambulance and then we headed back over to Sunset Grill for an early lunch before heading back to Miami. I had the bang bang shrimp again, Justin had soup and we split a cheeseburger and fries. We then made our way back to Miami. Along the way, Justin realized he forgot his credit card at the restaurant but at that point, we didn’t have time to turn back, our flight was delayed (but did end up getting out earlier than they thought), and when we got to Minneapolis is took us probably an hour and a lot of good samaritans to help us get to where they pick you up for the quick ride ramp…could that airport be more confusing?! But here’s the thing that I love about traveling with Justin, especially if it’s just the two of us, there’s usually no real frustration with the obstacles. In fact, we usually tend to find a way to laugh about it.
I can’t tell you how much we needed this time together. Along with physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellness, I need to add marriage wellness to the list of things to work on this year. Often times, when you get several years into the marriage, and you add in kids, in our case, 3 of them, all with their own trauma, 1 with Autism and one unable to get a diagnosis but still has certain aspects of it, your marriage gets put on the back burner. Having time to talk whenever we wanted without interruption and time to just be still with each other, well, I’m just full of gratitude that we were able to get that when we needed it.
I hope you all are having a great 1st month of the year. I hope you’re still working towards whatever resolutions, goals or word you chose for 2024. Stay tuned for my end of the month post in a few days summarizing what I did this month to work towards my goals.
Cheers,
Dawn
Running Towards Wellness 
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