With all the places I’ve been around the world, I’ve
actually never been to the Florida Keys (with the exception of covering a
tennis tournament on Key Biscayne). I’ve spent a lot of time in the Miami area,
but the timing just never worked out for me to extend the visit to the keys.
I was intrigued to get an email about visiting the “other
keys.” Frankly, I had no idea that Florida had “other keys,” but a little bit
of research led me to discover that there were some beautiful islands on the
west coast off Sarasota. The timing
worked and, with summer ending here, a beach trip sounded like a great idea.
I made arrangements to fly down and meet my friend Lynn for
yet another girls getaway. The itinerary had us doing everything from visiting
(what has been voted) the No. 1 beach in the U.S. to touring the Opera House,
but I was excited that first day to just arrive in time to catch some rays. My
previous trips had been jammed packed and my time at home limited so the idea
of actually laying on a lounge chair sounded like heaven.
The first resort we were staying at was the Lido Beach Resort on Lido Key. I had
arrived in Florida the night before to spend some time with my mom in the
Delray Beach area and then took the four hour drive there. I had made that trip
once before and Alligator Alley had been a bit swamp-like with no cell phone
service, but things had certainly changed and a new road (and plenty of 4G
followed me the whole way).
As I crossed over the bridge from Sarasota to Lido Key I was
immediately attracted to the blue waters and pristine palm trees. The resort itself
was also quite impressive and I loved the idea that the garage parking was a
very short (indoor) walk to our suite.
We had a suite with a fully-equipped kitchenette, large
bathroom and breathtaking views of the beach. It was a great place to call home for the next
few days.
Within the hour I was changed into my bathing suit and down
at the pool with Lynn with a drink in my hand, toasting to yet another
adventure to come. The weather was just perfect, sunny and in the 80s, and not as
humid as Florida often gets. We relaxed for a while before heading back up to
the room.
The original plan was to go downtown for dinner, but we
opted instead to stay in, ordering a veggie-filled pizza from room service. They also had some of our favorite wine on the
menu. A Kendall Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon and a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
showed up at our door just in time to watch the sunset and think about
exploring Florida’s Western Keys.
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