Always Leave the Keys EARLY! A Cautionary Tale.

Ahh - Island time! It is a gentle breeze that wafts over you as you cross your first bridge off the mainland and into the Florida Keys. For a moment, the kids stop screaming "are we there yet" - they know we have ARRIVED! Even if we're going to be in the car for 3 more hours!!! The crystal blue water surrounding you and your tow vehicle is mezmerizing and so you finally begin to relax and stop cursing the pioneers that decided Florida should be a super skinny, but super long state.

We headed south to Sunshine Key, a caravan from Delray Beach. In tow were, the VanSants - always first to arrive and then continually calling "are you here yet?". This is the perfect compliment to the kids (see their song above).

Then Travaglino II, + my mom. And pulling up the rear, Travaglino the originals. The purpose of our pilgrimage to the tropics was Blaise's 5th birthday.

When we arrived we were pelted by blood crazed mosquitos. This is always the best conditions for setup. After driving 4 hours, there's nothing better than handling the sewage system while being assaulted by insects. I could tell Chris was loving it, just by his tone of voice.

The next morning, we headed to Bahia Hondo State Park. The crystal blue water was warmer than a Poconos jacuzzi, but it was wet which was the only criteria necessary for survival at this point. It was a great beach all in all and I would really like to go back and explore it in the cooler month (no, not a typo - there's only one).

That night, we partied "'til we were purple" at a great tiki bar called Boondocks. The staff there was so accomodating - they even had a kids table set up for us. The food was good, the company was great and Blaise even got a train for his birthday! What more could you ask for?

The next day we decided to melt, I mean head to the Dolphin Research Center. What a great place! Like everything in the Keys, its very unstructured, but rich in diversity and educational opportunities. We roamed the entire facility, checking out dolphins, sea lions and interesting factoids. The boys and my mom squeezed in a dolphin encounter and we ended our trip with a dancing dolphin show. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.

From the DRC, we headed south to the Keys Fishery for a delicious and affordable dinner.

As always, the sunsets in the Keys are majestic and we were able to experience a weekend full. Everything was working out beautifully until...

We awoke Sunday morning to a flurry of activity at the VanSants site next to ours. With one bleary eye open and my head still firmly planted on my pillow, I watched them buzz around their camper like a swarm of bees, preparing the hive for the departure of the queen.

I am, of course, accustomed to this behavior, because as I said before, they are ALWAYS FIRST. Travaglino's, the original and II, lounged around, took a final swim in the pool and finally headed out of the campground at around 11:30am. WHAT A MISTAKE! VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY Long story; short: 12 hours, a $75 ticket and an unsanctioned nap at John Pennekamp park... later - we finally arrived in our driveway.