We were all excited about spring break...a trip to the Florida Keys! It was rough that Lee's ankle was badly sprained, but he managed and we had a great trip. We were excited to drive all the way down to Key West and go to the southern most point in the United States.
Proof that Shanna had fun with the spare boot.
Our first stop in Florida! We stopped at a beach to find shark teeth. We were behind schedule, didn't stay long and didn't find any shark teeth.
We camped at the state park in St. Augustine. I wish we would have stayed a couple more days.
The beach at the state park.
Cal and his creation of the Ooki Nooki Frog
Ahhh, palm trees are the best!
The next day after breakfast and packing up (we camped the entire time) we visited Castillo San Marcos in St. Augustine. What a neat, old structure!
This is what the walls are made of.....shells!
We didn't stay long at the fort. The gnats or whatever they were, were too much! We headed down to St. George street. The old downtown in St. Augustine is soooo cute! We ate lunch at Prohibition Kitchen.
Too bad we would miss out on this concert!
Lee's burger was even branded!
St. George street!
Fun sink at the Prohibition Kitchen!
We headed out of St. Augustine down to the Everglades. Clark got to drive in Miami the night before! First we headed to the marina area and some some manatees. They were hard to see as they wouldn't come to the water surface very often.
We walked along the Anhinga Trail in hopes to see some alligators and weren't disappointed!
We saw some other fun wildlife as well.
We camped at the Flamingo Campground at the Everglades State Park. That afternoon we hung out, played and visited. Very relaxing! A tree near our campsite had these interesting pods on it. One of the kids cracked it open and found a lot of seeds. The kids were also playing catch that afternoon. A football got stuck in the tree and Clark and Elden tried for a very long time to get it out. They even used a coconut, throwing it into the tree to try and get the football down. No luck. Finally they did get it down. It was one of Elden's favorite parts of the trip!
Game night that night. Clark, Elden and Haley played scum.
Cal, Lee, Shanna and I played Cal's card game. I loved the cards that had the headless bunnies and the gossip cats.
Yes, Lee was still hobbling along in a lot of pain the entire time. Poor guy.
After our brief Everglade stay it was on to the Florida Keys!!! We saw a Robert Is Here and had to stop!
We made it to Key West! We had fun staying at the very expensive campground, Boyd's Key West Campground. I've never spent that much in my life on two night campground stay! But it was cheaper than a hotel. They amenities were nice though. After unpacking it was a trip to the pool.
Very windy in Key West!
That evening a trip was in order to Smather's Beach. I thought it was so sweet seeing this older couple get married that evening. I loved seeing ALL the retired couples everywhere in Key West. So sweet seeing them hold hands, riding around together.
Never ate here, but fun! Shanna Key!
The next day was our bike ride to the southern most point in the United States. Lee loved that we rode bikes--he felt like he could get around! Cal had fun taking some morning shots with a few siblings.
Iguanas at the campground.
Oh a bit random, but my kids loved seeing this supped-up truck at the campground.
Wonder how much properties are in Key West?!
The Blue Angels had an airshow that weekend and we saw the planes several times.
Beautiful water.
Ernest Hemmingway's House.
We made it to the southern most point! And were greeted with a line a people also waiting to snap pictures.
We ate at the Blue Heaven Cafe. Very fun and eclectic. We loved the ping-pong table. There was a long wait, so glad it there was something to do.
Even Lee played! A hurt ankle doesn't stop him at ping-pong!
Seeing a few more sites riding around Key West.
We took another trip to Smather's Beach.
That evening we headed out for ice cream.
A little late night swim!
At the campground there were lots of RVs. One of the had this popcorn machine out. Loved it!
Goodnight Key West. We loved being there!
Our last stop before heading home was the Ft. Lauderdale Temple. Lee took the kids in for baptisms.
Elden and I hung out and found the cornerstore.
Clark left his sunglasses in the tent and they had a sad death.
Thanks Florida! Till next time!!!
