The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow...

You can bet your bottom dollar is how it goes I think. So here we are in “Sunny” Florida. It was raining when we crossed the state line and continued to be gloomy if it was not pouring rain for the first 3 days of the week we were there. But that’s ok, it gave us a good reason to relax and do nothing for awhile. The temperature though was hot and humid of course. I’m not sure why they have the slogan “the sunshine state”. I guess it just sounds better than “the hot and humid state”.

Fort Lauderdale – We decided to make Fort Lauderdale our Florida home base. Mainly because we have friends there but also because it has lots of interesting RV parks to pick from. I picked out what looked like a nice place, called them for a reservation and was quite disappointed. “We don’t guarantee pull-throughs” was the response I got. So I decided to rethink our selection. I prefer a pull-through because it is much easier to park than backing in and well my backup skills are still “improving”. Later in the day I asked Mellie to call them back. “Oh you need a pull-through? Sure we can save one for you, no problem.” Must be that female charm. So that is how we ended up in Paradise Island RV Resort.

Anyone Want Sticky Fingers? Oh, before I forget again, we visited a barbeque place in South Carolina called Sticky Fingers. The fact that I forgot to put it in the blog should not reflect on the quality and enjoyment we had sampling Carolina style barbeque. This place had it all, ribs, brisket, chicken and it could all be ordered “wet” or “dry”. They have six different types of sauce to boot. We had a hard time deciding what to order so ended up with a sampler platter for two. If that was not enough it came with free home made peach cobbler (topped with ice cream of course). Out of all of the combinations I think my favorite was dry rubbed ribs with the Carolina sauce. Carolina sauce is kind of like Memphis style but is made sweet. So Carolina style barbeque is officially in the running, no decisions yet though on the winner.

Going South, Way South - We wanted to savor a taste of tropical living, Florida style, so it was off to Key West for a couple of days. It would be the first time during our trip that we would stay somewhere other than our RV (I did not want to pull the trailer down to the Keys over miles and miles of bridges, with it still being hurricane season it seemed too risky). So we picked one of the most famous Key West resorts - Casa Marina Resort. Nestled on the island's southern edge - spanning more than 1,100 feet of private beach - our historic, Mediterranean-style accommodations provided a luxurious hideaway (not sure what we are hiding from but it was fun!). Listed in the National Register for Historic Places, this landmark resort has attracted business tycoons, artists, dignitaries and vacationer like us since the 1920s. Imagine this ··· basking on the private beach among soaring palms trees, blooming native flowers, and sweeping ocean views with a warm gentle breeze. Paradise found! Besides lounging on the beach, a morning dip in the warm ocean water and lots of tourist shopping, we had one of the most memorable dinners to date. Since we are in a five star hotel I felt we should take advantage of their services, so the concierge was invaluable in steering us away from the “tourist trap” restaurants to one of the best family owned establishments on the island, Camille’s Restaurant. The fresh fish was prepared to perfection and the service was great too. But a perfect dinner in Key West would not be complete without finishing it off with Key Lime Pie, yummy!

Road Revelation #21 – Splurge once in awhile. Sometimes you have to put the old budget concerns aside and just go for it. Life is too short to miss out on sampling some of the real pleasures life has to offer, be it a five star hotel, an excellent dinner or the free sundown celebration we attended on the west facing beach near old town Key West. Ah yes, life is good when you splurge.