Meeting Friends in Miami

The day after Christmas it was time to hit the road again. Key West is amazing, but we were meeting friends in Miami. So we drove all the way back up the Keys 138 miles to Larry & Penny State Park. I had a pretty hard time figuring out where to stay while we were in Miami. It's a huge city and there aren't many (non-ghetto) options. If you are ever in the area, the state park is for sure the way to go.

There was some pretty serious weather happening around this time - not where we were - but Porter's friend and his mom ended up getting stuck in Texas. They had been scheduled to arrive on the 27th, but didn't get in until the evening of the 28th. Yuck. Seriously, what is it with air travel these days?!

Porter was beyond excited to spend time with Tristan though, so I drove him into downtown and he stayed the night with them. The next morning they all went deep sea fishing and had a blast, although we did find out that Porter gets sea-sick (not a blast).

Porter and the fishing charter guy with P's fish

After they were done fishing, Hudson and me met up with them at the Everglades Holiday Park. Honestly, I couldn't believe how busy it was! I guess we were there during "Christmas Break" time of year, but wow.

I make this look good

We went on a jet boat ride through the Everglades and saw lots of fun things.

This cute little guy swam RIGHT NEXT to the boat

Another picture?

Why does Porter look so OLD?

The next day we headed back down the Keys. I love them, but holy traffic! It took us double the GPS estimate. Apparently everyone had the same idea as us :) We stopped over at Robbie's Tarpon Feeding. I don't know about you, but I'd never heard of a "tarpon". It's a really, really big fish. For a couple of dollars you get a bucket full of fish parts and you can stand on the dock and feed them. It was really fun, those fish are super serious about getting fed!

After feeding the fish, we decided to have a quick bite to eat at too. The Hungry Tarpon is an outdoor restaurant that overlooks the water and is part of where the fish feeding is. We sat down and had a drink but ended up having to get our food to go.

The entire reason we had come down was to hit up Seamonkeys Watersports in Islamorada. Porter had wanted to go snorkeling for his birthday, but we decided to wait until he could go with Tristan.

So ready

The water was CRAZY choppy that day. We went a few miles out to where there is a reef and there was 3-4 foot waves. Let me just preface all this by telling you that have a pretty good fear of the water. I can swim, but there's always a small amount of panic happening if I can't touch the ground.

When we first got in the water? I pretty much knew that I was going to die. Seriously. I made the guide hold my hand for a good 15 minutes before I could get myself in check.

But after I did? Wow. Just, wow.

One of the pics Porter got with his GoPro

Even with a near panic attack? It was so, so worth it. And to watch Hudson, who has a good bit of my wariness for the water, snorkel around and enjoy it? Amazing. 

That night Porter stayed over at the hotel again, and the rest of us just relaxed.

So tired you guys

On the 31st it was time for us to start traveling again. I wanted to see the Southbeach Boardwalk so I arranged to pick up Porter there. It was pretty, but packed.

Not that you can tell from this picture

Goodbyes are the worst

Porter was super bummed to have to say goodbye, but was so very happy for the time with his friend.

A Trip Down to the Keys

I love tropical places, so I was really excited on December 21st when we made it down to Longkey, Florida. It was a 158 miles over to the Fiesta Key RV Resort. Plus, its a Passport America campground - so 50% off our two night stay!

Not to shabby

An added bonus was that there was another full=timing family there so the boys got to play with some other kids at the pool!

On the 23rd we hopped back on the road to make it to our ultimate Keys destination - Boyd's Campground in Key West. It's only another 66 miles, and thankfully for us the roads were clear, but let me tell you - if there is any kind of accident the traffic backs up. The North bound lanes were at a standstill most of the time we headed South.

Have I died and gone to heaven?

Now, this is no Passport America resort. You pay for the location. You pay a lot. But it's good to splurge every so often, you know? And for me? This spot was so very worth it. And the weather? Amazing. And the scenery? Unforgetable.

The first night we were there, we strolled just down the road for some gluten free pizza goodness at Roostica. An aptly named place considering the number of wild roosters that stroll by you everywhere in Key West.

Emma likes to go out too!

Another thing about the Keys that we all really enjoyed were the wild Iguanas. Some of these guys are just HUGE. And they are everywhere! This one was right by the Beaver, and there was another one just around the corner at the same time.

How you doin'?

I was really excited for another Groupon great find - a 90 minute private sail around the keys with Sunset Sail Key West on the morning of Christmas Eve. We've been throwing around the idea of eventually doing the same thing we're doing with an RV, but on a sail boat. So this was a great introduction to sailing for the boys. It was an amazing experience, one I don't think any of us will forget.

Does this remind anyone else of an 80's movie?

The RV resort really got into the spirit and even stuff a poor old couple into costumes - in the 80+ degree weather! It was cute though, they rode around on the back of a golf cart handing out candy.

Hudson was wary though

We continued our Christmas Eve tradition of Chinese food for dinner. Not a usual tradition though - fishing off the pier behind our home. The boys caught a ridiculous amount of fish!

This is the life

I was a little concerned about having Christmas morning in an RV, it's just not our norm. I've got to say, it was every bit as enjoyable as a house. It's really not the location, it's the people that you're with.

Christmas morning smiles

I had thought doing the whole Christmas turkey dinner thing. But at 80 degrees outside? It didn't even sound enjoyable. So instead we headed to downtown Key West and had an amazing Christmas brunch at a little place called Azur.

Cheers

After we ate we strolled around Key West. You might think that with it being Christmas day that it would be pretty quite. You would be mistaken. Nearly every place was open and there were crowds everywhere.We wanted to get a picture at the Southernmost Point, but there was actually a line around the block. So we settled for a picture at the Southernmost house :)

Good enough

Random large metal chicken, and goofy boy

Why are we taking this picture Mom?

A Week in Kissimmee

On Friday the 11th, we headed 85 miles over for a week at Sherwood Forest RV in Kissimmee, Florida. The 11th was also my last day of full-time work, only 4 hours a day from here on out!

Another big milestone from that weekend? We officially have a teenager - Porter's 13th birthday was that Sunday.

Morning Snuggles

For his birthday he wanted to go snorkeling, but since we were in the middle of Florida (read: no oceans) we opted to postpone that and instead we went to Kissimmee Go-Karts. It was a lot of fun - racing go-karts, a full arcade, and they have alligators you can feed!

Bring it!

The weather was beautiful the entire week so we were able to spend lots of time at the pool and the boys got in a few games of outdoor chess.

Seriously strategizing going on here

It's always been our tradition that we decorate for Christmas after Porter's birthday. We like to keep the two separate in the hopes that he never feels like his big day is anyway overshadowed.

We didn't really bring much in the way of Christmas decorations with us though, so we ended up having to grab quite a bit of stuff in order to decorate.

Sidewalk chalk trees count, right?

This is the first year since our boys were born that we haven't made a day out of going up to the snow and picking out a tree. It was definitely a bitter sweet thing - especially when the tree this year was a pre-lit fake thing. I really do think it turned out well though!

Isn't she cute?

And I did bring our stockings - but with no fireplace mantle, we opted to hang them in the window :)

And the stocking we hung...

Thanks to a good deal on Groupon, we went to see the Pirate's Dinner Adventure. If you've ever been to a Medieval Times - same thing, but with pirates. It was a lot of fun and they even had an entire gluten free dinner and desert for Porter!

Hudson rowing his heart out

Pirates sing, right?

We considered doing the amusement park thing while we were just outside of Orlando. But we just couldn't justify spending almost a thousand dollars to spend hours standing in lines. Especially when neither of the kids seemed to really care about it. We did opt to head over to Disney Springs for a few hours on the 17th though. Just to get a little Disney feel.

On the 18th we drove 149 south to the Southbay Campground. It was just a stopover point, but we really enjoyed it. It was nice and quiet - which isn't something you can really say about the Orlando area.

The view directly behind the RV

We didn't do much of anything, but we did have an epic round of Jenga.

BOOYAH

Sometimes just hanging out is what the doctor ordered.

What?

There were little alligators around the park too. And boy were they cute!

George McChompy

Goodnight Florida!

Bombing Down to Florida (aka It's Really Cold Out You Guys)

So, don't get me wrong - spending our first holiday on the road with family was wonderful. But you know what Maryland is in November?

Cold. It's cold.

And I didn't decide to travel so that I could be cold. That, I can get back at home :)

So after the Thanksgiving shenanigans were completed? We bombed straight down to Florida. It is, after all, the sunshine state.

This meant some quick traveling. Our first stop was at Picture Lake Campgrounds, which was about 211 miles over to Petersburg, VA. We honestly didn't do a thing, I don't even have a single picture from the days we were there - November 30th to December 2nd.

Our next stop was actually planned for another place, but we saw South of the Border from the highway and decided to pull over. It was 243 miles over to Hamer, SC and I think we were just done. We only stayed a single night, but as far as quick stops go, it wasn't bad. Fake donkeys to sit on? Yes, please!

The next day we went another 220 miles down to Savannah, GA. We stayed just the one night at the Biltmore RV. The office is actually a cute little antique/tchotchke shop and the ladies there were super sweet. The spot itself was an overflow one - in a grass field with only a chain link fence separating us from a busy road - eek! But we got another sticker for the map, so I was happy!

FIFTEEN!

On day five after leaving Maryland we made it to Florida, and it felt soooo good. From Georgia it was 211 miles down to Ormond Beach where we stayed at Sunshine Holiday Daytona for a full week- December 4th through the 11th.

There's just something to be said for swimming at 10:30 in the morning - in the outdoor pool - in DECEMBER!

It's a hard life

I do have to say though, this is not a place for the more OCD of us. This is a shot of the RV - parked perfectly straight in the spot. Totally lined up with all of the hookups.

And the concrete patio? So very not straight.

Why is the happening?

Just around the corner from the RV park there was a GIGANTIC Harley Davidson - Bruce Rossmeyer. We walked all around and saw some great older bikes.

Uh, uh, huh

We had a super yummy inner out at Houligan's, an Irish pub/restaurant.

Cheese!

Flagler Beach was the only nearby dog friendly beach, so we headed over there one day - and it was gorgeous! Keep in mind this is December people!

YES!

Le poseurs