Tops down.

After our fantastic visit in South Carolina, we headed back to a little town in Georgia called Unadilla which is the home of Myron Mixon and the Jacks Old South crew. I spent all weekend barbecuing with Myron, before moving on to the south Florida. My wife and two younger daughters then flew in to meet Melissa and I in Miami. It has been almost a month and a half since I have seen them and it was a joyful reunion in one of my favourite places. After spending a few days in South Beach we packed the van up and proceeded to do the drive we have wanted to do for years, the Florida Keys.



The Florida Keys are a chain-like cluster of about 1700 islands of the bottom of Florida. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, which divides the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the west. At the nearest point, the southern tip of Key West is just 90 miles (140 km) from Cuba.



The main chain of the Key islands can be traveled by car on the Overseas Highway, which is a 127-mile (204 km) section of U.S. 1, which runs from Key Largo at the top, to Key West at the bottom end.

We drove all the way to the fantastic island of Key West for a few days of fun and sun. Key West which is only 4 miles long and 2 miles wide and is also home to "Naval Air Station Key West". You can watch groups of F-18 fighter jets constantly patrolling the skies around the keys while you are visiting. Despite its small size it is famous for many things including its weather, the Mardi Gras like atmosphere of Duval Street, singer Jimmy Buffet and author Ernest Hemingway. Key West is also a port of call for many cruise ships which you can see, moored at Mallory Square during the day, to allow the passengers time to visit before embarking for their next port of call.
Jet skis, para sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving and cycling are all popular activities to opt for during the day. At night, hundreds of people, as well as vendors and street performers, gather at Mallory Square to watch the sunset. After that Duval Street is filled with people enjoying the vast array of restaurants, bars, clubs and late night shopping that Key West has to offer.



One afternoon while on the beach we watched a bi-plane fly overhead. As we watched, I told my wife that I had always wanted to fly in one of those and that one day I would. Two days later on Duval Street, I saw an ad for bi-plane flights; we were in the air 30 minutes later...



Next stop, the Florida Everglades.