My latest adventure took me to the Florida Keys earlier this year. After a cold spell at the end of January, we hopped on a plane in search of warmer weather and sunshine. Of course, we went when they had an unusual cold spell in Florida also. When I say cold spell, I am saying that iguanas were falling out of trees in Miami and had to be sent to rescue facilities! Seriously! But not to be deterred, we flew to Miami, rented a car, and took the beautiful and bucket list drive down through the Keys. Best known as Florida's chain of islands that stretch for 220 miles, the overseas highway runs from the mainland to Key West connecting all the islands together. It is one of the longest overwater roads in the world, which includes 42 bridges and is home to three National Parks - Biscayne, The Everglades, and Tortugas Park. The two lane highway provides an incredible view, which is good because depending on traffic it could possibly take up to four or more hours to complete. There are plenty of places to pull over, plus small to medium sized towns along the way, and we stopped in several to check out the local cuisine, foliage, and the views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of America. Home to a variety of plants and animals, the Keys boast the most abundant coral reef life. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has underwater habitats, "ranging from the only coral barrier reef in the continental United States to the largest contiguous seagrass community in the Northern Hemisphere." More than 6000 animal species are found there, so it is one of the most cherished places for diving, fishing, boating, and wildlife views.
The largest of the islands is Key Largo (also known as the "Diving Capital of the World") which stretches about 33 miles and has a population of around 12,000 people. We checked out a "dive" restaurant called "Fish House". If you ever watch "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" by Guy Fieri on the Food Network - this is one of the places he did an episode on. It was amazing. Of course the Coconut Martini was top notch, and it was accompanied by...
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