Sunday, April 18

Jasmine, Sharks and Key West, oh my!

Here is part 2 of 3 of my April adventures!

After our week with the kids, we sent them on their way and Kevin stayed on for another week.
So what would any couple do with a week alone in Miami? Go to Key West of course!


Although its only 120 miles from Miami, Key West can take up to 4-5 hours to drive there. This is due to the mostly two lane roads and 35 mph speed limit.



Fortunately, its a beautiful drive with lots of incredible scenery to keep you moving along.



If you've ever seen the movie True Lies, you know what I'm talking about...


We heard Key West is a dog friendly town so we decided to test it out with our best behaved and mindful hound, Jasmine. On the way down, she refused to be regulated to the back seat, so she somehow made her way to the front.



Since the weather was going to be perfect, we decided to do the camping thing.
Using our MWR privileges, we set up camp on the Key West Naval Air Station.
They have AMAZING campsites all with an awesome view of the Gulf of Mexico.
(and you can have 2 dogs per campsite)



Jasmine hung out on her bed for awhile just taking in everything
and laughing at us trying to put up our tent.


Then she got hot and took a dip in the Gulf of Mexico.


Turns out that Key West is INDEED a VERY dog friendly town. Almost every bar and restaurant allows dogs as well as shops, museums and even the Aquarium!!
We took advantage of all of them and of course, Jasmine drew lots of crowds!

The trip to the Aquarium had to be the best. It was weird going to an aquarium with a dog but apparently in Key West it is an everyday event. It was even weirder when they said watch your dog around the shark tank. huh?


The Key West Aquarium is a small aquarium but one of the neatest ones I have ever been too.
Here is Jasmine and I checking out a huge hermit crab from the touch tank!


Jasmine has never seen turtles before
and was just amazed by these creatures splashing around.


She was also captivated by the eel's and fish swimming in the tanks....


hhhhmmmmmm..... what's in this tank?



OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!!!

(now we know what they ment by watch your dog around the shark tank!)

Outside they had huge tanks with more sea creatures.


One of the tanks held two huge sharks that we got to see being fed.



Jasmine was just glad to be safely behind Kevin and the fence.


One of the coolest things in the Aquarium was this turtle. He had been rescued from the local waters because a motorboat had slashed up his shell so bad he was dying. The Aquarium took him in and nursed him back to health. However, he developed A LOT of scar tissue in the rear of his shell. Scar tissue apparently is very buoyant. So now you have a turtle with a bubble butt that can't sink!! As you can see, he has learned to swim a little differently than normal...


After the Aquarium, we all were a little hungry and so we headed over the Blue Heaven restaurant for some lunch. Super dog friendly like everywhere else.


They are also rooster friendly.


After filling our tummies, we headed out to find the infamous mile marker zero.

And so here we are....

Me at the beginning...


and Kevin at the end....


We ended our time in Key West by drinking Mai Tai's of course, out of pineapples!


The Parting Shot:

We had a great two weeks together but its never enough time. BUT WAIT!! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! For those of you who don't know, I will be moving back to VA in July and will finally be living with my husband! woohoo!!


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