Happy Belated New Year! It's hard to believe it's mid-January already.  I have been meaning to write this post for a while. Last year was such a hard winter that my husband and I swore a pact that we would go somewhere warm this winter. Ironically, this winter hasn't been that bad -- we have had only a few cold and snowy days, thanks to El Niño.

We still went, though. We flew into Miami and rented a car to drive down the Keys. The traffic was pretty bad -- after all, we decided to go during the very busiest time of year -- but the drive was fairly scenic and we could open the windows and smell the salt air. Once we got outside of the hectic Miami area, we were on a mostly two-lane road for miles and miles, crawling along at less than 20 miles per hour.


We stayed in a very nice bed and breakfast, the Barnacle Inn on Big Pine Key. We had actually stayed there quite a few years ago and really liked the quiet location. We could see so many stars at night, and there are small dog-sized key deer all over the island in the evening and morning hours.

Some photos from the B&B:

Deer nibbles on landscaping at the B&B

The sign

Courtyard from the rooftop

Sunrise over the private beach

Rooftop Lookout

View from the roof

Little tiki hut for B&B guests

We also got to spend some time on a beautiful beach a few minutes from where we were staying, Bahia Honda State Park.



Key West was only an hour away when we wanted more excitement:

Old Town House decorated for Christmas

One of the beautiful roosters wandering everywhere

Souvenir shopping Cool old theater converted into a Walgreens

Performer at the drag show at Bourbon St. Pub

Yes, he is wearing a suit, it's just very small. And also a matching hat and elbow-length gloves.

We also had a few active adventures. One morning, we borrowed two of the kayaks from our B&B and paddled around. It was much harder than we thought it would be -- neither of us has done much kayaking or canoeing.

My husband took this photo of me kayaking.