Hyatt Sunset Harbor, A Hyatt Vacation Club Resort Key West

Here we are in Key West Florida, the southern most city in the continental US, and man is it hot. It has been in the upper 90's with super high humidity. We've have been finding some fun ways to stay cool. Traveling around in the van isn't one of them. It is so hot here that there is no way we would be able to sleep in the van, or even outside in a tent. So, it really is our "smaller vacation within in our vacation" as Jess likes to put it, we're living it up in another hotel ...

... we're hoping he will get another opportunity when we reach the west coast.

Instead, we decided to take a walk down to Fort Zachary beach on Key West, as it didn't look that far on the map. How wrong we were! The walk took about 30 minutes in the blistering heat (the hottest day we have had so far). It was quite an interesting scenic route though, as we stumbled across a part of the island called 'Bahamian Village', where a lot of ...

... was on the end of the line was big. It started to pull the line off the reel and make its way out to sea. Jim tried desperately to counter the pull, but the line was zig-zagging all over the place. I've never seen Jim so excited! After 10 minutes he realised he was going to have trouble landing the 'fish', so he sent me off to look for Fred, but unfortunately he was still out having pizza. Jim battled for a further 20 minutes to pull the 'fish' in, but suddenly....the line ...

... a ride down to Duval Street and that monument that is the most Southern point of the US. We of course stood in line to have our photos taken at the monument just like all of the other tourists here. Then we made our way back to the hotel to spend the day by the pool. It was all very relaxing, but by mid day we were saying we were ready to get back on the bikes. I guess the next adventure is calling to us. Today we rode so few miles that it isn't worth mentioning.

Key West Excusion
Sail and Snorkeling adventure - $39 per person

I
was thoroughly disappointed at the snorkeling part of this excursion
because well, the highlight of my snorkel was seeing a DORI (from NEMO
fish movie) fish. We were very far away from any real corals or any
kind of real underwater scenery. Plus, I felt like we were in the water
to snorkel and then they were immediately calling us back. Boo!

... we miss Fred S. (in Boston for vacation) - a good friend, new local and well described orb of good character and knowledge). We head out to the Back Country. It's in the gulf and beautiful. Many 8-20 feet deep channels through very shallow (2-3 feet) rock and coral zones - we pass a half sunken ship the Air Force uses for bombing practice (they use lead duds - no explosions - probably should wear helmet just in case). A huge dark storm ...

Liam Savage, from Ms. Nice's 2nd grade class, went on a cruise with his family around the Gulf of Mexico. First he went to Key West in Florida. He sent this postcard: I went on a cruise with my family. We stopped at Key West and went to an aquarium. Liam Savage Then he sailed on to Cozumel, Mexico where he sent this second postcard: I went on a cruise with my family, We stopped in Cozumel. We went to Chankanaab National Park. Liam Savage

... including one guy with 4 trained cats that leapt through flaming hoops and performed all sorts of tricks. The sunset was beautiful, but unfortunately as the sun got towards the sea on the horizon in the last 10 minutes it dipped behind clouds. So we weren't able to witness the anomaly of the green flash which they sometimes get at the Keys where as the sun dips below the horizon for a couple of seconds a green light is visible (it's still puzzling the scientists but apparently it is ...

... good concept for a new type of gym - videocising. We went back to our cabin and decided to decorate our door. My wife had brought wedding themed wrapping paper and we'd brought removable tape with us. So, we papered our door and added the flamingo stir sticks and also a honeymoon themed helium balloon, which stayed up for the entire week. We had a great door and added something to it almost each night. We set our clocks ahead one hour, because of Daylight Savings Time and went to sleep.

... State Parks are $23.50 for tent space. Walked around Key West shops. Bought t-shirts for Christmas gifts. Ogled stud and leather shops. Paul was winked at in Fast Buck Freddie's. On return, had good dinner in Islamorada (the Green Turtle). I had grouper; Paul had alligator. Very macho. Walls covered with photos and newspaper clippings of huge fish caught in local waters. Full meal (soup ...