Here's our Florida vacation recap with a TON of pictures-
Saturday~
I had been having serious anxiety over flying with Tyler for the first time and just being away from the comforts of home with him for so long, but he surprised us in a great way! We booked non-stop flights around his naptime and within five minutes of departing Austin, he was sound asleep. It was such a good idea for us to get him his own seat so that he could sleep semi-comfortably in his carseat! He woke up as we were descending into Ft. Lauderdale and was actually blowing his own nose to help with the pressure! The plane ride couldn't have gone any better.
We landed in Ft. Lauderdale to very hot, humid and rainy weather at about 3:00p. We stayed in Ft. Lauderdale this first night and it was a good thing we did. By the time we left the airport, checked into the hotel and grabbed some food, we just wanted to get some rest, so that's what we did!
Tyler at Austin-Bergstrom:
The guys below were waving to Tyler-
passed out-
Sunday~
After breakfast, we headed down to Marathon where we stayed at in The Keys. It was a very long drive due to the ridiculous storm that followed us there! We had to drive 25mph at some points! I started feeling like our vacation would be ruined with all the rain, but it started to clear up just minutes before arriving at the resort! We spent the afternoon at the resort playing in the pool and then had a nice dinner at The Island on the water.
Tyler playing with his beach toys in the car-
Hawks Cay Resort from the highway-
Our lovely room-
Tyler already ordering room service!
View from our balcony-
Monday~
We had a busy day exploring around Marathon. We went to Sombrero Beach and played there all morning. It was a well-kept, quiet beach with white sand and crushed coral. Tyler preferred playing and digging in the sand or playing on the playground over playing in the water, but it was still fun.
After the morning at the beach and a nap back at the resort, we had lunch and lounged by the pool for a while. Then we headed out for the afternoon. We stopped at a popular playground called The Rotary Field of Dreams for Tyler to burn off a little energy. We then took a walk on the Old 7 Mile Bridge- a pedestrian bridge where several scenes in movies have been filmed like: True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious, License to Kill and Up Close and Personal. It's a really neat bridge and we were told that you can usually see all kinds of marine life below, but we only spotted one huge sea turtle. We had a nice dinner on the water again and then it was back to the resort to relax.
Sombrero Beach:
Rinsing off at the shower.. he would have been happy just to play here all day-
There were iguanas everywhere!
Getting ready to go to the pool-
Rotary Field of Dreams:
Old 7 mile bridge:
Dinner at Keys Fisheries:
The firepit at the resort:
Tyler saying 'Cheese'
Tuesday~
Travis woke up early to go on a half day reef fishing trip. Tyler and I just hung out. We slept in, ordered room service and then hung out at the Pirates Cove pool at the resort. It was such a neat little pool area and we had it all to ourselves! I wish we had one of these in our back yard! ;-) Travis got back about 12:30p and didn't have the best luck fishing. He caught a few Kingfish and a couple of other small fish, but nothing worth keeping and not what he was wanting, but that's the way it usually goes. We decided to spend the afternoon in Key West and made the hour drive there. We had lunch at the famous Hog's Breath Saloon and took a train ride through the historic part of Key West and saw places like Hemmingway's house and the most southern point of the United States. Again, Tyler did great on the train ride! We weren't really fond of Key West. There's a lot of nightlife attraction and I'm sure it would be fun if were just Travis and myself, but it didn't really suit us this time.
This is the view from our room on a sunny morning-
Pirates Cove:
Hog's Breath:
Wednesday~
This was our last full day in Marathon and we wanted to just relax at the resort. We mostly hung out by the pool and the lagoon all day. We went back to Old 7 Mile Bridge and had a great dinner while watching the sun set. On our way back to the resort, we stopped off and did some illegal fishing off the marina docks (shhhhh). Travis really wanted to catch a tarpon and they were swarming the waters earlier in the day. He did land one, but it broke the line before he reeled it in. :-(
Proof that he did have a tarpon on-
This was the crazy scene earlier in the day-
Thursday~
We decided the day before to drive back to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday instead of making the 2 1/2 drive, sitting at the airport for 2 hours and then having a 3 hour flight all on Friday. No-one had the patience for that. We did a late check-out at the resort, so we attempted to do a kayak trip that morning. Tyler wanted absolutely nothing to do with it once we put him in the kayak. We only got a short distance away before having to turn around. Travis ended up going out on his own and Tyler and I headed back to play at the Pirates Cove.
Just in case you didn't clearly see this face in the above picture. haha!
And Travis is off-
Pirates Cove again:
After checking out of the resort, we drove back to Ft. Lauderdale and stayed close to the airport. We decided to spend the rest of the day at the Ft. Lauderdale beach. It was hard to pull Tyler away this time. He had so much fun!
Friday~
This was our last day in Florida and by this point, we were ready to get home. We did stop and do one more fishing tourist-y thing. We went to the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum. It was actually a neat place and I wish we had more time to spend there, but we had to catch our 12:55p flight home. Tyler was great for the return plane ride as well. He fell asleep before we ever got off the ground and woke up about 45 mins. before landing, but enjoyed eating snacks, playing with his toys and watching the clouds outside.
Driving a boat-
Catching a fish!
Virtual fishing complete with the rod pulling and reel spinning! I just love Tyler with this fighting belt on!
Plane ride home-
Vacations are fun, but sooo much work! We had a great time, but I think it will be a while before we do this again. :-)
