The Keys!

It was a seven hour drive in the Honda today but we made it to our hotel in Marathon by 4:00.  The Pelican Motel is freshly painted with brand new beds and reasonably priced at just over $100 per night, a real bargain in the keys. We paid for four nights and will explore from here. It was good we had reserved as the “No Vacancy” sign was flashing when we pulled in.

We asked the friendly manager if he knew of a reasonably priced hotel in Key West and after he stopped laughing he told us that we are in the worst possible season to ask that question. He said we would be very lucky to get anything under $400 per night there and one of the hotels is quoting $1000 per night right now!

As a compromise he suggested commuting from here and spending the day exploring Key West. It is about one hour and twenty minutes each way to drive. That is what we shall do on Friday. Tonight we are exhausted from the drive. We went for an early dinner of fried conch “conk” and a “Key West” beer for me and coconut shrimp and a glass of wine for Norma. The bill was under $40 before the tip.

The Keys are beautiful! With the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic on the other, the highway follows a series of islands joined by bridges. We will explore more and take photos tomorrow.

Note to mi amigo Rolando in Cuba: Hey Roly, we can almost see you from here! Wave to us!