The Keys

MARIS and the roving band of RV gypsies and their scamper-mutts have been in both the northern and southern keys through the first half of January. It was our intention to chase warmer weather as the Florida panhandle cooled a bit for winter. Even the coldest winter in the panhandle is mild. The keys still allow me to pull on shorts and walk the dogs comfortably early in the morning. The days in the keys have hit 75 to 80 degrees most days.

Our first destination was Key Largo, the northernmost key, in a small brand-new campground called Keys Palms. We were fortunate enough to have gotten a waterfront site so we pulled in and 30 feet in front of us was a seawall and the Gulf of Mexico. This campground was newly landscaped with palm trees, shrubs and patches of lush grass. The sites were gravel, making it easy to keep manicured. The mood here was sophisticated relaxation. The people there were mostly friendly retired snowbirds and most of their RVs there were high-end Class A buses. The manager told us that next year they may move to exclusivity, keeping out all but the Class A rigs. Meanwhile, just down the road a much larger campground will be closing. My marketing history tells me that Keys Palms will have no problem staying full.

There was a free-form pool and 20 person in-ground hot tub next to our site overlooking the water. When sitting in the pool or strolling by the water, the other inhabitants surfaced occasionally. Iguanas live in the rocks of the sea wall. They measure about 2.5' to 3' in length and they like to raise their heads, drop their chin skin, and bob their heads up and down. They look like they mean business, so we left them alone.

In the evenings, we felt a bit like we had died and gone to heaven as we sat in the hot tub and listened to live music drifting over the water from the Caribbean Club two doors down. The smells of seafood and Mexican dishes from nearby restaurants delighted our noses as we soaked. We met several wonderful families while we were there. Just like it happened in Carrabelle, we met people from Canada. I can't blame the Canadians for wanting to winter here. I swear, they are all just so nice!

Specifically we met a family who struck a chord in our hearts. We seemed to have a lot in common with them. Their children, all boys, were very well behaved. They were telling us that they send their kids to military cadet camp every summer. They learn discipline, respect, how to mentor younger children, how to be responsible, survival and so many other good things. Michael and I discussed how we would have loved to have had that option for our own kids. They came out pretty darned good anyway though. <grin>

Next, we motored down to Geiger Key, a tiny key just north of Key West. It's so close that it has a Key West address. This place wound up being a gem in a coal pile. While the mood at Keys Palms was sophisticated relaxation, Geiger Key went pretty much full-tilt the other direction. It was total casual, fishing village, flip flop, older-but-rich with personality fish camp setting. Of course, we had to find it first. It is set back in a residential area with narrow roads and no curbs or shoulders. First, we passed the street that the campground is on. When the road we were on dead-ended we had to detach the Jeep and do a bit of back and forth action to get MARIS turned around without hitting any other cars, trees or fences. Michael did it like it was the easiest thing in the world and back we went. We found the turn this time though the tiny sign with the campground name pointing down Geiger Road was just past the turn when we had come through originally.

When we pulled up in front of Geiger Key RV Park and Marina, we saw old run-down tiny travel trailers and an older looking building. Not much to see. The sign out front looked fun. Colorful with casual text. At that point we didn't see the gate with the pretty water-front sites on the other side of the building. Our spot wasn't on that side. It was in an impossibly tight, very public place just next to the restaurant/kayak rental/office building among the tiny old travel trailers. We looked at each other and the unspoken words passed between us; "What are we in for? We can just leave if you want..." Then we met the management. They were as nice as the day was long and went overboard to be helpful, assisting in shoe-horning us into the spot and even sawing off some low hanging palm fronds so we could fit under and still get TV reception from our antenna. The water was about five feet in front of the coach so too many glasses of wine might have meant going for a cold swim. After a short discussion, we decided to give it a try. We were scheduled to move to the other side after a few days anyway.

We were across from the restaurant, separated by a small bay of water just big enough to launch the kayaks and a couple boats. While it felt quite public, the food smelled wonderful and the live band at the restaurant was almost like having live music in our front yard. It wasn't so loud we couldn't talk over it and the tunes were happy Jimmy Buffett and country style songs that bring on a peaceful, relaxing good mood. That evening we found out that the calimari, fried fish and fish tacos at the restaurant were also very good. The restaurant is all open-air and there were dogs with their families at several tables. Servers even brought bowls of ice water for the dogs. Begging fish swam next to the restaurant, snapping up bits of french fries and fried fish as people threw it out to them. We were warming to the place nicely.

After a few days, we got to move over to the "high rent district." Our site backs to the water and has a private tiki hut with a picnic table and a brick patio. The sites are all on clean white gravel so they look neat and there are palm trees around for shade. We threw out our outdoor nylon woven "rug" and it is a nice little home for the next week.

We haven't done much while we have been in the keys, but yesterday we did rent kayaks and we paddled around for a few hours. In January the water temperature is probably in the low 70s. It's just a bit cool to swim in without a wetsuit. No problem, we put our wetsuits on and paddled around several islands of mangroves and out a way into the open water in search for reef to snorkel. Michael got his fishing license to catch lobsters so we were also looking for a few of these hidden little critters to steam up. We struck out in the search for reef corals but saw a small manta ray swimming around us. That was special. It seemed to be playing with us. In retrospect, I wish I had stepped into the shallow water to look at it. I understand that some rays are friendly to people and I had hoped that this one would approach me. It swam off before I thought about that, so on we went. We saw a few man-of-war jellyfish swimming around. They are really very beautiful but it probably wouldn't be good to jump in and get close to them.

As the sun set we began picking our way home through the mangrove islands. We went out one way and returned having circled some mangrove islands so we weren't 100 percent sure we were going the right way. We were, just like we had lived there all our lives. Just before we got back to the campground, we stopped to snorkel around a half-sunken 1960s pleasure boat where we found - YES - some lobsters! Michael got three but only one was a keeper. I have to say that Roxy dog had never seen a lobster before and was completely fascinated by it as it crawled around under the picnic table after we returned home.

There is one little tiny negative about this area, though. At dinner last night in the restaurant, after having drenched ourselves with bug spray, Michael still felt bites from a bunch of no-see-ums all over his scalp and I felt a bunch of bites on the tops of the back of my legs as if I was sitting on hundreds of mosquitoes. I was awake with the discomfort of it all night last night and this morning my legs look like the surface of boiling water. The fifty or sixty bites on the top of the backs of my legs and a few on my face, neck, and arms have swollen to the size of dimes, joining in some places. This is awful looking and a bit miserable. With the beautiful location there are trade-offs.

We talked about looking around Key West today and tomorrow we go diving. That might constitute another post!