During winter break the Bures clan headed to Key West. There were several celebrations including Shane's upcoming retirement from the military and two birthdays, John & Aggie. A huge thank you to Oma & Opa for the trip and making many memories for everyone!
Key West is not a large island. Therefore renting a car is truly not needed. Our mode of transportation was bicycles. This gave Izzy just the right nudge to learn how to ride a bike. The younger ones rode in tandem. Given our large group size, we must have looked like a menagerie out on the road.
After supper, ice cream was always requested. We partook of two places and had to judge which was better... that all depended on what flavor you were looking for at the time.
Afternoons were spent back at the hotel. Aggie napped with the rest of the grandkids swam in the pool. The pool continues to be a highlight for the kids on any trip. This might compete for the fact that they also had their own hotel room without parents/adults. Some things never change over generations.
While we partook of the delightful breakfast provided by the Almond Tree Inn, Oma was asked most mornings to braid hair.
Sometimes those braids were bedazzled afterwards.
Three days were split between families for planning activities. Day #1 was Oma & Opa's which started with a Blue Planet Kayak Eco-Tours. We explored the hidden world of the Red Mangrove Islands and saw some ocean creatures along the way.
Izzy and Amelia were entertaining to watch as they had to work together during this trip. There were times their counting 1, 2, 1, 2 kept them in sync. Other times they simply counteracted what each other was doing. A good lesson in teamwork.
The first creature we encountered besides fish was a sea urchin. Prickly but cute.
The sea slug brought giggles and grossness with his purple ink. This is released as an irritant to predators. Too bad it didn't work for him. He had to endure being passed around until returned to his watery home.
That afternoon we walked to Ernest Hemingway's home. The kids were most excited to see a 6 toed cat. John was excited as this is one of his favorite writers. I simply enjoyed the history. Our tour guide added flare to his already flamboyant history.
Our 1st 6 toed cat! Little did we know that we would be seeing plenty more as there are 59 cats on the property all carrying the polydactyl gene. The extra toe looked somewhat like a thumb on the cats.
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While in Key West John turned 50! In honor, he wore a "special" shirt so that everyone would know. He of course embraced this.
I don't know who enjoyed the birthday hats more... John or the waitresses. I don't think they see a large family like ours comfortable in these sort of scenarios.
Leave it to the kids to come up with ways of entertaining themselves at the restaurant.
Day #2 was the Dieckman's day. They choose from activities on the northern part of the island. The first stop was a Truman's Little White House. We were lucky to have a private tour of the home and learned more about our 33rd president.
Afterwards we ventured to the Key West Aquarium. The kids were included in feeding the nurse sharks, Key West's most common shark species.
Much time was spent at the touch tank with horseshoe crabs, conchs, crabs, sea cucumbers, and starfish.
While watching the turtle's being fed, we learned about the attachments on the turtle's shell. They are buoyance devices to as their shells were damaged due to likely boating accidents. With that damage, sea turtles cannot submerge to eat.
The Florida Keys have been infested with iguanas. They were everywhere. This was hung out on a tree branch near where we ate lunch.
Day #3 was the Barkoudah's, the south part of the island. First stop of the day... the southernmost point in the continental United States. We learned that there is also northernmost point. Anyone up for that trip?
Our second stop was at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. This was by far one of the best butterfly exhibits that any of us have been to. There are 50-60 species of butterflies to view within inches of the walking path.
There were plenty of song birds as well. Two flamingos call this place home; Rhett and Scarlet.
This one seemed to love Oma's hair. They hitch hiked for a long time there.
Lunch was at an outdoor café on the beach; Southernmost Beach Café. Having the beach right there meant built in entertainment for the kids while they waited for their food.
That afternoon we biked to Fort Zachary. The first stop was the beach. We soon discovered that this area is inhabited by small, blue colored jellyfish. They were in the water and on the beach. After seeing a beach goer beside us get stung and the agony he was in, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel pool to swim.
We stopped first at Fort Zachary to look around. In the background you can see where the cruise ships dock. That one is the Disney Wonder. A bit smaller than the Disney Dream which we were on over February school vacation.
Day #4 - Everyone was on their own. While the Dieckman's head off for a seaplane ride to Dry Tortugas National Park, we head up to the island of Islamorada to swim with the dolphins at the Theater of the Sea. This is a natural lagoon which was created from rock quarries that was used to make the foundation of the railroad connecting the islands before a bridge was erected.
Micah wanted to swim with the sharks rather than dolphins. So John and him went together. The nurse sharks had been well trained.
Thought the day was a lovely temperature, the water was 76 degrees... a bit chilly. I am impressed at how comfortable the sharks were to simply swim up and sit in their laps.
After seeing that they are trained for tricks, I think Micah wants one for a pet.
While the boys headed off to swim with the sharks, the girls and I got ready to swim with the dolphins. This has been on my bucket list for a long time. This did not disappoint one bit!
We swam with a mother-daughter pair, Krystal and
Each one of us received kissed from the dolphins.
We swam with them the length of the lagoon.
We even danced with them in the water.
They are truly magnificent creatures.
The dolphins also pulled us a top speak through the lagoon letting us feel their power.
We could also take a boat ride through the lagoon. The boat was interesting as the middle was open allowing the dolphins to perform tricks close up.
There were other animal encounters including several species of parrots.
This was the first time that all three of the kid's names were in the gift store.
Our last evening together had us head to eat at Pinchers. Strolling down Duval Street is full of color and decorations.
Across from Pinchers was Aqua, a draq queen night club. Too bad there wasn't enough time to take in a show!
