Every summer our family travels to Florida to visit my in-laws. They live near Fort Myers and luckily for us, they love having visitors. I am a teacher, so I have the months of June and July off. My husband Lewis is a funeral director, so he only gets to vacation for one week before he has to return to work.
After this year’s family vacation my husband returned to Ohio and I stayed in Florida for a couple weeks with my 15-year-old stepson, Kyle. He and I have similar personalities; laid-back, goofy and adventurous. We love searching for odd attractions and weird destinations. We especially love to travel to new places and find local wall murals. The more vibrant and colorful the better!
Since we had a few more weeks to enjoy all that Florida has to offer, Kyle and I decided to take a road trip to the Florida Keys. Our final destination – Key West. Although we were excited, we also felt a little bit guilty that we would be enjoying the bright beautiful sunsets in Mallory Square without his dad. While shopping for bargains at the local Goodwill store, we spotted a $3 plastic action figure on the shelf. In that moment I had an epiphany! This adorable 12″ doll should temporarily replace his dad on our adventure. I know, I know… it sounds strange, but our family has always referred to Lewis as “Mr. Incredible”. He looks just like him. With his blonde hair, broad shoulders, little smirk and penetrating eyes that read, “I will SAVE THE DAY!” Not to mention he has the same dadbod so… you get it… Lewis IS Mr. Incredible.
So we bought the action figure and decided to bring “Mr. Incredible” along for the ride. The plan… to take photos of him everywhere we went, so Lewis could pretend to be on this journey with us. Everywhere we went, Mr. Incredible followed, and we have the photos to prove it. (Super cute, right?!)
The first stop on our 5-hour long road trip from Fort Myer to Key West was Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen in Key Largo. We were excited to try the food and of course any time you are in the Florida Keys you have to get their “World Famous Key Lime Pie.”
Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen – Restaurant in FL (mrsmacskitchen.com)
Kyle was feeling adventurous and ordered the alligator sausage. Since Mr. Incredible tried it, I had to try it too. I am not normally a risk taker when it comes to food, but it actually wasn’t horrible. A little greasy, but the flavor was decent, maybe even a little bit spicy. It wasn’t something either of us care to eat again, but we are glad we went outside of our comfort zone and tried something new. I ordered the biscuits and gravy, which we both thought was pretty good. The waitress was nice, and the decor was interesting. Lots of old license plates lined the walls, some quite funny. We would visit Mrs. Mac’s restaurant again, if nothing else, for another piece of that famous Key Lime Pie.
Our next stop was Robbie’s on Islamorada Island. This place is AWESOME! Parking was hard to come by, but there are fun little shops and places to eat and drink here as well. Expect to pay around $8 per person for admission and a bucket of fish to feed the tarpons. There are supposedly 100 or more-tarpon swimming around the pier, and they are HUGE! Watching them swimming around jumping up out of the water was really intimidating, but Kyle was glad he tried feeding them.
PRO TIP: The tarpon jump up and grab the fish really fast so keep your fingers out of the way! Kyle got a little nibble on the finger, but he was fine.
After feeding the tarpon, Kyle and I continued to explore some more of the Florida Keys, driving over the bridge into Duck Key, (there was not much to see there) before driving the rest of the way to Key West. When we reached our destination, we checked into our hotel which was a block away from Duval Street (the main drag). We quickly tucked Mr. Incredible into bed so we could hop on a boat and catch the beautiful orange sunsets of Key West.
With Mr. Incredible napping (okay, let’s face it, I was afraid I would accidentally lose him over the edge of the boat, so we left him behind) we made our wat down to the harbor and hopped on a catamaran for a sunset cruise. I had booked us 2 tickets for a dolphin watch, snorkeling and sunset cruise with Fury. It cost around $75 per person but it was worth every penny. I will definitely take a sunset cruise again. In my opinion it was the best way to enjoy the sensational views of the Key West sunset. Nothing compares to the bright orange sunsets of Key West.
There are lots of great companies that offer sunset cruises, but we booked ours with: #1 Key West Watersports | Fury Water Adventures (furycat.com)
After the cruise we went to a local pub and had some food and drinks to end a fantastic evening on Duval Steet. The next morning, we woke up early to visit the Southernmost Point in the Continental United States. Every time we visit Key West, we make sure to get our picture taken with the colorful buoy.
Pro Tip: Get there early, at sunrise to avoid long lines.
Another thing we like to do while on vacation is find the best donut shops. (Maybe it’s the cop in me) Glazed Donuts was really yummy. Of course while in Key West you HAVE to get the Key Lime Pie donut.
After a eventful day of sightseeing, shopping, and taking photos, we started our journey back to Nonni & Papa’s house in Fort Myers. My last request for our 2-day (1 night) excursion was for us to stop and have a drink with our toes in the sand, overlooking the water.
We found an awesome place in Marathon, Florida called the Sunset Grille and Raw Bar. It is next to (almost under) the 7-mile bridge. It even had a pool that overlooked the water. We sat down, ordered some appetizers and I ordered what I THOUGHT was a little fruity drink. Next thing you know the waitress is delivering 2 fishbowls full of drinks! Wow! The drinks were delicious! I will definitely stop here again. The vibe was so chill and relaxed, and the music was tropical and cheery. Next time, we will stay longer, and I will have a designated driver so I can actually drink both fishbowls.
As we drove over the seven-mile bridge and watched as the deep blue ocean waved goodbye to us, I looked over at Kyle and felt such peace. I am thankful that I have been blessed to have summers with our kids. To travel to new places and take big adventures together. To build bonds and memories. Please remember friends, that our lives really are short. Don’t wait to do the things you want to do or visit the places you want to go. Time is precious and memories are waiting to be made. Go out and enjoy the life God gave you.
Until our next adventure…
Safe Travels.
Jen
Want to see more of our Key West Adventure with Mr. Incredible? Check us out on TikTok! CampFrithAdventures (@campfrithadventures) | TikTok
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