South to the Florida Keys

For Eric's Spring Break we took an awesome trip down through Florida and out to the Keys. On Monday we drove the 7.5 hours down to Jacksonville. I was thrilled to see palm trees and feel some warmth on my skin. The kids were pretty fresh even after the drive and loved sleeping in a hotel. On Tuesday we made it all the way to Miami, but took a stop at Cocoa Beach. It was a little too chilly to swim, but the kids had a ball playing in the sand, eating the sand, digging in the sand, throwing the sand in my face, etc. I had made a reservation at a hotel in Miami without doing any research (meaning I went to priceline.com and clicked on the cheapest hotel in Miami) and it sure came back to bite me. Try, if you can, to imagine a hotel in downtown Miami that cost less than 50 bucks. Yikes would be an understatement. We were lucky to escape disease free, bullet free, bedbug free, and what have you. The room was horrible...bad enough that even I, lover of cheap motels, was astounded. We had to sleep in two twin, I repeat twin, beds. Eric slept with Eth and I slept with Libbs. As the springs dug into my back and I tried to relax on a pillow stuffed with styrofoam, I thought to myself: I've been burned...never again will I book a hotel this cheap...
But anyway, we survived and it was on to the Keys! Wednesday we meandered down from Key Largo to Key West. Unfortunately it was rainy practically all day so we did most of our sightseeing from the car. We ate some incredible seafood though and visited the southernmost point in the US in Key West. The next day was beautiful weather and we spent the day at the beach swimming and playing in the sand. We also took a boat out to Historic Pigeon Key and took a tour of the 5 acre island which was super fun and very interesting. It was incredible how blue the water was...absolutely picturesque. I will never forget looking out from the road and seeing tiny green islands in crystal clear water. It was awesome. On Friday we had another long drive up to Savannah, but arrived in one piece. Foolishly, I had rejected sunscreen on the beach and my back was pretty darn red. Didn't feel too good sitting in the car with a seatbelt. Saturday was a gorgeous day in Savannah. We enjoyed walking around the city with our good friends the Mills, who were also visiting and we even ate at Lady and Sons, Paula Deen's resteraunt. Deep fried southern goodness. Oh, yum! By the time we made it home on Saturday night, the kids were kids were filthy, screaming messes. Eric and I were ready to sleep in our own beds, but we were sorry our sightseeing was over. It was an awesome opportunity to see more of the country and create some fun family memories.