By why? We've been contemplating our reaction, trying to ferret out lessons that will help us as we begin thinking about "real' retirement. Part of it relates to us--both what we like to do and what we expected of each area. Part of it centers around the distinct natures of the two areas...each so lovely, but each so different. In fact, that's why we chose them.
Key Largo and the vacation home we rented there held some surprises. The weather was a bit cooler than we anticipated (nobody's fault, of course). Long days of lying in the sun didn't happen. But it made for good reading time and meant we could ride around and explore the area without feeling guilty that we weren't taking advantage of the sun.
Speaking of the sun, the sunsets were magnificent off our dock--addictive, really. One evening I took 75 shots of one sunset. My favorite being this one:
We had friends Steve and Noreen and Ted and Lucy to buddy around with, which made for some fierce games of dominoes and great eating--both in and out at several of the great restaurants. Having friends around eased the shock of having nothing critical to do for weeks at a time--and also brought home the importance of having a strong social network in retirement. Bud and I have vacationed for a month at a time alone, of course, but always with a fairly rigid schedule of touring and sight-seeing.
This was different. It often felt more like vacation than a new lifestyle--but with more time than we had ever had to explore an area. It felt great sometimes and unsettling at other times. We'll have to work on that!
Having Maggie along was cool--she is a magnet for new friends and got us into the "dog-friendly" world of the Keys (significant!) almost immediately. This was a real joy and quite unexpected--with the dog parks and dog-friendly restaurants we met lots of people and made lots of new friends--canine and human. This was one of the most rewarding parts of our time in the Keys.
But a lot of life in the Keys centers around fishing and boating. If (like Bud) you're not that comfy on the water and you're not that into fishing...well, there might be better spots than the Florida Keys to settle in for a spell of retirement.
We did find the restaurants terrific--especially the dog-friendly ones like 88 at Mile Marker 88. They gave Maggie ice water in a "silver" bowl!
That's the good news about restaurants. The bad news--a 5 pound weight gain for me!
Our final ranking of the Florida Keys--4 stars. Great for those who love the water, fishing, dogs, and a laid-back life style and don't mind having limited nightlife or having to travel an hour plus for shopping. We met lots of fun people--but they were all from elsewhere, mostly colder climates. I am sure there are natives or "locals"--but we didn't find any. It left us feeling the Keys have a transient nature.
Of course, we were only there a month. And the rental home we chose was very private--not in the middle of a neighborhood. About the weather--it was a heck of a lot better than New Hampshire and (to be fair) you just can't expect Caribbean weather and water temps in Florida.
For details and pictures of our time in the Keys, just wander through the archives of my January posts--click on a set of dates to the left and just pick a title.
Tomorrow I'll summarize our thoughts on Mississippi's Gulf Coast and explain why we just can't get it out of our minds.
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