Road Trip!

On the theory that not everything needs to be about historical fiction, today’s post is about a recent motorcycle trip my husband and I were on.

“I think we should take a trip to Key West,” Ian said several weeks ago. We are spending the winter months in Florida and Ian just happens to have a newish motorcycle.

“Hmm mm,” I said, the first time he mentioned it.

Over the ensuing weeks, the trip was spoken of many times and gradually took shape. I would drive part way – those who have been a passenger on a motorcycle will know that endless miles daydreaming and holding on to the driver can get a bit monotonous. Additionally, in my case, there’s the matter of what I call ‘cranky hips’ that complain quite loudly after a long day on the bike. We would then leave the car, drive together to Key West and eventually return to pick up the car. The ultimate decision was to use Key Largo as the jumping off spot.

We took ‘old 41’ from Naples to Everglade City, population 461, and had lunch at the Rod and Gun Club on a covered verandah overlooking an inland waterway. Initially built in the late 1800s, the Rod and Gun Club features an old-world atmosphere along with many dead animals, fishing gear, and rifles mounted on wood-panelled walls.

From Everglade City we drove to Key Largo and bunked in at the Coconut Bay Resort, with dinner at Bayside Grill which served casual and very delicious food, mainly fish and then breakfast at Henriette’s, apparently the best spot for breakfast in the area. Needless to say, there was no dieting involved.

After breakfast, we hopped on the bike – actually, I don’t ‘hop’ on the bike, I carefully lift my leg and slide it across the drivers seat so I can get on – and began the drive to Key West on what’s called the Overseas Highway. As anyone who has made that drive, the views of ocean and inland waterways are spectacular as is the engineering involved in the many bridges and causeways. At times the water is less than fifteen feet on either side of the highway. Having seen the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Ian, it is clear how vulnerable the Keys are.

In Key West we stayed at Southernmost Resort – which turned out to be an excellent choice – walked the length of Duval Street which is home to many shops, restaurants, bars, and historic sites, enjoyed drinks at a bar beside the ocean, and dinner at a place called Seven Fish – highly recommended.

We zipped back to Key Largo the following day, picked up the car and headed for South Beach where we enjoyed a late afternoon around the pool with a walk on the beach, followed by dinner at one of the Setai Hotel restaurants, and live music at the lounge – called The Living Room – at Faena Hotel.

Did I mentioned that this was a birthday trip? I’m a fortunate woman!!

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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel is THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, a dual timeline set in Hong Kong. Mary’s other novels, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.