blog://Steve Seymour

So this morning we had breakfast at the Front Porch Cafe and drove off down to the keys. We stopped off at tonights accomodation - Island Bay Resort - to drop off luggage and take a break. What a fantastic little privately owned place. Its a set of small villa's each containing bed, bathroom and kitchen. Its directly off the US 1 (like most things on the keys!) Both Sue and I agreed it would be a great place to come back and stay at one day to do the rest of the Keys,

Our next stop along the keys was the Dolphin Research Center. At $19.50 (discount coupon on website) each, at first we weren't sure as it just looked like a single building just off US 1. However, once you go through the entrance, it opens up a little behind directly onto the sea. They have about 10 pens out in the sea containing a total of 19 dolphins - including 3 young calf's. There are regular sessions (training, play, feeding etc) which are all narated and unlike somewhere like SeaWorld, you are only a meter or so away from the Dolphins. The staff there were brilliant and we both felt that this was definitely a highlight of the trip. Especially seeing the young dolphins. The DRC is essentially a charity and they clearly care a lot about their work and the animals.

Now well into the afternoon, we jumped back in to the car to head down to Key West - the last of the Florida Keys. We took a walk to watch the (rather cloudy) Sunset from Mallory Square then walked down to the Southern most point - apparently closer to Cuba (90 miles) than to the Florida mainland. After a drink in Willie T's and dinner at Turtle Kraal's, we drove back to Island Bay resort at about midnight for a good nights sleep! Long day and lots of miles!