Destination: Boca Raton, FL
Dates: May 5-8, 2018
Reason: Visit Diana
Day 1 May 5, 2018
Our trip began shortly after 6:00am. We decided to visit Diana in Boca Raton because work was stressing both of us out. We took the dogs over to my parents house and then went to the airport. The security line was longer than we expected, so we ended up at the gate shortly before we began boarding.
As a gift, Diana upgraded us to the Comfort Plus on our flight. Not only did we have more leg room, we got complimentary drinks. Julia ordered red wine, I ordered white. I didn’t quite finish mine.
At our layover in Atlanta Julia got Chick Fil A. My stomach is so stupid; I didn’t eat anything. I did take a Dramamine though, so I got sleepy.
Our flight to Palm Beach was calm. I slept most of the way, but woke up enough to have a beer.
Diana picked us up at the airport. We saw a Bentley pick up a rich guy. This was my first time seeing Diana’s place. It was really cool. I took a nap in the afternoon. We went to a funky hipster bar for dinner and celebrated both Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby. We had excellent crab dip and I had a crab cake for dinner. Julia had a veggie wrap.
After dinner we went to Matthew’s Brewery. We sat out on the patio and Julia and Diana played cornhole. One beer is all we stayed for and then we headed back to Diana’s for some sleep.
Day 2 May 6, 2018
Diana drove us down to the Keys. She had planned on us waking up early to head down, but our bodies didn’t allow it. We hit the road about 11:00am. Our first stop was at Wawa for gas and snacks. We picked up many varieties of potato chips, including Old Bay crab chips. Julia and I discovered them when we went to DC/Baltimore in 2010. Now they are a road trip staple.
All filled up, we headed south. Having only been to the Keys once as a kid, I didn’t realize just how long of a drive it was to get down there. It didn’t help that we hit torrential rain in Miami which caused traffic to slow.
Everything loosened up as we got to the Keys. This was Julia’s first time seeing the islands, and she seemed taken aback at how small some of them are. We took a small break on Islamorada where we used the restroom and visited a strange little artisan’s village that featured an enormous plaster lobster out front.
Right around Key Largo was when I began recognizing sites. I hadn’t been to the Keys in over 20 years, but I suppose some things just stick with you. After a long while we reached our destination of Bahia Honda State Park, on Bahia Honda Key, part of the Marathon chain. Upon pulling in, we found out the beach Diana normally went to had been destroyed by hurricane Irma. The entire beach was underwater.
Luckily there are two beaches, and the other had survived. We changed into our bathing suits and hit the sand around 3:30pm. The water was warm but the beach and entry point were rocky, so we had to wear flip flops to get out into the ocean. Once we were out we could plant our feet in the soft sand. The portion where swimming is allowed is shallow and we sat or squatted nearly the whole time.
After leaving the water we sat on the beach for about 30 minutes until we realized that we were all getting sunburnt. We packed it up, got changed, and dropped our stuff at the car. A short hiking trail on the island takes you up onto a piece of bridge that served as the original highway. It’s super interesting. Initially a train trestle was built in the early 1900’s, then a highway was added on top later. The whole thing was shut down in 1972 when the new bridge was built. The views off the bridge were great, looking straight out over the ocean to both sides. Julia thought she saw a sea turtle, but it was just seaweed.
We stopped for dinner at the Island Fish Company on Marathon Key. I tried stone crab for the first time and enjoyed it. For dinner I had a mahi mahi sandwich and Julia had parmesan garlic oysters, which ended up giving her heartburn. We were seated out on a dock right by the ocean. Tons of fish were swimming around which really freaked Julia out. At one point we looked down and saw a nurse shark scaring all the fish!
With dinner over we took the long trip back to Diana’s. On the way we spotted the Hard Rock Stadium where the Dolphins play. We stopped at the local Target so Julia could get a pair of boots she really wanted as well as some Pepto.
We got back to Diana’s around 10:30pm, watched some tv, and went to bed.
Day 3 May 7, 2018
When I woke up around 10:00am Julia was already up and out of the shower. I had a sluggish start and skipped breakfast. We decided to stay around Diana’s place and hit some local sites.
First we went to Saltwater Brewery. I had seen an advertisement for them in Cincinnati because they created a biodegradable and edible 6-pack ring that is safe for sealife. While we drank our beers we played tabletop shuffleboard. I was the champion.
After Saltwater we stopped at Publix to get sandwiches, and we took them to the beach at Spanish River Park. We plopped down 2 chairs and an umbrella. Since I was a little sunburnt from the day before I stayed on the beach and read while Julia and Diana waded out. It wasn’t long before Julia saw a ‘shark’ and came sprinting back out. I gave her the chair and laid on a towel. The weather was perfect, the ocean waves were calming, and I took a nap on the sand. We stayed at the beach for several hours and then went back to Diana’s to wash up.
About 8:00pm we headed to another brewery, Funky Buddha. It was a little bit away, in Pompano Beach. We ate large pretzels and had flights of beer so we could try lots of kinds. At 11:00pm we called it a night. We returned to Diana’s and packed since our flight was at 9:00am the next day.
Day 4 May 8, 2018
Diana drove us to Palm Beach International at 7:00am. We said goodbye at the terminal and had no trouble getting through security and to the gate. My stomach was bubbly, so I skipped breakfast, but Julia had a chocolate croissant from Starbucks.
The flight to Atlanta was smooth. We were in the bulkhead exit row of a 757. So much leg room! Our connection in Atlanta was no problem and the flight into Cincinnati was no problem either. Julia had a Bloody Mary since they were complimentary for our seats.
After a quick stop for gas we got to my parent’s house and reunited with the dogs. They were very vocal the whole drive home to let us know how they felt about us leaving them. We got Chick Fil A and then headed home.
Robinsons on the Road 