Key Largo, Montego, Baby Why Don't We Go?

We interrupt this blog for a bit of pop culture trivia.  There is no island named Kokomo, in the Caribbean or anywhere else.  The Kokomo referenced in the song is actually a hotel bar in Islamorada, which is just a few miles south of Key Largo, where we love to visit in the Keys. But I like to think they were singing about the oh-so tropical Kokomo, Indiana.  And now, back to our trip report.

If you have never been to the Florida Keys, I recommend you put it on your bucket list.  Rob and I love the way life slows down when you cross into Key Largo.  The air is different, salty and warm.  The people are friendly.  And the food is delicious.  After going two years in a row, we missed going in 2016 because of a deployment.  I'm so glad we made it back in 2017.  In fact, if you wait about 20 years, Rob and I just might have retired down there so you can come stay with us.  

Maybe one reason Key Largo holds such a big place in our hearts is its the first place we took the kids on a real vacation.  They don't remember going before, but they adapted to the lifestyle pretty quickly.  That first morning they were up at 7 and in the pool by 9:30.  

No joke, this photo is time stamped 9:40am.

View of the pool area from the hotel.

Spiderman taking a break.

Now I need to make a correction.  In my last blog I said we were at the Key Largo Marriott.  That is not true.  The Marriott is a fancy resort.  We were at the Courtyard  Key Largo.  It was a great location, central to everything we wanted to do.  The Bistro was great for breakfast.  The room was large.  The pool was great and they had a little man-made beach overlooking the canal.  We would stay here again, absolutely.

After a little early morning swimming, I took a break and did what all moms love to do on vacation: I went to the grocery store.  Ugh.  I know that prepping a few meals in the room saves us money on vacations, but it is such a vacation buzz kill to go to Publix.

Taking a break with some coloring.

Right back at it in the sand.

One thing you should know about the Keys, the beaches are few and far between.  While our hotel had a "water" view, that water was a canal that went to the ocean.  But that didn't make a difference to Anne and Ryan.  They loved playing in the sand and waving at the boats that went past.  

Something I noticed was the age of our fellow travelers.  It might have been the time of year (January).  But our two were among only a handful of kids we saw the entire time we were in Key Largo.  In three days, we never saw another kid in the pool.  Luckily our kids are well behaved, for four year olds.  We got a lot of side eye from the grannies around the pool.  Then Ryan would say, "excuse me, can I jump if I don't splash you?" and their hearts would melt and they would tell me how adorable he was.

For our first dinner we went to the Key Largo Fishery Backyard Cafe, a unique dining experience that we found on our last trip.  Like the name suggests, its a cafe at the fishery.  All the food is so fresh, it might have been swimming that morning.  Yum!  When we were here last, they had just started building an awning structure over their seating.  It was much needed as the sun was brutal.  It was done very nicely.

This is Rob taking a picture of his beer so he can upload it to Untapped.

The lobster BLT. When Rob said we should go to Key Largo before the cruise, I almost cried with joy at the thought of eating this sandwich.

Peel and eat shrimp. These are so good, and are actually Ryan's favorite food. Can't wait until he can peel them himself.

After dinner we explored the docks a bit, but it got too windy so we headed back to the hotel.  After all the sun and playing, the kids went right to sleep.  Day one was a success!