Feuille de route

Our roadtrip to Florida is going well. We are going around , arranging our plans regarding our interest and motivation. Here is what we did so far …

D2 : Miami
The flight from Paris to Miami seems really long si we wanted to have a quiet day. We went to Aventura Mall, North Miami to do some shopping. First a stop at Johnny Rockets for lunch (see pics below). We love it so much we ate for 3 days during that single lunch !! Then Off to Lululemon to bought mysleft some high quality Yoga gear. As it was my birthday, my husband made me the surprise (thanks to the ladyies there) to bought me a black/purple pant and a purple top. After that, regular shopping for european in the USA : American Eagles / Victoria Secrets / Gap / Nike / …
For diner, we went to a really nice place : The Red Fish Grill (see following picture). It is a really nice restaurant, upon the beach. So romatic. Happy Birthday to meeeeee !
It was a nice day, but we were glad to go back to bed, to our hotel in Miami Beach (Aqua Hotel)

D3 : Miami - Zoo
I am an animal freak. I love them. All of them (ok appart Spiders…). So after checking the Miami Beach Visitor center and the nearest Whole Foods for a picnic lunch, we went to the Miami Zoo. It is a really nice one, the animals are categorize regarding their environement (Autralia, Asia, Atlantic…). The day went smooth :D

D4 :  On our way to the Keys
Time to hit the road !! We headed south to Key West. 6 hours of road later, here we are in a charming yet really hot island (35°C). Our hotel (Caribbean House) was OK as it was one of the less expensive. But the rooms are small, the air conditioning REALLY loud, and you will be waking up by roasters till 5am.
We fist took a look at the town center : bunch of restaurants and shops for tourists. The best part was the sunset on the sea it was wonderful : lots of colors, light and the sight was so nice !!

D5 : Key West / Naples
The following morning, we went snorkeling to the Key West Reefs. Started at 9:30am we were off the boat at 12pm. I would have love it longer :) The fishes were almost as beautiful as the one I saw during my divings at Bali.

We decided to go to Naples then. 6 hours roads later, 3 through the Everglades (Alligators!!), we arrived at the Trianon Hotel. That hotel was marvelous : 20 minutes to the beach, 5 to town center, pool, large rooms. We ate diner at the Bistro on the main street. The food was REALLY great and service nice.

D6 : Naples beach / Sanibel island
The following morning, we enjoyed the naples’ beach and I found some shells. The first ! As we wanted some quiet time, we went off to Sanibel Island, with a stop at the Eddison museum at Fort Myers on the way. We finished the day by the beach near the hotel (Holiday Inn, a nice resort with fridge, large rooms, pool, 2 min from the beach…), enjoying the hot water and some more shells and some mosquitos bites :/

D7 : Sanibel Island
We had a crazy idea : Biking all day long under the sun. We did the west of the island (including the wildlife park) for a total of around 45 km. After that we were definitely tanned :) The pool was really welcomed around 5. We ate diner at a sports bar Doc Ford’s Sanibel Rhum Bar and Grille. A première for me : 10 screens with sports only (Drafts NBA, BaseBall, Tennis…). Food was OK. We were so exhausted…

D8 : Sanibel / Sarasota / Saint Perterburg
After the shells hunt in the morning, we drove to the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. Fishes of all king, jellyies, Sharks are living in the aquariums, and the biggest part is the 12 meters giant squid ! we visited the care center too : Dolphins, sea turtles and manatee are cured and taking care of.
we spent the night in Saint Petersburg, the closest town to the Dali museum, our first stop tomorrow morning before heading to Orlando.