Florida Keys Day 1

 

Saturday February 14, 2026

Wendy Snow, Kim Purcell, Shawna Schauers, Amy Schauers and I have been planning this sisters trip for a year! There was a bit of frustration with the venue getting cancelled two weeks before departure, but we managed to secure another possibly even better place in Marathon Keys FL (thanks Wendy!). Getting to Miami Florida was rough, we are so tempted to take those red-eye flights, the cost is so much cheaper and the direct flight so time saving, and yet at what cost to our health! We all tried to be upbeat and positive despite a horrible turbulent sleep torture night (as soon as you fall asleep something jerks you awake over and over is sleep torture). I found a dime straight away in the airport when we arrived and knew angels were with us and I would be helped doing my first vacation day on no sleep after a long busy week. 

Shawna and I were designated drivers of the rental van. She drove the first hour and a half to Key Largo where we stopped for breakfast at Conch House Cafe. Amy was too tired to eat and slept in the car but the rest of us were hungry. Shawna and I shared fried conch egg benedict (yes I ate conch fritters, not my favorite), and a macadamia nut pancake with key lime coconut syrup that was to die for! That perked me up and I offered to drive the 1 hour more to Marathon Key so Shawna could sleep. That was the hardest drive I've ever done, I now see why sleepiness is considered "impaired driving." But miraculously we made it! The place we stayed Indigo Reef Resorts is beautiful! Such a miracle we secured this spot. Cost a bit more but totally worth it in my opinion.

We could only drop the bags on the porch because the cleaners were doing their thing. So we drove around despite exhaustion, exploring the local grocery story Winn Dixie, and a nature preserve museum with a train caboose at the entrance, and Sombrero beach. I kept trying to get my 3rd, 4th, and 5th wind to stay awake and social, but by noon, sitting on the beach in the hot sun, I started feeling really ill. I'm sure everyone was feeling sick but I had to call it and let everyone know I was feeling flu-like symptoms and disorientation. My sisters are so considerate, they immediately got up and drove me to the resort and the cleaners kindly let me lay down in a bedroom that was ready. They all went to the grocery store without me and I was very grateful I didn't have to try and make food decisions feeling ill. I slept for an hour and a half and felt much better.

We enjoyed sitting in the sun on the back patio with a view of the pool and the ocean and talked. At 5 pm we went out to dinner at Fish Island Co. They had great fish but we all agreed it was the bread that made this place great; they had the best bread we've ever tasted! The crabcakes with lime pepper were amazing too. We all wanted to try a different key lime pie every night and this place offered deep fried key lime pie so we tried that first. While we were waiting for desert Kim or Amy spotted a big manatee in the water right by the dock we were seated on. Mr Manatee munching on sea grass or discarded bread from the restaurant, just hanging out! I felt so grateful and amazed to be there with my sisters and so happy I didn't have to go to work on Monday!