Fall 2012 Florida Keys Adventure - My Travel Journal, Part V

. . . I'm sad to say I'm on my way, 

won't be back for many a day . . .

Part V: Heading Home

Day 12  - Key West to Vero Beach:

Tarpon, Manatees, and a Very Warm Welcome

After almost two weeks of awesomeness, it was time to head north.  We hated to leave Key West.  We always do.  It was a beautiful day with nice breeze, and we stopped on our way out of Key West to buy a couple new collars for me from the Coconut Retriever guy. (I promise I will model them for you in an upcoming post.)

We stopped at the Home Depot in Marathon and dad was most impressed that they sell lobster traps.  At a Home Depot!

During our mandatory stop at Robbie's, I got to do pelican patrol while mom fed the tarpon!  She said I was very helpful because I scared away the pelicans who otherwise would have tried to steal her fish.  

Mom has totally lost her nerve after last year's tarpon-feeding incident (described in my post Tarpon Feeding 101), but she still enjoys feeding the tarpon, and I think dad is actually glad she has become more cautious.

While mom was feeding the tarpon and I was acting as a deterrent to thieving pelicans, a MANATEE swam by the dock.  We quickly abandoned the tarpon and followed the manatee over to the other dock.  I had never seen a manatee before and mom and dad had only seen manatees once before, so it was very exciting for us.

It's a MANATEE

We got a really good look at the manatee dude

Eventually the manatee left and we watched the people from the fishing boat unload and clean their fish.  It's fun to watch because they throw fish parts in the water and that attracts tarpon and sometimes even sharks.  We saw lots of tarpon and a stingray!  The stingray was acting like a roomba, going back and forth over the sandy bottom and cleaning up all the little fish parts.

This little guy was hanging out in a kayak at Robbie's

Not quite sure what they have against bananas

Once we were able to tear ourselves away from Robbie's, we continued north.  We stopped for photos with the giant lobster and for lunch at Snook's, one of our new favorite places to eat in Key Largo.  Then we went to the UPS Store to see our new friend, and to The Blue Cow Cafe (another of our new favorite places in Key Largo) for some ice cream for the road.  We took Card Sound Road to the mainland but luckily saw no crocs.

Me and dad and the giant lobster

Giant lobster, rear view

Getting treats from my new friend at the UPS Store

It's impossible for us to drive from Key West to Key Largo without stopping many times, and we took several wrong turns on and off the Florida Turnpike, so we didn't arrive at Vero Beach until after 9 p.m.  But they had a water bowl right inside the lobby, and there was a welcome sign with MY name on it!  And my friend Jack was there to greet us.  There was also a goody bag waiting in the room for me!  I LOVE the Vero Beach Kimpton!

The Welcome Dog had my name on it

Who's that good-looking yellow lab?

I LOVE goodie bags!

Day 13 - Vero Beach to Port Wentworth, GA

I loved the view from our balcony
at the Vero Beach Kimpton

But I don't wanna leave!

After an early morning walk with daddy, we all said goodbye to my friend Jack & headed north.  It was a really long day of riding in the car, but that's okay cause I needed the rest after all my adventures!

Sacked out in the car

We spent the night at our favorite dog-friendly Hampton Inn in Port Wentworth, Georgia.

Sacked out in the room

Day 14 - Georgia to RVA

Excited to be almost home

After another long day of driving, we were very happy to be back home!  

Relaxing with a stick on our front porch,
while the staff unpacks

We had a wonderful time and had some amazing adventures.  I'm a really lucky dog that I'm able to go all kinds of places and do all kinds of things and meet lots of awesome people.  But, you know what was the very best part of vacation?  Spending lots of time with my mom and dad!  Pack time is the BEST!