Keys Stories, Part 5 - Farewell Key Largo, HELLLLOOOOO Key West!!

We're always sad to leave Key Largo.

Our favorite Key Largo view

Our favorite Key Largo restaurant

Our favorite Key Largo cautionary sign

Our favorite Key Largo side-of-building art

Close-up view of our favorite Key Largo side-of- building art
(After all, what's a shark sculpture without a severed limb?)

We had breakfast at Mrs. Mac's and said farewell to our new friends, packed up the car, and headed southwest along the Overseas Highway -- our favorite drive.  

We stopped in Islamorada for photos with the Big Mermaid.

You've heard of the Little Mermaid, right?
Well, this is her opposite

Family portrait with the Big Mermaid

By the time we got to Robbie's, it was already lunch time, so we stopped at the Hungry Tarpon for a bite.  

Is she really making me pose for another photo?

The Hungry Tarpon is dog-friendly, and it was nice and shady there, and mom & dad said lunch was yummy.  After lunch, mom fed the tarpon (I first wrote about mom's tarpon-feeding addiction in Tarpon Feeding 101), and we met a very nice lady artist in the parking lot. She said she spoke Labrador and I found her to be quite fluent.

This is what I think about posing for another photo

It always takes us a long time to get from Key Largo to Key West because there are so many places we want to stop along the way, and we always meet nice people and stop to talk with them.  We never want to hurry along this route because the drive along the Overseas Highway is amazing -- it includes about eleventy-seven bridges and dad's favorite bridge, Seven Mile Bridge. The views from the bridges are breathtaking!  The ocean is different shades of aqua and blue, speckled with green mangrove hammocks. Even the roadside is interesting.  If you look closely, you see iguanas munching on the grass next to the road and an occasional Key Deer.

When we got to Key West (our absolute favorite place in the world), we checked into our hotel, then headed to dinner at the Island Dogs Bar for yummy food and fun people-watching.  It was Friday night and Duval Street was really hopping, but we were so tired after dinner, we went back to the hotel and went to bed. (I guess we're just not the party animals we once were.) But early bedtime means early morning exploring, so I had no objections.

Keys Stories, Part 4 - SUPing the Mangrove Wilderness & FUN FUN FUN at the Moose Lodge!

Our fourth day in Key Largo was the best day EVER, because we got to see my old friend Moose and meet his new sister Pixie.

We began the day with a paddleboard ecotour with PADDLE! the Florida Keys. This time we started at their shop, which is conveniently located on a canal, and paddled up Tavernier Creek. As we paddled along the canal, I lost my footing and went for an involuntary swim. I swam toward the mangroves (because trees mean land, right?), but there was no land, just trees growing up out of the water. This really confused me -- how can trees grow without land? -- but mom paddled over, grabbed the little handle on my PFD, and just pulled me right back up on the board, no problem.

Once I was back on the board, we paddled out of the canal and under the bridge and up Tavernier Creek a little ways. Then we went through a little opening in the mangroves, and paddled through a thick mangrove forest. The opening in the mangroves got smaller and smaller and the mangroves grew lower and lower over our heads, until we all had to sit down on the boards and duck under branches, and there was barely enough room to use a paddle. It was like exploring a wilderness, where no human or doggie had been before.

Follow her, momma

I see a parrotfish

Exploring the mangrove wilderness

Garth the Explorer

After a morning of exploring uncharted territory, I needed a nap. So we went back to the hotel and I napped while mom and dad went snorkeling.  

After my nap, we got in the car and went for a ride. I didn't know where we were going. I was very excited when we pulled up to the MOOSE LODGE, where my old friend Southernmost Moose lives with his momma and his new sister Pixie. I hadn't seen Moose in two whole years, and I'd never met Pixie or been to the Moose Lodge, so I was super excited. First I sniffed and explored the yard a bit with Moose, then Pixie came out and we ran around a little, then we all went inside to play with their toys. 

I think Pixie liked my daddy
(note blurry tail)

. . . and so did Georgie

Pixie with one of her babies

"Hey Big Boy"

Clearly Georgie was smitten

Snuggling up to Moose & Pixie's momma

Moose was very happy to see us 

I made myself completely at home, exploring all the rooms and pulling all the toys out of the toy box one by one. Their little house guest Georgie was quite taken with me, and she followed me everywhere I went. Moose and Pixie were wonderful hosts -- they even let me play with HippoPig and sit on their nice couch.

I'm a happy boy --
I've got HIPPO-PIG

We all enjoyed catching up, so we hung out and visited for a long time.  Then mom & dad & Pixie & their mom & I went to Yappy Hour at Snook's.  We try to make it to Yappy Hour every year, because it raises money for the local rescue Marrvelous Pet Rescues, and it's fun to hang out with the local doggies.  Pixie and I got lots of attention from the waiters, and we stayed so late we closed the place down.

We were so happy we got to see and spend some time with Moose, Pixie, and their mom. Moose is a legend, and one of the inspirations for my blog. He was the first dog blogger we followed, and his momma gave us some great advice the first time I came along with mom and dad to the Keys. We LOVE Moose and we fell in love with Pixie from her photos, so it was wonderful to meet her in the furs.

I can't believe mom didn't manage to get a photo of me and Pixie and Moose together. So here are a couple photos of me and Moose from Yappy Hour a couple years ago.

Keys Stories, Part 3 - A Romp at Anne's Beach & a Boat Ride with Captain Sam

Our third day in Key Largo began with a sunrise walk, followed by breakfast at Mrs. Mac's.  Mom even gave me a little piece of her omelet.  She said Mrs. Mac's makes the best omelets ever.  And the ladies at Mrs. Mac's were so nice to us -- especially to me.  After breakfast, we headed out for a day of adventure.

We first went to Anne's Beach, one of the best places for doggie romping in the Florida Keys.

And I romped.

And romped.

I found a coconut, and I had a GREAT time playing with the coconut.

A dog and his coconut

I'm a total island doggie retrieving coconuts

And we walked down the boardwalk and saw GIANT orange land crabs.

The crabs were HUGE

Then we got all cleaned up and ready for our next adventure.

Showering with momma

 Next we went to Robbie's to feed the tarpon.  (My mom has a tarpon-feeding problem enjoys feeding the tarpon at Robbie's.  You can read about it in my post Tarpon Feeding 101.) 

Fishies

And we saw a MANATEE.  Mom didn't get a good photo, but the manatee had a cute snout that was hairy just like mine.  Daddy dog LOVES manatees.

Then we went for a boat ride with my new friend Captain Sam of Keyz Charters.  (Which we highly recommend -- check out mom's TripAdvisor review of Keyz Charters.)  

Me and Captain Sam
(no, she's not about to rob a bank -- she's just being smart because the sun in the Keys is so intense)

Mom said the boat ride was an "ecotour", which I think means "fun boat ride where we see lots of cool stuff." 

We saw houseboats. 

And the most amazing birds.

This is a male frigatebird

We saw lots of birds.

I don't always love boat rides, but I really enjoyed riding in the boat with Captain Sam.  Dad says it's because she doesn't drive a boat like a maniac (unlike certain persons who shall remain unnamed).

What an awesome day of adventure.