Day 53 - island in the west

Day 52 - island in the west

04.01.17

Welcome to the new blog episode from sportodimondo at this beautiful day in january. Once again we write in english, first of all because we can, and second because we are travelling through Florida (USA), which is known as an english speaking state (and country). But perhaps we get to know some stories of the so called 'sunshine state' a bit better today...

We wake up at about half past eight and soon we are on our feet. We have a couple of things to do this morning before checking out of the motel. For example having a shower - it is warmer and more humid than usual. We don't use the air conditioner in our room, because it is too noisy and we would only get a cold. Additionally we need to repack our bags for the upcoming road trip with our car 'Alfred'. And finally we need to prepare our 4$ Icebox for the travel ;-) And of course we want to eat some breakfast.

At 11 o'clock we are ready to explore the famous 'Key West' islands. But does somebody of you know, why this part of South Florida or more precisely these islands are called the Keys? No? We don't know either - until now.

Something that we didn't expect before our trip through Florida is the fact that a large number of Spanish-speaking people live and work in Florida, such as Spanish, Mexicans, or other Central or South Americans. In almost all food shops and also at our car rental agency, there are only Spanish-speaking people working. By the way, all signs at the airport or on the street are written in English and yes, in Spanish too! Now, in Spanish 'cayo' means little, flat island. The Americans then transformed it to the similarly pronounced word 'key' in English. So 'Key Largo, Big Pine Key, Summerland Key ... and the best-known island Key West' (the most western island of the Keys) are named after the Spanish. Now you know too.

Back to our daily program. Well, today we drive along the state highway 1 in the direction of Key West. While driving, we make some stops to take photos or visit a beach park. Unfortunately, we don't have the opportunity to swim - sometimes because of the rocky beach, jellyfish warnings, or too much seaweed. Instead, we find a cool miniature golf course. The 18 holes are really fun and creative! Not to mention that Yves won the competition.

After this, we drive to our room for the next two nights. We were lucky last night to find a stay on Airbnb. Cici (in German 'Sissi') tells us in the evening (as she is looking for a couple who have not yet paid for their room) that normally she is fully booked for months. Lucky men ;-) Afterwards, we cook and enjoy dinner.

And now it's already time to get some sleep. By the way, 'isla en el oeste' is just Spanish for 'island in the west' :-)

Photo of the day: everything for your body