Florida, vol 2

(If you haven't read the first part, make sure to check it out!) :)

From Georgia we drove to Jacksonville Beach and spent the night there. This was Christmas Eve, and the next day was supposed to be a relaxed day at the beach, since everything would be closed. But the weather wasn't exactly a beach weather, so we ended up driving all the way down to Cape Canaveral. I had really been looking forward to visiting the JFK Space Center, but we arrived too late for tickets. The area was open until 6pm, and we got there at 4.30pm. Needless to say, I was angry. 

Wish I could have explored! >:(

I still kinda feel that Christmas Day was just a waste of time on this trip, because we didn't accomplish anything. Except for mileage. I was feeling better about things the next day, and we continued on to Lake Worth and visited some friends who live there during winter time. That would be a dream… winters in Florida (or anywhere in the States for that matter) and summers in Finland. Or no Finland at all. That would work, too.

We did some shopping and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Wish we had that restaurant here, their food and cheesecakes are so delicious!

On Friday we continued our Road Trip toward Key West! Definitely one of the most expected journeys on this trip, driving through the Keys. We made a stop in Islamorada, half way between Miami and Key West, because my brother and I had tickets to swim with the dolphins at Theater of the Sea. Swimming with dolphins has been a life-long dream of mine, but I've never had the chance to do it until now. It was an amazing experience! One of the reasons I chose to do it at Theater of the Sea, is that they take really good care of their animals and strive to give them as natural a habitat as possible. The animals aren't living in chlorinated pools indoors, they have great outdoors facilities with the water coming straight from the Ocean. 

Meet Skipper! He is 4 years old, one of the youngest dolphins at Theater of the Sea, and he was born there. Such a wonderful and playful creature!

Look at the pose he's giving! What a little show off ;)

We stopped for a bathroom break at a visitor center about 30 miles outside of Key West, and learned that every single hotel, motel and B&B had absolutely no vacancy. There were 3 rooms available, with rates $700 per night and up. It was also interesting to find out, that all the cheaper hotels/motels were disappearing from Key West, and it's been transformed into a more high-end destination. We saw an abandoned Days Inn when we got there. What kinda sucks, is that we had planned to spend the night, but had no idea that we got there on the busiest weekend of the year, of course right after Christmas. 50,000 people headed out there on the same day that we did (which explains the traffic) and another 50,000 were scheduled to arrive the next day on various cruise ships. So we drove to Key West, did a quick tour (the Southernmost point, Sloppy Joe's…) and headed back toward the main land. We tried a few hotels on the way, further away, but everything was booked full. Every single one. Let me tell you, driving to and from Key West the same day is no joy ride. Especially when you have to drive back at night time and can't see anything but tacky xmas lights. Ho Ho Ho!

It was 1am before we finally found a place that had two rooms available. Roughly 1000 feet from the Miami International Airport runway. AND.. the hotel was the kind that rents out rooms by the hour… But seriously, we were exhausted and there was no saying how long we would have had to look for another place with vacancy. On the plus side, this place was very clean and the location was perfect, since we were going to spend the last 3 nights there. And, a funny story to tell. 

In Miami, we explored the beach, the city, the shopping possibilities.. did a half day trip up to Sawgrass Mills and I'm telling you… I'm not that into shopping, but I could have spent the entire day there! 

I might do a separate post about stuff that I bought.. or even a Haul Video if I'm feeling up to it. Right now I'm sick and my voice sucks, so if I do make a video, it'll be a while x)

The last couple of days were more laid back and on Monday we flew back to Finland, via Spain. Only 2 flights, thank goodness. We flew Iberia, and the plane was freaking awesome, at least compared to the AA one we flew to Raleigh. 

I caught this stupid flu when we reached Madrid, but before I knew it, I was back home, dragging two suitcases + a full grocery bag up four flights of stairs (no elevator in my building, and I didn't want to do two trips). 

And that was my vacation. I left the bad stuff out, because what's the point in dwelling? 

Now I'm just waiting for my next vacation… ;)