Closing the Gap
In order to finish what you started, you sometimes need a plan.
Are we there yet?
In January of this year, I set out with my wife on an unplanned road trip adventure down the east coast of the U.S. We had an amazing time, and saw lots of places we had never been. There was one place that we didn’t make it to, until this month. We did not make it as far as Key West. We drove through the Florida Keys as far as Bahia Honda State Park, which is less than forty miles from Key West, but turned around and headed back to Key Largo. We had limited time on our first trip, and I decided I didn’t want to push myself for an extra eighty miles of driving.
Our first trip was mostly unplanned ahead of time. We needed a plan if we wanted to make it to Key West.
Planning for the plan
Our first trip taught us some useful things about road trips. They can be extremely tiring. You have to budget your time, and it helps to get up early, and get to bed early and get a lot of rest.
We had no particular goal in the first trip, so every day was full of welcome surprises we hadn’t really planned on.
We pre-planned all of the stops for our second trip, because we had a better idea how much time we would need.
Major Stops along our trip:
✅ Williamsburg, VA (overnight)
✅ Myrtle Beach, SC (overnight)
✅ Orlando, FL (two nights)
✅ Pompano Beach, FL (🛑 How You Brewin Coffee House for ☕️)
✅ Fort Lauderdale, FL (overnight)
✅ Pompano Beach, FL (🛑 ☕️)
✅ Key West, FL (three nights)
✅ Pompano Beach, FL (🛑 ☕️)
✅ Port Saint Lucie, FL (overnight)
✅ Palm Coast, FL (two nights)
✅ Hilton Head Island, SC (two nights)
✅ Williamsburg, VA (overnight)
As per the usual, there would be many sunsets and sunrises. We had one amazing sunset evening in Key West, which was what I had hoped for. There was a lot of amazing food, coffee, and drinks at various places along the way as well. I hope by sharing our plans and actual experiences in this blog, it helps someone in the future find something new and fun to experience.
The Trip
We tried to take pictures at each of the stops. I’m going to share a few here so friends and family can see some of the memories of our trip.
Williamsburg, VA
If you ever go to Williamsburg, I highly recommend checking out Aromas Coffee shop. We love the breakfast, the dinner, the coffee, the baked goods, and the atmosphere. It is a lovely coffee shop.
Myrtle Beach, SC
Myrtle Beach was a nice surprise for us on our first trip. We had never been before. Getting a room on the ocean front for the sunrise is a must. The sunrises are amazing. Our room was not in quite the right position for a sunrise, so I had to get up and go to the beach very early in the morning. It was worth it.
When we arrived driving from Williamsburg, we were just in time to catch the tail end of the sunset on the beach.
In the morning, I took a whole bunch of pictures of the sunrise. I love this particular one because it reminds me of the story of Icarus.
Orlando, FL
I have family that lives in the Orlando area, so I have been there quite a few times over the years. This time we found a great breakfast chain called “First Watch” and had some nice relaxing drinks by the pool.
This trip was meant to address one of my bucket list items — getting to Key West and seeing a sunset. My wife discovered a different kind of bucket list at the pool.
I like to joke about folks who put up xmas decorations before Thanksgiving. The hotel in Florida did not seem to get or care about my memo.
How You Brewin — First Stop
When you plan your trip to Key West properly, you can manage three stops at How You Brewin in Pompano Beach. This was the coffee refill and lunch from my first stop.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
We drove through Fort Lauderdale on our last trip. We made it a point to drive up and down A1A to see as many towns as we could on the east coast of Florida. The location of Fort Lauderdale is nice as it is a few hours drive to Key West from there. We had a nice view of the beach from our hotel.
The sunrise from our seventh floor room was quite nice. The ships just seemed to park off the coast. Not sure what they were doing there.
How You Brewin — Second Stop
Sometimes you need to plan to go North to go South. We drove eight miles from Fort Lauderdale on route A1A in the morning to have breakfast in Pompano Beach. You know the drill.
We filled up our Growler with Jazzy Java for the road. One refill thermos was for half and half, and the other empty one for coffee drinking. This was more coffee than I can drink in a day, but you have to be prepared for emergency coffee needs.
The Florida Keys
Driving from Pompano Beach with coffee in hand to Key West takes about four hours. Once you hit Key Largo, the bridge crossing begins. Enjoy the scenic drive with a good streaming playlist, and of course, delicious coffee!
Key West
We had a three night stay booked in Key West. Our room had an ocean side view.
I thought at first that was a lighthouse near the dock. Turns out it was a boat. There was some sort of construction going on at the hotel while we were there. The boat was gone in the morning.
We went to dinner, and every night at dinner, I had the same dessert. If you guessed Key Lime Pie, you are correct. The first Key Lime Pie I had a restaurant called Moondog was delicious, but I had to give it a hair cut before I ate it.
While I am a fan of Key Lime Pie, I do not need that much merengue.
When you reach the end of the road, you take a picture, and you buy a shot glass with “Mile 0” on it. These are the rules, I didn’t write them.
There is a lighthouse on Key West, and you can climb to the top. I love climbing lighthouses, because I have a fear of heights. I force myself to do things that terrify me. It’s good therapy. This lighthouse is a bit different than all the others I have ever climbed. The climb is only eighty eight steps. Easy! Unfortunately, the climb is up a straight corkscrew stair case in the middle of the lighthouse. Usually the stairs are attached to the walls. Don’t look down!
We went to the butterfly museum. It has two cranes, a bunch of other birds and a lot of butterfles and moths flying around. There are also quite a few on display as you walk in. I highly recommend checking the museum out if you have a chance.
You have to do the needful and visit the southern most point in the continental U.S. monument, so we did. Requisite selfie. Hi Cuba!
We saw this famous poem near a beach on Key West. I won’t tell you which one. Let me know if you visit Key West and find it.
We went to a rum distillery, did the tour, drank several different kinds of rum.
We saw the man himself and learned about his story.
If you know me or have read some of my blogs, you will know I like sunsets. The sunsets I got in Key West met my expectations. Too many pictures to choose from but I will try. The main picture of this blog was the best sunset picture I took on the same evening.
The important thing is to get as many of your own sunsets as you can. Every sunset is different, so enjoy every one you get. I hope you will enjoy the few I share in this blog.
The last glimmer of direct sunlight came through a sailboat.
There are also sunrises on Key West. We made it out early one of the two days we were there for the sunrise. There was a hurricane in Central America causing a lot of wind for us and cloudy skies. The sunrise and the birds didn’t care.
How You Brewin — Third Stop
On the return from Key West on our way to Port Saint Lucie, we stopped for the last time this trip at the Pompano Beach version of How You Brewin. I filled two of my refill thermoses this time.
Palm Coast, FL
I didn’t take any pictures at Port Saint Lucie, but we did go to breakfast at another restaurant in the First Watch chain. We went to a Cracker Barrel for breakfast in Palm Coast. This was our first time ever at a Cracker Barrel. It was a decent breakfast, and the store attached to the restaurant had some interesting odds and ends.
The purpose of the Palm Coast stay, was to spend time with my two aunts. We had a great time seeing both of them.
No pictures on this part of the trip.
Hilton Head, SC
We stayed at Hilton Head Island on our last road trip. We stayed at the north end of the island this time. We caught a sunset when we arrived.
We also had a nice walk on the beach the next day. It was a bit colder out at this point.
Williamsburg, VA
Where do you think we went to dinner and breakfast in Williamsburg?
The drive back from Williamsburg was pleasant, and I had a reload of the most important meal of the day for the road.
Closing the Gap
We started this year off bridging the gap in the year break I decided to take in order to write a book. The book is well on its way after ten months of intense writing and editing. There are lots of little things to do, but I am hopeful it will be done soon. I never planned on writing any travel blogs before taking my trip in January. Now I’ve written a few this year.
I managed to check off Key West on my bucket list, and now write a couple of travel blogs about the experience. I hope you enjoyed them.
Thanks for reading!
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