Key West, Florida : December 24, 2006
Key West is the southermost tip of the the United states and is a string of islands surrounded by the gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic ocean on the other. The area has warm climate year around. The ocean/gulf waters are pretty warm too! As a result, tourists visiting this region can enjoy has a wide range of water related activities such as Snorkelling, canooing, boating, fishing, scuba diving and likewise. The area is a home for rich marine life and various ocean tours offer the visitors an opportunity to witness the various marine life form dwelling in this region.
We took a short trip of the Key West islands during the christmas holidays of 2006. We started from Atlanta on 12/24/06 and flew to Sarasota, FL. Then we drove to Ft. Myers and picked up two other friends: Amol and Pallavee, who joined us for the onwards, Key West adventure. Our next desitnation was Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We drove through Alligator alley: A stretch between Ft Myers and Ft. Lauderdale (I-75) roughly 85 miles long and which passes through marsh lands which is a habitat for numerous birds & animals including alligators. We took a few pictures enroute and these could be seen here:
Alligator Alley pictures
Together, we drove to Ft. Lauderdale on the same day reaching @ around 1500 hrs. We had enough time to visit Dania Beach which is located on the eastern side of Ft. Lauderdale. You can view the pictures of this location here:
DANIA BEACH pictures
Dec 25, 2006: Christmas day, dawned bright, hot and sunny. We were extremely glad with this cooperative and encouraging weather and couldn't have asked for a better climate to start the day. We had a filling breakfast @ IHOP. The plan was to spend some time @ Miami Beach, and then commence the 3.5 hours journey to Key West. You can view the pictures taken @ the beach over here:
MIAMI BEACH pictures
The drive to Key West was one of its kind. We encountered sunshine as well as stormy weather. The latter part was quite scary especially since it caught up with us on the '7-mile' bridge that connects the Key West Islands with the upper keys. We reached our Hotel in Key West @ 1900 hrs. That ended an eventful christmas day of sight-seeing. The following day: Dec 26, 2006: we had planned to visit the 'Dry Tortugas' island. These are situated 70 miles south west of the Key West islands into the Gulf of Mexico. These islands house an ancient fort from the Civil war era: Ft. Jefferson. The pictures of this adventure could be viewed here:
KEY WEST: 'DRY TORTUGAS' adventure.
|
