Travel
Earls_Bride
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
** balbacm ** Hey!
in Travel
I see your back from Key West... so how was it?? What do you rec/not rec?
Just celebrated 6 blessed wedded years! 9.24.06
Re: ** balbacm ** Hey!
hey there! it was great - definitely in KW withdrawal!! We stayed at the southernmost hotel on the beach and it was really nice. July in KW is freaking hot. Here's my C&P review from TA:
Background on us: My husband and I celebrated his 33rd birthday on July 4. We are very well traveled around the US and Caribbean. This was our 2nd trip to KW ? our first was a cruise stop about four years ago.
We left Pittsburgh on July 3 for FLL. We were delayed several hours due to storms in ATL ? by the time we landed in FLL and picked up our car it was after 2AM. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Daina Beach? basically just slept, ate breakfast and got into our convertible for the drive on July 4.Wed: We rented a convertible for the trip which was great! We stopped in Islamorda for lunch at Robbie?s which was really, really good. Great atmosphere and my husband said the Ahi Tuna Tacos were the best he?s ever had. We also stopped at The Lion?s Liar which is a bikini shop that I frequent online. Picked up 2 nice suits! We also stopped in Marathon for some SPF and alcohol ?The rest of the drive, while very pretty, was a little anticlimactic to be honest. I guess I figured that we?d see more ?island-y? stuff other than Walgreens, BK, etc. But the highlight of the trip was definitely the stop in Islamorda!We arrived at the Southernmost Hotel on the Beach and had an oceanview king, room 539 in building A. IT WAS AWESOME. We?ve stayed in some great hotel rooms around US and this place nailed it with the atmosphere / cleanliness. The bed was super comfy, the window treatments very tasteful, balcony furniture nice, blender, mini fridge, etc. It was all very appropriate and well done, a perfect island retreat.We hit up happy hour immediately ? great prices and super friendly bar staff. We had several Land Sharks and 3 different apps for about $20. Not too shabby ? the food was great too. Then the storms rolled in then? such a bummer! We waited around at the bar til about 9PM and decided there was no way fireworks would shoot off, so we went across the street to Ambroisa for sushi. Not 10 minutes later, we hear the fireworks show. BOO! But the food and atmosphere were great. We called it an early night and went to bed around 11PM.Thurs: The next AM we rented bikes and cruised around town. Breakfast at Blue Heaven was amazing? seriously great. H had the Lobster Eggs Bene and I had blueberry pancakes. We went to Ft Zach for a few hours ? very pretty. Chairs and umbrellas were $30 which we thought was insane so we hung out for awhile then went back to the hotel?s little beach. We knew the beaches weren?t amazing so we weren?t too disappointed by all the seaweed and rocks.Dinner was at Fin ? really great food and wine. They gave us 30% off of the bill for their ?summer special? which was great. We had a ghost tour to get to at 9PM so dinner was a little early and Fin was dead. The ghost tour was a bust IMO. It was crowded, the guide had to yell and it was hard to hear. We stayed for about 30 mins then snuck out.Friday: The next day we rode our bikes to breakfast at Pepe?s ? again really great food. I had the cinnamon cream cheese French toast with granola and berries. Amazing! We did a little souvenir shopping on Duval and hung out at the adults only pool at SMHOTB. H went to ?beer school? and had a great time while I relaxed. Boomer, the activities director, was awesome, as was most of the staff we encountered. Great comfy chairs at the adults pool and very laid back!That night we had the Danger Wind and Wine sail which was a blast. Great people and crew. Drinking all day and then drinking a LOT of wine is not conducive to coming out with clean, unstained clothes. My H had a few red wine mishaps so we decided between his appearance, his drunkenness and physically getting on another boat to sadly forgo our reservations at Latitudes. We had nachos at Margaritaville instead which are always huge and delicious!Sat: Breakfast at the Southernmost ? tasty but not as good as the other great places. Another great day at the pool ? H entered the hula hoop contest and won a free drink. I?d also like to note that Key Lime Coladas are amazing. That night, we went up to Mallory Sq ? drinks at Hogsbreath, enjoyed the performers and the sunset (so pretty) and then had dinner at A&B Lobster. We had the Hogfish special and it was amazing. And so was the key lime pie.Sunday AM brought our flight back home, Key West to Tampa to Dulles to PIT. Sounds awful but it wasn?t too bad.Sum up: It was a great, great trip. Only that one night of crappy weather. But WOW was it hot - ladies, really no point to fix your hair - mine was sticking to my neck and just really uncomfortable. We love good food and nowhere disappointed. We?ll definitely be back. KW sort of reminds me of NOLA on an island. Our hotel made our experience too. Great place. Thanks to this forum for all the great tips!