Preppy cover-ups (clothing n' a floral arbor) shield from Key Largo's sun
Preppy kayaking-action going on amidst the mangroved channels
Spotting a Preppy fishing off a tiny-key's shores accessed by kayak
A happy-Preppy snorkeler...hard to beat the super-clear waters here
...OR the finally lazing-away in a beachside hammock, ahhh...bliss....There's trips, there's traveling, there's taking vacations and then there's taking an actual-vacation...which is what James and I have finally done, an actual-vacation.
We've vacated the premises of one island for the parameters of other islands further south of us packing very little aside from our snorkeling gear, fishing rods and kayaks. Nothing has been on the agenda at all so far except for "being in the water" and this has been total bliss!
The past two months of our work lives have been literally crazy... James has been doing his usual mostly away from home flying trips while I've been so busy with work projects and events that it's been a real challenge to not run my hours every week into overtime. About every night I don't have something else going on after work, I've come back home to do a little housework, help Dad out a bit, give Kanon a short walk or throw the ball with him and then have fallen into bed exhausted. Both James and I were literally running on our internal exhaust fumes.....
So our decision to choose an actual-vacation over our usual Spring Trip exploring a city or two around Europe was an easy one: it was time to rest, relax and renew our inner-batteries!
So....we've been out here in the Florida Keys...
This is definitely not, in general, a "Preppy Place" to be sure but it's been a lot of fun!
We're staying in Preppy places however: The Hilton Resort on Key Largo and the Hyatt Resort on Key West. This Hilton's been nicely understated yet is still elegant in a nature-vibed sort of way. The interiors here, exteriors and beaches plus pool are all clean-lined and simple and, despite a full-house over the Easter weekend, seem uncrowded and fairly quiet. Our room's kind of like being in a small bungalow: modern, light, breezy and expansive. We've enjoyed this stay here so much that we extended it by cancelling other reservations we had with an actual beach side cottage on another key. Tomorrow we're heading on to the Hyatt on Key West.
We've brought our Preppy activity-apparatuses with us by lugging our fishing gear, snorkeling stuff and kayaks down here on our kayak trailer. Preppy folks, as we all know, are sporty-folks. Yes, we'll sit around the pool a bit but we'll also soon being doing laps in it. Yes, we'll lay out on the beach for awhile but then we'll also head out to snorkel the rest of the afternoon away. Yes we'll lazily kayak through a mangrove swamp's channels but then of course we're also casting away with our fishing rods as well.
We've brought our Preppy appetites with us enjoying fresh seafood, fresh fruits and other simple dishes along with a drink or two. As usual, I'm more-prep food wise with my preference for plain, simple foods while James is the much more adventurous one trying all the spicy and unusual fare available out here on the keys. Last night we went to an upscale seafood buffet where I indulged in various fish, shrimp, crab dishes as well as ate probably way too many conch fritters than I should have then topped it all off with a key lime piece of pie. Today, after that big food-spree, I'm back to fruit n' more fruit and lots of water.
We've brought our Preppy clothes with us though actually very, very little of these with only bringing one roll-aboard piece of luggage apiece. The bulk of our attire is of course swimsuits, swimsuit cover-ups and well-worn fishing togs. I've included one cute tropical-islandy long gauzy cotton festive-print dress for dining out on Key West and a lightweight button down shirt and khaki pants for James for the same occasion. Otherwise we've left the resort so far in Polo shirts, khaki walking shorts and our Sperry flip-flops and, funny enough, have been some of the neatest-looking tourists around. When we've actually left the premises here....
This is Day 5 of our 10-Day-Vacay.
We both feel that doing an actual-vacation like this was a great decision. It's kind of ironic that, while living out on a tiny, quiet island ourselves, we still lead very busy and high-pressured lives thus occasionally needing to vacate our own premises in order to get some rest n' relaxation. However, we do appreciate the times we can stand out in our yard and look off into a picturesque horizon after hopping out of our cars at the end of a long workday. We also appreciate the ability to kayak right off the yard as well as take long walks through our woods and putter around the garden a bit as well. Times out in our hammock by the marsh or sitting on one of the two porches are treasured too however...there's always things like housework, household projects, working on our computers, assorted chores, errands and such in the background which call out to us...but not here in the Florida Keys.
Here in the Keys we're relaxing to a degree that's just not possible on the island-back-home......
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