The southernmost

Moving from the subtropics to the tropics didn't make it any warmer. Key West was windy and rainy. Luckily the sun started to shine on Thursday so we were able to join the sunset celebration at the Mallory Square. The best act was the money-eating dog. Or actually it collected money for the banjo player from the audience. I don't even remember the songs the man played but I will always remember the money-collecting dog. If I could teach this trick to a dog, I would not have any difficulty in getting a permission from Minna to actually get a dog...
We stayed at the Authors of Key West for the second time and the Hemingway cottage was very cosy. I recommend the guest house because it is within a walking distance from the Duval Street and it is really well-kept property. In my opinion it was the nicest accommodation on this trip. We even got an extra heater for the second night... It was quite cold at night. The highlight for the rest of our crew was when I got dog crap on my sandal.

Snorkeling no, kayaking yes

Sea water being too cold for snorkeling without a wetsuit, Minna and I decided to go kayaking. John Pennekamp park had well-marked canoe trails so that we wouldn't get lost. Searching for the canoe trail signs was also a good opportunity to test Kia's new waterproof Canon Powershot D10 camera.

This was actually the warmest day of the whole vacation. But, I still would've liked to take pictures of the reef with the new camera.
In the evening we had dinner at Mrs Mac's Kitchen which was recommended both by Lonely Planet and the Sunset Cove's staff. Mahi mahi (or dolphin fish) was excellent and I wonder why it's not possible to get it in Finland. Kia said that the grilled mahi mahi at Mrs Mac's Kitchen was the best food she had on this trip.
As you can see, I am very interested in taking pictures of signs.

Sunset Cove Beach Resort in Key Largo

Sunset Cove Beach Resort is our basecamp in the upper Florida Keys. It is nothing fancy but the location and the sunset is great. We booked the Suite 9 already last year and thus we are right at the waterfront. We will stay here for three nights and then we will head for Key West. Today was the best weather on the whole trip. The forecast for tomorrow says rain but let's see. We will have so many beaches on the way to Key West that it would be a shame not to visit them.
We spent today on John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Minna and I rented a kayak and the girls stayed at the beach. By the way, Minna is obsessed by her 50 state quarters collection and she has only 11 quarters to go. Every time we get some change, everyone needs to declare them so that she can take a look if she is missing any of them. As the collection is almost ready, we found out that there is already a US Territories quarters program so she started collecting those as well when she got the Washington DC quarter...

Mummy and dad at the Universal Studios

Girls loved the Mummy ride at the Universal Studios. Last time Kia did not dare to ride yet but now she rode it 8 times. It is quite awesome with the flaming ceiling and everything. We had already decided to go on Saturday because it was the Mardi Gras at Universal. Blondie was performing and there was a great parade just before the concert. We also bought the ticket which entitled to bypass the lines in all attractions except the newest ones. This was worth the money. We could just go through all attractions first and then spend the rest of the day strolling around the park. Much better system than Disney's Fastpass.
The newest roller coaster Rip Ride Rockit looked worse than it really was. Before it took off, each rider could select his favourite music and listen to it while screaming. Nowadays you can buy your picture in the end of the ride but here, the whole ride was videotaped and made into a music video. Let's see if I can put it here after we get back home. Rip Ride Rockit had long queues on Saturday so we decided to wake up early on Sunday and take the ride then. Unfortunately it was broken in the morning so we had to wait before we could ride it. Anyway, the wait was shorter than on Saturday. . We all preferred Universal over Disney.

On Sunday we drove all the way down to Key Largo in search for a warmer weather. Which we actually found, but it was raining.

Slight disappointment

On Thursday we visited Disney's Hollywood Studios. It was a slight disappointment for the adults but the kids seemed to like it a bit more. Especially the American Idols Experience. As soon as we arrived, we picked up Fastpasses for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This ride actually saved the day. It was one of the best rides I've been to. The park was packed and as you can only have 1 Fastpass at a time, it was almost impossible to get to some of the rides. Toy Story and Aerosmith had about two-hour lines so we did not even try. Lights, camera, action stunt show was also worth going to. Excellent driving and stunts.
On Friday we spent the whole day at the mall and in the evening we visited the Ripley's Believe it or Not attraction.

Welcome to Miami

It's been a long time since I have travelled anywhere. After changing jobs, I must admit that I have not missed business travel a bit. Last year I did not travel anywhere on pleasure either so this is my first vacation since Australia two years ago. Maybe I cannot be considered as travel blogger anymore. Well, frankly my darling, I don't give a damn.
Anyway, here we are. How we got to choose Florida (again) is mainly because of the cheap flights. We managed to get flights for three with 1000 euros which was pretty good considering that we are travelling on a winter holiday week. Kia starts to be in the age when she is not satisfied with the parents' company only so we asked her friend Mona to join us. With this move, I wanted to get rid of the dad-are-we-there-yets.
We changed planes at JFK and there was a big snowstorm there so our plane to Miami was delayed by 2.5 hours. Once we got to Miami, the luggage belt broke while our luggage was being delivered so we waited another 1.5 hrs for the luggage. Then, to top our ordeal, Florida is having the coldest weather in about 40 years.
I had reserved Mazda 6 from Hertz already but then I got second thoughts because I figured out that we will have a lot of luggage. I cancelled the Mazda and reserved Chevy Trailblazer from Avis with the same price (about $700 for two weeks). Then we actually got Ford Edge which had enough space in the back and also looks terrific. Even if the rent is equal to Mazda 6, we are paying extra on the excess fuel Ford consumes. I also booked the first three nights with my Marriott rewards so we have not paid anything for accommodation until today.