The One With All The Birthdays - October 14 COMPLETE

The day before

I'm glad I took notes on this day, or I would have blocked it from memory This wasn't a good day.

The day started of course with a quick weather check...

Those thunderstorms didn't fill me with hope :-/ oh well, least it was hot! We had about an hour to wait till the vets opened at 9am, we had taken Wilbur in the day before as he was very constipated so needed to get him sorted before we went away. I wasn't really expecting them to keep him in but they did. The call came right as they opened, the vet was worried as he had passed all of the stool but still really not himself (she knows him well) so she had taken bloods and with our permission wanted to send them off. I was worried as I could tell by the vet's voice she thought there was something wrong. We packed up the house and took all of our holiday stuff and the cat things up to my parents as the vets is round the corner. The original plan was to drop Wilbur with our friend who was looking after him for us the night before but as he was in the vets still we took all of his things thinking we would go from there to her house with him. We went straight into the vets to see him and the vet came in to chat with us about what she thought it might be. He was really pleased to see us and she was happy as that was the most animated he had been. While we were there she said she would go check on the bloods to see if the results were in yet, she came back into the room and shut the door, I just knew then he had stage 4 kidney failure. He had stage 2 for a while but each blood test came back managed so this was a real shock. Our lovely vet suggested the kindest thing to do would be to put him out of his misery as he would be feeling very uncomfortable, she said it was like being very hung over all the time. I asked her what she would do if he was her cat and she said she would do the kindest thing. We both had cuddles and Sy held him in his arms while she gave him the injection. After the vet placed him down as if he was sleeping and she gave us both hugs, she was very fond of Mr Wilbs too. We sobbed, the vet cried, we had to make plans what to do with him right then too, we know of a pet crematory nearby who had helped us with our baby Emily so we knew we wanted him to go there. It all felt so rushed, it was just awful trying to deal with our pain but knowing we were on a time limit. The vet told us to go and not worry about the money for now, deal with it once we were back from our holiday which was so nice of her. Outside I called our friend to let her know and she was really upset though she was relieved it happened before we went away, I couldn't have imagined not being there with him. My parents are only round the corner so we were there in no time, I went in and pretty much sobbed before I could get the words out. We then all cried as he was loved by us everyone.

Once I had composed myself as much as possible we loaded my parents car with as much stuff as possible and my dad did the hour drive to the airport hotel with me and my mum, mum had bought stuff for lunch but now no one wanted to eat a thing. Sy was working from home so he had more work to do - Sy's parents would be picking him and my dad up later (once dad was home again) as they have a 7 seater car but there wasn't going to be enough room for all 6 of us, all our cases and 2 scooters so that's why we came up with this plan. The car journey passed in somewhat of a blur, I felt sick most of the way - probably a combination of not eating anything all day and the stress. Unfortunately cause dad was dropping off me and mum we had all gone out and left Sy at home alone, he text me at one point saying he wasn't coping. I called him and he was sobbing Poor Sy I actually wasn't much help to him as I was feeling so sick myself I was concentrating on not throwing up so couldn't have a proper conversation.

Soon we were arriving at the Novotel Heathrow. Dad helped us in with all the stuff before dashing off again. We checked in and made our way to the rooms, 156 & 157. They were nice enough, and very nice for a free room Long story about that one, I did cover it in my pre trip but in case you haven't read it or forgotten... We booked through holidayextras where their guarantee is find it cheaper we will give you all of your money back along with still honouring the booking. I found it cheaper so we got the room for free

The original plan had been that we would go for a swim in the hotel's pool however neither me or my mum could face it. I pretty much laid on the bed for a while in their room, crying on and off. Eventually by about 4pm we decided that we were a bit hungry so we ordered some room service, a cheese pizza and drink for PS10.99 including delivery charge. It wasn't bad though it did have massive chunks of tomato which neither of us like to I spent ages picking them off. I dozed some more while mum watched some crappy afternoon TV and then everyone else arrived at about 7:15pm.

Sy's parents checked in while I went to get the last of our things from Sy and took them to our room (there wasn't much). Sy's parents were being dropped off by Sy's sister's boyfriend who was insured to drive their car so he was waiting outside with the car as he was dropping up at an Indian restaurant a mile or 2 down the road. We used to live near the airport so we knew the place quite well and this is a favourite restaurant of ours that we don't get to visit very often anymore living an hour away, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to pay a visit. Dad had booked the table for 7:30pm and by the time Anne and Cliff were checked in and ready it was almost time. Simon dropped us off outside (Simon is also the name of sister's boyfriend, not confusing at all!) and we headed inside. Sadly the owner wasn't there as we wanted to see him but we still had a fabulous meal. I didn't eat much as I still wasn't really in the mood so I got a chicken tikka starter and tried a bit of my mum's and Sy's mains.

Some pics of dinner.

Once we were full to the brim we paid up and asked the restaurant to call us a taxi back to the hotel. The taxi was uber cheap at PS6 as it was only down the road but it was too far to walk. We decided to have a drink in the hotel bar PS19 for 6 drinks wasn't too bad for a hotel bar.

We only stayed for one drink before heading up to our rooms, we had to be up and moving in the morning and today had been a stressful day for us all so we were shattered.

I took a lying in bed selfie which I was promptly told was way inappropriate haha

We couldn't sleep for a while, we spent a lot of time talking about Wilbs, watching videos and looking at pictures of him, more tears were shed. We decided that we were going to put the pain on the back burner, we had planned for this trip for so long so we would make the most of it as much as we could, crying and being so upset wasn't going to bring him back after all

It was about 12:30am by the time we were drifting off to sleep, half feeling distressed still and half excited for our trip. It wasn't a nice feeling at all actually.

A tribute to my wonderful boy Wilbur, you may have only been with us 18 months but I loved you for a lifetime. Sleep well my boy.

Yeah sorry to bum you out guys... It does get happier though I promise. It was a hard afternoon writing that first day let me tell you (

The feeling is mutual. I love it here I hope I don't have to help you through it any time soon xxx

It was awful, my aunt had a Siamese before and he lives to be 19 so I kinda assumed we had years still with Wilbs but the vet said he was already a good age

Travel Day

I was up at 7am, couldn't sleep anymore. I had been tossing and turning for a few hours before but I refused to let myself get up before 7am So as you can imagine, when 7 o'clock rolled round I was outta that bed, showered and dressed moments later. I had made myself some new palazzo trousers for the flight as I thought they would be comfy but smart still. Sy grabbed a quick picture before we left the room.

We had booked 2 taxis at the front desk last night so we had to be down at reception by 8:55am. So we were killing time for a while once we were ready. We decided to head down to reception a little early to wait but we all arrived there at about the same time, don't think any of us could sleep! The taxi's had room for us and all of our baggage and cost the same as the airport hoppa would have cost without having to stop at any other hotels first - that was worth knowing for future reference. The reason we had to book taxis was because when I contacted the hoppa they wouldn't give us an answer as to whether they would take both scooters on the bus, they said it would be up to the driver, helpful.

We were dropped off by 9:15am. We made our way straight inside to check in and get the scooters sorted, they take a little longer to get booked in as you have to go through all the weight, battery type etc. We were soon checked in and making our way over to security which had no wait whatsoever - a bit different than what we were expecting! The news had been reporting huge delays and they were even selling fast track security, so we were very surprised to get through so quickly.

Once through we did a bit of shopping, parents bought a bottle of gin each to last throughout the trip (and they did get through it all haha), I bought a meal deal from Boots in case I didn't like the food on board. We just had time to grab some breakfast in Pret and made our way to the gate... It was here that we had a problem. My scooter was starting to run out of charge! I couldn't believe I had forgotten to charge it the night before. We ended up heading to the gate with my mum half pulling me along while I held onto the arm of hers! We must have looked a sight. At the gate I managed to find somewhere to plug in for a few minutes before they took the scooter down to the aeroplane.

It was gonna be a busy flight...

We were among the first to board, we were in row 41. hmmm. We had requested the bulkhead seats via special assistance for my parents (not for us) as my dad has had 2 new knees and can't bend his knees very far, on check in they told us they had put us into extra legroom instead but that wasn't the case. We were 1 row behind the bulkhead seats which were taken up by a family of 5 who only needed 1 skycot. It would have been much better to have 2 of them behind and my mum and dad have 2 of the seats with us behind them, but then maybe they had someone with special needs too who needed the extra room - who knows. There were actual extra leg room seats beside us which they could have been nice and put my parents in, I know they weren't sold out as I heard them say to a couple who were sat in them that they had been upgraded to those seats for free as they were frequent flyer gold members. Just feel like Virgin dropped the ball a bit with my parents. My dad was really in a lot of pain by the time we arrived in Miami and he had spent a lot of the flight up and walking around. That was the only downside of the flight though, the food was okay - Sy and I both had the creamy mustard chicken, the other option was Chilli.

It was pretty smooth all the way there, the fasten seatbelt sign only came on once throughout the trip. I watched a few movies to pass the time, Tammy, The Amazing Spiderman 2 and Bad Neighbours. I also watched some Big Bang and Friday Night Dinner (a British comedy). I even managed to get a little bit of sleep which helped pass the time. Through the flight we were brought round a passion fruit mousse, a fab ice lolly and then afternoon tea which was cheese and sun-dried tomato sandwich (yuk) with millionaires shortbread and some 'plane' crisps.

We landed on time and waited on the plane till it was almost empty. Once we got off there were 2 special assistance people waiting for us. The walk to immigration was immense! It must have taken a good 15 minutes to get there. There was no queue but as expected Sy was carted off again as he has a visa and not an ESTA. This time though they sent me with him! I wasn't a happy camper but Sy told me to shut it cause we didn't want to make them cross or give them a reason to keep us there any longer. Once they were done with him they let us go and off we went to wait for the bags. We picked up both scooters first and then waited an age for the rest of the bags. Some came out but then we were left waiting for the last 1 for ages. What was most annoying was there was loads of bags that had already been taken off and I said to Sy that one of them looked like his parents case, but he said they had already checked those.... Well guess what? I was right. Anne came over and went straight to it and said 'this is our last bag'. Grrr.

The queue to LEAVE the baggage hall was like nothing you have ever seen before, it was queueing round the room, there were hundreds and hundreds of people in that queue. It took about 45 minutes just to get out. Mum and I waited to the side as the queue zig-zagged loads and we were worried we would get stuck in the scooters. We joined the queue when the rest got to the front and were promptly told we should have joined the handicapped queue... Of course we should! Maybe someone could have pointed that out before? We certainly couldn't see one and there was absolute chaos in the baggage hall so how were we to know? When we finally were called forward to have our passports checked (again?!) the guy was so rude, as he looked as my dad my dad had turned his face away so he tutted loudly and then when he looked at Sy's passport he just went 'Glasses.' as a request for him to take them off. I mean how rude is that?! Disney this aint!

Once through we had to get on a monorail to the car hire centre, mum was back to pulling me through again, the charge had gone again... least this time it was fairly empty around us so less people to giggle

First ride of the trip...

At Alamo we used the self service kiosk and we soon walking out to the car garage. We were sent over to the 15 seater aisle however there were no cars there :-/ we called someone over and then radioed for them to bring one round for us. We waited for about 5 mins before one arrived.

And here is 'The Beast', note I couldn't fit it all in one picture so had to take 2!

It may be 15 seats but there was ZERO boot space, nothing at all. Not even an inch. And the seats didn't collapse or anything. So before we could even leave we had to take the seats out and pile them on top of each other near the back and then pack all of the cases and scooters inside.

The drive to the hotel took about an hour cause of rush hour traffic and roadworks (when I booked the hotel I checked and google had it as 30 mins drive). We took all of the bags into the hotel but left the scooters in the car. We were given 2 rooms opposite each other and 1 room on another floor miles away, weird! We were all under one booking. The hotel was lovely, there were cookies on the check in desk so everyone helped themselves before heading up to the rooms.

The rooms were really gorgeous. I did notice the weird quilts though, they were really lumpy. This is obviously a think down there as our hotel in Key West had the same, it was definitely strange though.

Once we had unpacked a few things we needed we set off to find some food. We had passed a few places on the way in but by now we were all soooooo tired! It was gone 9pm as it had taken almost 3 hours to get out of the airport. The original plan was to head to Longhorns but we were all too tired to sit in anywhere so we went off in search of some take out. We ended up at Sonic which I've never been to before, the food wasn't too bad actually. The dad's had gone off with the thought that we were gonna eat in the garden area but we were too knackered and told them to come back as we were getting take out back to the rooms. We brought the food back and ate in our retrospective rooms, when done with dinner we totally crashed. Sy had a shower and I went straight to bed - without a shower!! That's totally unheard of for me as I like to 'wash the plane off' but I was so tired I couldn't help it. I was asleep before Sy had even got in the shower. I slept right through till the next morning.

Day 1

I slept like a total log and woke up at 6am feeling refreshed, Sy wasn't awake quite yet so I chilled out and surfed the internet for a little bit until he woke up. I then imessage'd Anne to see if they were awake at about 6:45am, they were up so I called my mum who I knew would be up as she's a super early riser and we made plans to go down for breakfast at 7:45. I wanted to eat sooner cause I wanted to wash my hair after breakfast (cause it takes an age!) but my mum said they wouldn't be ready so we settled on 7:45. 7:15 came and my mum called us to say they were ready and heading down early! Grrrr. I had only just got out of the shower by this point so had to fiddle with my hair a bit first and get dressed before we could head down. We were down there for 7:40ish, Anne and Cliff came down later.

I grabbed some first morning pics of us all looking excited.

Not really sure what Cliff was doing here, but I love this pic... hehe

Breakfast was really quite good. It wasn't too busy and there was plenty of choice. I loved the make-your-own waffle station of course

Breakfast finished we arranged to meet down by the car at 9am ready to hit the road. We headed back up to the room to pack up the few bits we unpacked the night before and hung around in the room for a bit. Our room overlooked the pool, it looked soooo inviting but we had places to go so no time for a dip sadly!

9am came so we left the room and went to knock for Anne and Cliff on the way down to make sure they were ready. Their room looked like a bomb had gone off lol they were still packing etc. I went back to our room as we were just stood in the doorway, Sy stayed and tried to hurry them along. As time went on waiting my patience wore thin so I left our room again and stopped in to get the keys from Sy so I could at least start loading the car, he refused to give them to me as he said they wanted to move the seats around in the back. I went on ahead anyway as by now it was 9:15 and I knew my parents would be down there wondering what was going on. I found them stood at the car where they had been since 9am. Not really ideal for either of them with their various health problems, I asked why they didn't go back into reception where there were seats but they said they kept expecting us to arrive so thought it would be better just to wait. I brought mum back in to reception to sit down and left dad with all the cases while I went to go find Sy to tell him to get a move on. Sy and his parents came down in one lift while I was going up in the other, it was 9:30 by now. We headed out to the car and packed the bags into the back, no seats were rearranged beforehand. So much for not letting me have the keys as they needed to be moved around...

Stress and drama over with, we were on the road and ready to start our roadtrip! Well I say on the road, we left the hotel car park and crossed the road to the Publix where we grabbed some drinks and food so we could stop for lunch along the beach. LOL

Back in the car after Publix and we really were on our way! Woohoo! Sy got into the driving seat again and I sat in the middle seats with Cliff, with mums in the row behind. My dad sat with Sy in the front as his knees were hurting - a combination of the plane yesterday and being stood still for so long outside the hotel. The drive to Key West isn't bad as far as drives go, there were plenty of things to look at. I had made a list of places of interest we could stop at if we needed to stretch our legs, first stop was Robbie's of Islamorada. This was a weird sort of place, really tacky but in a kinda good way. I'm really pleased we stopped there and I would definitely stop there again, the only downside was the toilets left a little to be desired... and there was only 1 of them.

We looked round the tacky little stalls and took loads of pictures before heading over to the bar to grab a drink. The bar/restaurant was really busy even though it was still before lunchtime. We ordered drinks at the bar and managed to find a seat right by the water's edge. The table and benches were really pretty made from mosaics.

The real reason I wanted to stop here though was for the tarpon feeding. So Sy, Anne and I went off to feed them while the others took pics from the side and sipped their drinks. We got 1 bucket of fish between the 3 of us and it was more than enough fish, think it cost about $6 for us all to do the feeding inc the fish. Not bad if you ask me!

I filmed Sy feeding them but then when it was my turn he was covered in fish so he didn't want to touch the camera, so I left it to my dad to take a few pictures... I really should know better! Haha. So I can only apologise for the next pictures... blame dad

Ooh that's a good one dad, cut my head off....

And this one I'm not even feeding them! I'm just sat by the water...

He got the right hump when I laughed at the pics! He said he thought he was meant to be getting the fish, not me as well.

Once we were done we headed back over to the others, washing the fishy smell off our hands on the way. Back at the table round 2 of drinks were getting ordered. I didn't want another as I still had a fair bit of mine from before. Anne got a Bloody Mary the first time however this time Cliff ordered her a 'Trailer Trash'. You've never seen anything like that cocktail! I'm not even gonna explain it to you, I'll just show you...

How rank is that?! HAHA The pepperami had a hole through the middle for it to be used as a straw! It make us all giggle. It also was VERY strong so all the men helped Anne drink it (baring in mind her first drink was very strong too and it was still before lunch).

Thought this sign was quite apt.

After everyone had finished their second round of drinks we headed back to the car, mum stopped at the restroom on the way - I wasn't quite brave enough and luckily I didn't need to be Still, at least they were colourful...

I took a pic of the sky while I waited, it was just so pretty

We set off again for another hour or so before we hit Anne's beach (this was the name of the beach, not that Anne had been there before and laid claim or anything lol). We parked the beast in the very tiny car park and headed down the Boardwalk to find somewhere to sit and eat our lunch. It was baking hot sunshine by now so I went to the bathrooms to spray on some suncream, not realising that the tables were all under shade, oh well! I also used the bathroom here and it was much nicer than at Robbie's. We found a table really easily and proceeded to munch through our lunch. It was a rather weird lunch, Sy and Cliff had bought sandwiches from Publix while the rest of us had cheese, crackers, fruit, crisps (or chips depending on where you're from ), and some apple slices with toffee (I LOVE THESE!! Why don't they do this in the uk?!)

After lunch we went for a paddle. We were going to walk back to the car park via the water but it got too deep in between the boardwalk entrances so us girls (and Sy) turned back and left Cliff and Bill walking. Unfortunately though my dad was too busy trying to hold up his shorts he dragged the bags of food in the water! Hehehe oops. Luckily everything in that bag was still sealed

Back at the car park there was a shower and a little shower for your feet so I washed all of the sea off of my feet in the little shower. I moved round to get the underneath of my foot and mistook the wrong 'on' button. Of course I happened to be stood right under the main shower at that point... Yeah I showered myself fully clothed hahaha. Its okay though, no one saw I dusted myself off, pretended that I meant to do it, held my head high and walked back to the car... I totally thought I got away with it without a total ripping until the first thing my dad said was 'why are you wet?'. Doh! I had to fess up and everyone laughed, ah well! It was pretty funny lol at least with the heat down there I was dry in no time

Back in the car Cliff fell asleep almost right away and I joined him soon after. Annoyingly that meant I missed the best bit of the journey - the miles of road over the water! Nooooo! (I totally forced myself to stay awake on the way back though so it was okay ) I was really disappointed at the time though.

I slept for about an hour, half an hour after I woke up we arrived in Key West. We checked into our hotel Parrot Key, at 3:30pm. The girl checking us in was from Sheffield! Wasn't really expecting to meet many British people in the Keys though she said there were a fair few of us staying there over the next week. It really is a small world She showed us on the map where our villa was and she said it was the best location in her opinion (and I totally agreed). Our villa was beautiful! Oceanfront and right by sunset pier. The living space was on the middle floor so we agreed my parents would have the bedroom on that floor so they wouldn't need to keep going up and down the stairs. We took the bottom floor which had a door straight out to the oceanside. Anne and Cliff had the top floor. All the rooms was so beautifully decorated Not to blow my own trumpet too much, but I did well when finding this hotel. It was in the 'new' part of Key West so it wasn't walking distance to Duval (well it might have been for some but not for me!) but that didn't matter as we had the beast to get around in. We had cleverly packed so that all the stuff we would need over the next few nights was all in one case so we unpacked that case and put the other to one side. We then went for a swim in 1 of the many pools. Everyone but Anne came as she wasn't feeling well. The pools were salt water which was a bit of a surprise, but they weren't sticky like the sea so it was all good with me

Some pics from the pool.

When we came back we realised we had no fridge, there was a space for one so I gave front desk a call to find out that there was a fault with them causing fires so they to remove them from all of the rooms (I wonder if this was the same fridge as Disney last year?). It wasn't the ideal situation but it wasn't the end of the world, we managed to survive with the cool box and bags of ice from the ice machine.

I was feeling a little dodgy after the swim so had a lay down for a bit, I usually get a bit ill the day or so after the flight so it was to be expected. I felt better a short while later and so we all got dressed and headed out for some food.

I had a huge list of places to go eat, unfortunately it was a bit late for Duval now and it was SO busy and it really put me off when I was already feeling a bit dodgy, it was full of fairly drunk people and it would have meant parking a long way away and walking which I wasn't up for.

Duval was full of interesting characters, we saw this guy cycling up the road with blaring speakers playing music - btw he wasn't selling those light up things, he was just cycling up and down waving at people!

We drove round and round and ended up right back over where our hotel was at the Outback across the road! It wasn't a bad choice though as everyone enjoyed their meal. I started with my favourite cocktail in the whole world, Wallerby Darned.

I had chicken tenders, Sy had steak and shrimp, I don't remember what everyone else had other than my dad who had telapia which he LOVED, my mum also loved it and ate half of his

My main meal was cold the first time they brought it out and we then couldn't find our server :-/ eventually we asked a different server and she took it away and said they were going to cook me a whole fresh order (I had eaten the baked potato already while waiting as I was starving). In the mean time everyone else finished their meals so I asked if they could box mine up to take away, I thought maybe Anne would have a bit as she hadn't come out with us (too ill). Our server was really apologetic but it didn't really matter, I didn't mind taking it away. We paid the bill and left him a nice tip before heading back to the hotel. Anne was asleep on the sofa when we got back as she didn't want to go up to bed while no one was in. She didn't want any of my food so I ate what I could of it and Sy and his dad finished the rest off

We were all flagging now so we made our way to bed after a pretty great first day!

Awwww thanks Jen! feeling is mutual

Aww that's like the best compliment! Thank you

Thank you Allie I wasn't sure about the outfit once I had it on, the top was a bit erm, low. I ended up pulling it up all the time lol

Yeah thick hair is definitely high maintenance!! I usually let mine air dry for the best result (as in, not look like I have a ginger afro) that's also the reason I have to keep my hair long as the weight pulls the curls down.

That WAS a bloody Mary! Underneath all that rankness (it was rank, everyone else loved it but I still maintain it was rank)

Our dad's both really like Bud light and Sam Adams. Bud light in particular is very like our lager so I'm told Sy loves bud light with lime though he would always go for a cocktail over a beer, big girl We serve our lager very cold, here too so its no different, bitter is served less cold but there's nothing you have (that they have found anyway) that comes close to that.

ewwwww no! it looked rank lol I get that is was so rank it was good.... but still no, just wrong lol

hahaha easily!! though I accept i'm in the minority hahahaha

Day 2

Woke up this morning at 8am, that's a bit more like it! No 6am for us today I took my ipad outside and sat in one of the chairs on our porch, reading my book. Sy joined me shortly after, I could hear my parents chatting above so I said hello and we quietly chatted for a little bit, careful not to make too much noise in case anyone around us was still sleeping.

We then all went inside to get dressed for breakfast. We had to wait a bit for Anne to get ready, she was unsure if she was coming or not as she said she still wasn't well but decided to come in the end as she didn't want to be left alone all day. We got in the car by about 10am and headed out in the direction of Key Plaza Creperie. I had found the place on trip advisor as it had very high reviews and it was right by our hotel. We weren't 100% sure where it was so we decided to drive, we drove round for 5-10 mins looking for it but found it eventually. Wow you really could go right past the place. I have to admit, had I not seen the wonderful reviews I might have been tempted to walk by. The outside looked a bit divey, I think everyone else thought i'd lost the plot a bit, however we went ahead and I'm so glad we did! The place was tiny inside, only a few tables and none of 6 available so we sat at two tables of 4. I went straight to one and my mum slid in beside me, Sy and dad sat opposite us. Cliff slid into the booth behind and Anne sat next to him.

We ordered drinks, Sy had a tea and my parents had a press pot of coffee, they all said how wonderful the tea and coffee was (I personally don't drink hot drinks but I know they all complain that they can't get a good cup of tea/coffee while in the US). I of course had my go to - Diet Coke.

For our breakfasts, I had a galette with ham and cheese with was AMAzing, Sy had a breakfast wrap, sausage sandwich for both of my parents. I think Cliff had a bacon sandwich. Anne had something with smoked salmon which she didn't enjoy.

When we were finished eating the owner came over to chat with us, he was such a nice guy! He asked how we had heard about the place as he doesn't get many tourists, mainly locals. He really made us feel welcome, even telling us how to make the chipotle mayo he served with the breakfast sandwiches (and he sold us some in a jar). Our total bill was $105 including tip, it was totally worth it too.

Breakfast finished with we took the mayo back to the hotel as we didn't want to leave it in the car in the heat. We then made our way over to Duval Street. We managed to park the beast and headed out for a mooch around. We wandered up along the water, it was a beautifully sunny day but seriously hot too!

We walked around to Duval via the Key est Museum of Art and History.

The men went to get a beer from a shop that was selling them cold for $2 each. Us girls went into a shop and both mums bought some beach dresses for $20 each.

Sponge anyone?

We then went to get a drink and book onto the conch tram tour that was leaving at 1pm (about 15 mins away). The cost was $29 each plus tax, which wasn't bad as the tour was good and long. The tram went all around Key West, I think it lasted about 90 minutes. It stops for 10 minutes half way through so you could use the restroom and grab a drink, dad and I went to get an ice cream each for me and mum and Cliff went to buy some more $2 beers. I also grabbed what can only be described as a bucket of diet coke from the shop beside where we parked. It was still seriously hot so we needed to keep hydrated.

Once the tour was over we headed back to the car, when driving around we ended up at Southernmost Point so we hopped out to grab a picture, well some of us did.

Random pic of the chickens.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Publix to get some more drinks and more nibbles for the room. Back at the hotel we opened the snacks and grabbed some drinks. The guys went for a swim, I wasn't feeling right so decided not to go. In all honestly I was struggling a bit with grief of losing Wilbur so I just needed a little bit of time on my own. I read for a little bit out on the porch. The sun started to set so I went out to the pier to watch it set over the water. A fair few people came and I chatted to a scottish couple for a bit, then another family came and started smoking so I ended up leaving again. It was technically a no smoking resort but they had a young child with them, if they were happy wafting it in her face, I was sure they wouldn't care that I wasn't too happy so I decided not to say anything. I did grab a few nice pics, to save your boredom I've only included one

While I was out there Sy sent me a message saying he couldn't get in the front door, both mums couldn't hear him knocking and dads were at the bar with the key. I did ask why he didn't just walk round the back (where I told him I was) but he said he hadn't thought about it lol he was annoyed he missed the sunset.

Back inside we were all shattered so decided we would skip going out for dinner tonight and instead get take out from somewhere. Sy said there was a Five Guys across the road, there's nothing there I could eat but as it happens I'd filled up on snacks before so I wasn't really hungry, neither was Anne. I did end up eating a few of Sy's fries when they got back though

While eating we all watched Dancing with the Stars, so annoyed they don't show this on UK tv anymore (we still get the UK version but we used to get the American one too and I personally think Derek Hough is just about the most amazing dancer I have ever seen so I miss watching him!). We were in bed for 10:30pm

Haha oops! No I didn't! Thanks, gonna edit now

Glad you liked the write up

It was definitely different to disney, but I still loved it and I'm sure we will go back one day!

It really was amazing, there was lots of watersports to partake but as it wasn't going to be something our parents enjoyed, we didn't bother. I'd love to hire a jet ski one day

It's very beautiful, I'm not sure my pictures do it justice

Day 3

I was awake at 6am due to the plane taking off in our room... Or at least that's what it sounded like, it was in fact Sy's snoring. I took my ipad out to the porch and sat reading for a few hours, watching the sunrise. It was gorgeous. Once everyone was up and moving around we made plans to head out for breakfast at Old Town Bakery. We all got dressed and drove over to the bakery. I had made a note of the bakery as it was rated very highly online, and the reviewers weren't wrong! The place was lovely, and the food was seriously scrummy. I can't remember what everyone had, I had a croissant which was amazing. We were chatting with the owner and he said they make everything onsite each morning. I definitely think that's what makes it so good.

Loved the posters in there too - only in Key West!

Food in hand we went in search of somewhere to eat. I had read up about a couple of beaches that were meant to be the best, so we first went to Higgs as it said it was a little quieter. The beach itself was a bit meh, the amount of seaweed was immense. I'm not a fan of seaweed at all so there was no way I'd be getting into the water. I'd even put a swimming costume on before we left. Oh well. We grabbed a bench and began eating. Seagulls swarmed us, dive-bombing us for our food which was a bit unnerving. My mum's really nervous of birds so I stood over her and waved my arms when one got close overhead. It was really hot out there too (a stark contrast compared to what we have here now!). We all loved the food from the bakery though, we agreed we would go back there tomorrow to get sandwiches to take on the road (as tomorrow we leave Key West).

Once we were all finished we went for a drive to explore all the little roads in Key West. We drove around for an hour or so saw some lovely sights. I loved the style of all the houses down there, so pretty. There was also a massive Carnival cruise ship docked so we pulled up somewhere the guys could go get a picture, it was called Sunshine for those who are interested in that sort of thing.

Houseboats or what we thought they looked like, RV's/caravans on water...

We drove around a little more looking for a place called Blue Heaven. Sy really wanted to go there as it had been featured on Man Vs Food as having the best Key Lime Pie. We found it fairly easily and then had to drive around for another 10 minutes looking for somewhere to park. We managed to find somewhere eventually that wasn't too far for mum to walk. It was a really quirky place, I loved it already.

We were there pretty early for lunch, plus it hadn't been long since breakfast, so we decided just to get 3 Key Lime Pies to share. I have to be careful when it comes to citrus fruit so I've not had many key lime pies in my time. Plus I'm not a huge fan of uncooked meringue (literally my favourite dessert when its cooked all the way through though), so I wasn't holding out much hope for the pie. If it wasn't for the fact that it was Sy's absolute favourite I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have bothered coming in here. Well, all I can say is WOW. There's a reason this place is famous for it. It was amazing!! Its definitely somewhere on the list for next time we are in Key West.

We finished our drinks and pie and asked for the bill, our waitress brought our check over with a handwritten suggested tip on there, 18% & 20%. Unfortunately for her I can actually add up and her suggested tips were actually way over 18% & 20%. That really peed me off if I'm honest, left a nasty taste in our mouths. I know the British get a bad rep for leaving no tip (grrr at the British!!) so I have no problems with her handwriting it on there, but I was so annoyed that she had clearly upped the tip and expected us not to notice. We did in fact leave her 18%, but an actual 18%, not what she suggested was 18% (which was about 25%). I was really annoyed as it kinda tainted our great time. Don't get me wrong, we will still go back, just make sure we look at the receipt clearly.

We drove round for a little while longer, down the back roads and out to the sea road, before heading back to the hotel to go for a long afternoon swim. We went for a different pool this time, we tried the pool with the bar but all of the loungers were gone there so we ended up at the pool next door. There were 4 pools in total, they were all smallish. They were in a row with trees and bushes separating them, sounds a bit strange but it was actually really nice, like little hidden pools. It also meant they never really felt crowded. We took some drinks and books down and made ourselves comfortable, dipping in and out of the pool to cool down between sunbathing. Another couple came to join this pool and the guy started smoking, I tried dropping hints loudly (as the whole resort is no smoking) but he carried on. He finished one cigarette and then straight away sparked up another so I went to speak to the barman at the pool next door to ask him to have a word. The man could clearly hear me mentioning no smoking and yet he didn't stop so I thought there was no point in speaking directly to him. The barman came and even then the man insisted on finishing his cigarette before putting it out! How rude! I get that its his choice to smoke, but then don't stay in a non smoking resort. That was one of the reasons I picked this place, my mum only has half a lung on one side and struggles breathing due to her heart problem. The couple left soon after thankfully (probably to go to another pool further away from the bar so they wouldn't get told off again). The barman came back a little while later to do a drinks check and we ordered some cocktails.

I loved the afternoon lazing around. It was heaven I couldn't do a whole holiday like that though one afternoon was enough haha.

We headed back to the room a little while later to shower and get ready to go out for dinner. We were heading to Duval tonight, going a bit earlier so we could get parked.

It was a bit bright out hahaha

We wandered round a bit and Sy got some conch fritters which he had been desperate to get some of. We were there just as the sun was setting so it was really busy compared to when we were there in the daytime. We decided to wander off down Duval before all the crowds so we could grab some dinner. I'd done a bit of research online before going out so I had a list of places that were meant to be good. We went to a place called Fogarty's. We decided to dine alfresco and got a table right by the street.

There was a bar opposite with bar stools at the front railings, ladies please note; do not sit up there in shorts skirts with your legs open. It aint pretty.

Our waitress was really sweet. 3 of us ordered the fish tacos, 2 of us had the chicken and I don't remember what the other person had (or who it was!). The food was amazing, it really was so so good! There's no wonder this place gets such high reviews.

Unfortunately I was really ill as soon as I'd finished eating culminating with Sy having to go get the car and me running from the bathroom out of the restaurant straight into the car. Everyone paid up while I was hiding away in the bathroom. My mum came into the bathroom to tell me Sy was outside with the car so I gave her my handbag and basically just ran. I didn't want to be sick in front of everyone who was eating so I was desperate to get to the car in time. As it happens I managed to last and make it back to the hotel before throwing up again, small victory! Such a shame I had such a bad ending to a great day. Sy drove me back to the hotel with my parents and left his parents exploring Duval for a bit longer, they called him later to go pick them up. I pretty much spent the rest of the evening either in bed or in the bathroom

Tomorrow we leave Key West and head to Fort Laurderdale, and I'm feeling much better by then too

Ahhh its so pretty MM! We will head back there for sure