I may never leave Florida

I might be singing a different tune once summer temperatures roll back around, but it sure is nice right now.  80 degrees, beaches everywhere. . . I could stay here for while.   Driving south, we passed through orange groves and sugar cane fields as far as we could see in either direction.  And speaking of oranges. . . .

I had to stop and get a bag fresh from the farmer.  So tasty.

And speaking of food, Mom & Dad sent us a great care package to Gloria's house.  Of all the goodies in the box, guess what Curtis broke into first. . . 

A big stick of pepperoni.  One of two in the box.

Anyway, back to Florida and Curtis's birthday!  I know I said I wanted to be on a beach in Florida for my birthday, but Curtis got my wish instead.  We spent the day yesterday in Miami Beach, lounging on the sand and swimming in the warm ocean water.  I will fully admit that I ran screaming from the ocean when I saw a jellyfish pass by within inches of my leg.  Really, I wasn't a chicken.  It was good sense!  Those things hurt and I didn't want to get peed on.

We finally peeled ourselves off the beach to go out to dinner.  We hit the town to find a restaurant with 30th birthday pizazz, meaty dishes for Curtis and something veggie for me to eat.  We strolled by El Rancho Grande and after a spontaneous recommendation from someone eating at the outside tables, we grabbed a table too.  We started out with these lovelies:

That's a passionfruit margarita on the right.  I can vouch for how good it was.

Guacamole made right in front of our eyes; it was the best I've ever tasted.

Meals were delicious too.  They even asked how much of a vegetarian I am and customized my dish since they cook most things with chicken broth.  And molten chocolate cake for dessert.

After dinner we walked back along the beach to our hotel enjoying the clear skies and almost full moon.  Please excuse the blurriness, it was a bit windy.

Our hotel overlooking the water

We took one last stroll along the beach this morning before forcing ourselves to drive away.  

After driving even further south all day, we're now in Key West, staying with Curtis's cousin Pam through the weekend.  We were greeted with care packages from Curtis's folks with both his birthday gifts and mine, complete with a tin full of delicious pumpkin cookies that we've already sampled.  More sun and sand on the agenda for the next few days, maybe a little snorkeling if the winds cooperate, and plenty more to see and do in the keys.  I'll keep you all posted on the happenings :)

P.S. (for Nick and others curious) mileage is at 5479.5 as of tonight