- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
Wednesday 15th August Moving on
Today is relocation day. Sadly, our short time in the Keys had come to an end and today we were moving up to Bradenton, north of Sarasota on Floridas west coast. We had estimated that we needed to leave by 8am to ensure we made it to our resort by nightfall. Although it was only a 6 ½ hour journey, we had a couple of stops to make along the way.
I was ready first so went down to the front desk to check out, where I discovered that the $29 a day resort fee was included in the room rate we had pre-paid, which was a nice surprise. Hawks Cay also offers an incentive to its patrons, whereby on day of checkout, if you vacate the room before 10am, you get two vouchers, for free coffees, redeemable at the Starbucks concession in the lobby. Since we had checked out so early, I got the vouchers and was advised that I could use them for tea instead of coffee. However, there was a huge line in Starbucks so I gave them to an unsuspecting, but grateful, couple in the line and met Gary and Daniel out front, where valet services had just delivered our car. We loaded everything into the car and set off for Made 2 Order in Tavernier, for breakfast. We were greeted warmly and told to sit where we liked.
Made 2 Order
For those of you who remember the amazing, disappearing child from my April 2008 trip report, I present to you
The amazing, disappearing child Part 2
There was a very extensive menu and I struggled to decide but the sound of the famous croissant french toast with orange butter grabbed my attention. It had obviously grabbed Garys attention too and we both ordered the same thing while Daniel opted for the kids Mickey Mouse pancakes with chocolate chips.
Hmm, doesnt look much like Mickey
Made 2 Orders Famous French Toast (Croissants dipped in a freshly squeezed orange juice batter and served with our homemade Orange Butter)
The French toast was delicious but the addition of the orange butter took it to a whole new level. More of a frosting really, this fruity, zesty spread really brought the french toast to life. It really was amazing.
We also had to try one of their delicious key lime muffins. They split the muffin in half, lightly butter it, heat it on the griddle and serve it warm. It was so good.
Mmm, muffin
Daniel really enjoyed his pancakes too. All in all, the best breakfast in the Keys, in our opinion.
Gary had a couple of cups of tea, to prepare him for the long drive ahead. However, I made sure to limit my liquid intake as I didnt want us to have to make any emergency stops
The check was $33.33. We left $40 and, as we hadnt been able to finish the muffin, our waitress bought us a box for it.
We got back in the car and back onto the US1, heading north and leaving the Keys behind. I was determined not to feel too sad, though, as I felt sure we would come back again in the future and also because we still had the rest of our holiday ahead of us.
Our next stop was Gator Park, in the heart of the Everglades, along the Tamiami Trail.
We had pre-booked tickets but, to be honest, it didnt really save time since they had to locate the copy of the booking in their hi-tech filing system, which consisted of a bunch of printed orders held together with a paperclip, sorted by month of purchase. Eventually they located our booking and we received our tickets and were directed out to the pier to wait for the next boat. Gary decided to buy a bottle of water and took it to the counter, where a surly girl barked out Three dollars. He must have misheard and put just $2 on the counter. I said three dollars she snarled. Gary threw the extra dollar on the counter and walked off. Without a doubt, this girl was the rudest, grumpiest person weve ever encountered in a customer service role, while in Florida.
We took the airboat tour but didnt see much in the way of wildlife, just a couple of gators and a blue heron.
Gator
Blue Heron
We were in the middle of the boat so every time we saw a gator, everybody stood up to look and Daniel couldnt see a thing. Still, the boat ride was good fun and I felt sorry for the poor guy sat right at the front in a nice, white t-shirt as he got filthy.
Its a bit loud
We tipped our tour guide and Daniel had a picture taken with him. He was extremely tall, though, and had to crouch right down so I could get them both in the photo.
Little and large
After the airboat ride, we watched a short wildlife show. The presenter was very funny. First of all, he showed us a scorpion. I was taking some photos and he said You wanna get a really GOOD photo Mom and shoved the scorpion right into Daniels face. He shot backwards almost into the lap of the poor guy behind. It was hilarious.
Im not afraid of scorpions
Then he got a huge toad out of a nearby box. He asked the audience how you could tell the difference between a frog and a toad. The answer? If you kiss a frog, it turns into a prince. If you kiss a toad, it doesnt. Yes, you guessed it. A poor girl from the audience was chosen to kiss it and see whether it was a frog or a toad
He also showed us a skunk and a small alligator, then finished up with a spot of alligator wrestling. It was very entertaining.
Who knew that skunks were so cute
After the show, there was an opportunity to have your picture taken holding an alligator. Daniel, of course, was keen to partake, given his love of reptiles. It took me a little while to line the shot up and Daniel kept telling me to hurry up because the alligator was really heavy. It was a great shot though.
Are you sure this is just a baby?
After a quick tour of the gift shop, I bought a t-shirt for Sian which has a picture of an alligator and the words Bite Me! (her favourite saying) and we got another bottle of water for the journey. I also bought a fridge magnet and a pen.
Spot the odd one out
Back in the car, we were Sarasota-bound. Im afraid the next part of the trip report is incredibly boring as the most exciting thing we did for the next two hours was make a right onto the I-75 We did spot a young bald eagle but I was too slow with the camera. Daniel also got really excited when he spotted his name on a roadsign.
Daniels Parkway
After a short stop at a Publix just north of Fort Myers, where we visited the restrooms and bought some snacks, we continued our journey, eventually arriving in Sarasota just before 4pm.
Continued in the next post...
Today is relocation day. Sadly, our short time in the Keys had come to an end and today we were moving up to Bradenton, north of Sarasota on Floridas west coast. We had estimated that we needed to leave by 8am to ensure we made it to our resort by nightfall. Although it was only a 6 ½ hour journey, we had a couple of stops to make along the way.
I was ready first so went down to the front desk to check out, where I discovered that the $29 a day resort fee was included in the room rate we had pre-paid, which was a nice surprise. Hawks Cay also offers an incentive to its patrons, whereby on day of checkout, if you vacate the room before 10am, you get two vouchers, for free coffees, redeemable at the Starbucks concession in the lobby. Since we had checked out so early, I got the vouchers and was advised that I could use them for tea instead of coffee. However, there was a huge line in Starbucks so I gave them to an unsuspecting, but grateful, couple in the line and met Gary and Daniel out front, where valet services had just delivered our car. We loaded everything into the car and set off for Made 2 Order in Tavernier, for breakfast. We were greeted warmly and told to sit where we liked.
Made 2 Order
For those of you who remember the amazing, disappearing child from my April 2008 trip report, I present to you
The amazing, disappearing child Part 2
There was a very extensive menu and I struggled to decide but the sound of the famous croissant french toast with orange butter grabbed my attention. It had obviously grabbed Garys attention too and we both ordered the same thing while Daniel opted for the kids Mickey Mouse pancakes with chocolate chips.
Hmm, doesnt look much like Mickey
Made 2 Orders Famous French Toast (Croissants dipped in a freshly squeezed orange juice batter and served with our homemade Orange Butter)
The French toast was delicious but the addition of the orange butter took it to a whole new level. More of a frosting really, this fruity, zesty spread really brought the french toast to life. It really was amazing.
We also had to try one of their delicious key lime muffins. They split the muffin in half, lightly butter it, heat it on the griddle and serve it warm. It was so good.
Mmm, muffin
Daniel really enjoyed his pancakes too. All in all, the best breakfast in the Keys, in our opinion.
Gary had a couple of cups of tea, to prepare him for the long drive ahead. However, I made sure to limit my liquid intake as I didnt want us to have to make any emergency stops
The check was $33.33. We left $40 and, as we hadnt been able to finish the muffin, our waitress bought us a box for it.
We got back in the car and back onto the US1, heading north and leaving the Keys behind. I was determined not to feel too sad, though, as I felt sure we would come back again in the future and also because we still had the rest of our holiday ahead of us.
Our next stop was Gator Park, in the heart of the Everglades, along the Tamiami Trail.
We had pre-booked tickets but, to be honest, it didnt really save time since they had to locate the copy of the booking in their hi-tech filing system, which consisted of a bunch of printed orders held together with a paperclip, sorted by month of purchase. Eventually they located our booking and we received our tickets and were directed out to the pier to wait for the next boat. Gary decided to buy a bottle of water and took it to the counter, where a surly girl barked out Three dollars. He must have misheard and put just $2 on the counter. I said three dollars she snarled. Gary threw the extra dollar on the counter and walked off. Without a doubt, this girl was the rudest, grumpiest person weve ever encountered in a customer service role, while in Florida.
We took the airboat tour but didnt see much in the way of wildlife, just a couple of gators and a blue heron.
Gator
Blue Heron
We were in the middle of the boat so every time we saw a gator, everybody stood up to look and Daniel couldnt see a thing. Still, the boat ride was good fun and I felt sorry for the poor guy sat right at the front in a nice, white t-shirt as he got filthy.
Its a bit loud
We tipped our tour guide and Daniel had a picture taken with him. He was extremely tall, though, and had to crouch right down so I could get them both in the photo.
Little and large
After the airboat ride, we watched a short wildlife show. The presenter was very funny. First of all, he showed us a scorpion. I was taking some photos and he said You wanna get a really GOOD photo Mom and shoved the scorpion right into Daniels face. He shot backwards almost into the lap of the poor guy behind. It was hilarious.
Im not afraid of scorpions
Then he got a huge toad out of a nearby box. He asked the audience how you could tell the difference between a frog and a toad. The answer? If you kiss a frog, it turns into a prince. If you kiss a toad, it doesnt. Yes, you guessed it. A poor girl from the audience was chosen to kiss it and see whether it was a frog or a toad
He also showed us a skunk and a small alligator, then finished up with a spot of alligator wrestling. It was very entertaining.
Who knew that skunks were so cute
After the show, there was an opportunity to have your picture taken holding an alligator. Daniel, of course, was keen to partake, given his love of reptiles. It took me a little while to line the shot up and Daniel kept telling me to hurry up because the alligator was really heavy. It was a great shot though.
Are you sure this is just a baby?
After a quick tour of the gift shop, I bought a t-shirt for Sian which has a picture of an alligator and the words Bite Me! (her favourite saying) and we got another bottle of water for the journey. I also bought a fridge magnet and a pen.
Spot the odd one out
Back in the car, we were Sarasota-bound. Im afraid the next part of the trip report is incredibly boring as the most exciting thing we did for the next two hours was make a right onto the I-75
We did spot a young bald eagle but I was too slow with the camera. Daniel also got really excited when he spotted his name on a roadsign.Daniels Parkway
After a short stop at a Publix just north of Fort Myers, where we visited the restrooms and bought some snacks, we continued our journey, eventually arriving in Sarasota just before 4pm.
Continued in the next post...
Yoders Amish Village is situated just west of the I-75 in Sarasota. We were fairly early for dinner so were able to be seated straight away.
who knew a travel day could be so much fun. Love the disappearing child photos
