Lucky Old Sun

Islamorada, Florida Keys

74 degrees

It's late and I have to work tomorrow morning. I have decided to turn the blog over to a guest writer for the night, to share our wonderful day. Enjoy this guest column from my daughter, Kimber.

This has been my first trip to Florida, let alone the Keys. I wasn't sure what I was to expect but let me tell you, it has been amazing. Today I woke up on my own at 5:30 a.m. I'll say that at home in Arizona, I work at a bar and usually don't get home until a few hours before this time so it was unexpected. Dad and I left home at about 7:30 to the Keys. We started listening to the new Kenny Chesney CD Lucky Old Sun which is based in the Keys and was the perfect music setting. The way there, I was still trying to wake up and decided to read my book. I have been reading the Twilight series and am on the third book called Eclipse. We were traveling through the Everglades when I saw a sign that said 'Panther Crossing'. Are you kidding me?! I was still reading while Dad shouted and I had just missed a dead alligator on the side of the road. Dad said it must have been 10 feet long. When we finally got to the Keys, I was reading and Dad asked me why on Earth I could have my head in a book with this scenery. I looked up and we were surrounded by the most beautiful water in front of me. The Atlantic Ocean on my left and the Gulf of Mexico on my right. The color reminded me of my favorite Kool-Aid flavor, blue crush. This was a constant for miles and miles. I have never seen water or land like this. Up until this point of my 22 years, Rocky Point, Mexico has been my favorite place in the world. I go every year. I jokingly asked Dad why he would rob me of that and change my new favorite place to two thousand miles way??! He said Kimmy, you have no idea what you are about to embark on. We stopped at Key Largo I believe, to see the actual boat that Ernest Hemingway sailed on. I remember reading on Dad's blog about the day he first saw this boat. It was amazing. We checked into the hotel shortly thereafter and then headed for Key West. This was such an amazing drive. I would highly suggest it to someone who has never done it. My new favorite song is Kenny Chesney's "Way Down Here". It says 'If I'm gonna be down, I'd rather be down, way down here'. This is about the Keys and I can totally understand the lyrics. We walked around for a while, taking pictures at the Southernmost Point of the U.S., buying T-Shirts and what not. We had lunch at a seafood restaurant. I had clam strips and Dad had a chicken caesar salad (abiding by his diet). After lunch, we went to an area the server had suggested to watch the sunset. There, we saw the most amazing ship I had ever seen. It was the Disney Magic cruise ship. It was so incredible, you couldn't believe the sight. We sat there for a while talking about fishing and different boats Dad wanted. He talked about wanting to sail to Key West one day and I told him that when he decided, I would go with him if he needed a sailing partner. While Dad was talking about his dreams, I was having a hard time paying attention with the weather above. The 'Lucky Old Sun' was hiding behind the darkest black clouds. It started to sprinkle and I asked him if he thought that we should go. We arose from the ground that we parked at and it started pouring rain. I am from Phoenix and I am sure that I have never seen rain like it! We ran for a few blocks when Dad left me under some shelter to go and get the truck. It was so amazing. We drove the 80 some miles back to our hotel on Islemorada. When we got here, I was on the balcony and heard some live music. I asked Dad if we could head down there and he agreed. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Live music on the beach next to a Tiki bar. Perfect. All I can say is that my friends are telling me that they will send me my belongings as soon as I give the word. This place is perfect. Listen to the song 'Boston' by Kenny Chesney and you will know that one day that will be me.

Thank you for having me as a guest blogger and I hope to have more adventures to share with you.