Our winter road trip continues in Marathon Key.

Three nights in Marathon will finish off our Florida Keys experience, unfortunately. I can definitely see ourselves coming back to the gorgeous blue waters and the laid back atmosphere of this fabulous latitude – and we won’t wait another twenty years!

Click on the first photo in each group and scroll to see the square photos at full size.
To start at the beginning of this series, visit Seeking the Sun 2023.

A Slow Start

Still a little queasy from yesterday’s activities, we stopped at IHOP on our way out of Key West. While we usually avoid chain restaurants while vacationing, sometimes pancakes and eggs just sound so good! We only had about an hour’s drive to The Hammocks of Marathon, so we took our time, and luckily we were able to check in a little early.

We got unloaded and were very happy with our new digs. The Tiki Bar has a beautiful pool and was the place for wings on our last trip with our daughter and her now-husband. I’m not sure how many orders we went through, but they were delicious! Tonight we went for the beautiful sunset, a burger and a beer, and obviously the view was spectacular – just as I remembered it!

Another Lazy Day

Our next day was equally as laid-back with a little laundry and some relaxing on our balcony. Even though our condo had a view of trees, it was still pretty so I didn’t mind a bit – that is until a friend said they saw dolphins swimming by their water-view unit!

I took a stroll around the resort (which didn’t take long) and I tried to get to a lighthouse that was just past our resort without success. While some of our resorts have plenty to do without leaving the grounds, the area AROUND the Hammocks is why you come to this resort!

Given its central location in the Keys, you don’t have to go far to find a gorgeous beach. Just two examples would be Sombrero Beach (pictures below, 10 minutes away) and Bahia Honda State Park (18 minutes away). Here are a few more.

It was a quick six-minute walk down the Overseas Highway to Porky’s Bayside Restaurant & Marina for dinner. The food and drinks were delicious, with plenty of leftovers. Luckily the pelicans that were perched on the boat docked just outside the restaurant weren’t looking for handouts, or it could’ve gotten ugly.

Finally Some Exploring

When we went in search of Sombrero Key Lighthouse, Sombrero Beach was an added bonus! This beautiful sandy beach is on the Atlantic side and looks to be quite popular, even on this coolish day. The lighthouse was way out in the ocean, but luckily my photo turned out pretty good (although it may be red, which is not obvious).

During the months of April through October, turtles (primarily Loggerheads) come onto this beach at night to lay their eggs. Human activity is limited in this area (about 10% of the beach) during those months.

“The City regularly surveys the beach for new turtle nesting. If you are interested in assisting the City in preserving the turtle population as a turtle surveyor, please do not hesitate to contact the City. F.D.E.P. holds classes in February or March every year to be a state certified surveyor. The City then schedules all of the surveyors for their day to walk the beach. Walking the beach first thing in the morning looking for turtle nests is an awesome experience.” ~ READ MORE

The Turtle Hospital

We have been hearing about the Turtle Hospital for years and finally made a plan to stop, and I’m sure glad we did! The work they do here is amazing! Their plan is to “Rescue, Rehab, Release”, although they actually do a lot more: they educate the public, conduct and assist with research, and they work toward legislation that will make the beaches and water safer and cleaner.

“On the grounds of the old Hidden Harbor Motel, the Turtle Hospital can rehabilitate multiple sea turtles of varying sizes and illnesses/trauma. The old motel rooms serve as living quarters for our rehab staff and storage.” ~ READ MORE

Some Permanent Residents

In a perfect world all of these fantastic creatures would be released back into the wild, but that will not happen with all of them. In relatively few cases, some will become permanent residents at the Turtle Hospital and they will be treated pretty special.

“Sea turtles that are deemed non-releasable by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) are called permanent residents. Five of our permanent residents are going to live out the rest of their lives here at The Turtle Hospital. These five are the ones that you can “adopt”: April, Bender, Bubble Butt, Montel, and Rebel.” ~ READ MORE and see more photos

Scrub a Dub Dub

“In the wild, sea turtles and other animals will visit ‘cleaning stations’ to be cleaned of parasites and algae that grow on the turtle’s body. Shrimp and many different types of fish, mainly gobies and wrasses, eat growth from the shell in places such as coral reefs.

No such stations exist in the salt water pool, so we have to create our own to make sure the turtles are staying clean and healthy. The turtles in our care also get dirty because they don’t move as fast as the turtles that are out in the ocean. Those turtle’s fast movements in the sea helps to reduce the amount of algae that grows on them.” ~ READ MORE and see a pretty sweet picture of a “cleaning station” mentioned above.

Our Day Trip Continues

Our goal today was to make our way to Islamorada – about 40 minutes up the Overseas Highway for lunch and a brewery stop. Hurricane Monument is located at mile-marker 81.5, so we made a stop on the way by.

The Florida Keys Memorial was created after the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. hit the Florida Keys. On September 2, 1935, 185-mile sustained winds and storm surge at 18-20 feet wiped out almost everything in its path, and Islamorada was pretty much leveled. Only Hurricanes Gilbert (1988), and Wilma (2005) have surpassed the strength of the 1935 storm.

At 18-feet tall, the native rock-covered memorial is quite beautiful and contains a relief sculpture of a tidal wave and palm trees bending under the force of the wind. In front of the memorial, “a crypt made into the upper level contains the skeletal bones and cremated remains of many of the veterans and citizens who perished. A 22-foot long ceramic tile map from Key Largo to Marathon is inlaid into the cover of the crypt.”

Lots to See and Do at this Stop!

We finally made our lunch stop at Wahoo’s Bar & Grill, where we did some pelican-watching while sitting on the deck on this glorious day. Our meal was fantastic and the area around the restaurant was amazingly beautiful, complete with nice boats, more pelicans, and Wahoo’s Iconic Fighting Marlins – shown below.

I could not find the name of the little red and white lighthouse below, but I have a feeling it’s only a prop for family photos. A fleet of floaties was at the ready – just waiting for some takers. We left our suits behind since we didn’t plan to swim today, but that would have made for a great picture!

A (very) distant photo of Alligator Reef Lighthouse can be seen in the floaties pictures. It’s back there, trust me.

A Break and a Beer

Our last stop of the day was Islamorada Distillery & Brewery, where we were treated to free (and delicious) tastes of vodka, gin, and rum. Rather than just a short shot of straight-up liquor like some distilleries we’ve toured, their’s came with a little mixer to make them even more yummy (for me anyway).

We decided we’d stick with a Channel Marker IPA, which has been our local beer of choice while in Marathon. It’s described by the brewery as “Citrusy American hops, lightly caramel body”, but we just call it mmm!

“Explore the flavor of the Florida Keys with Islamorada Brewery & Distillery’s craft beer and cocktails made from spirits distilled on site. Our innovative menu also features cocktails on tap, craft vodka sodas, house frozen drinks, and more. Get ready for mouthwatering eats from our food truck, open daily. Our family-friendly and pet-friendly beer garden is waiting to introduce you to paradise!” ~ READ MORE

The beer garden was a great place to hang out for a while and think about the luck we’ve had with the weather so far on this trip. A brightly-colored food truck was open for business, and with an area for a band, this place probably gets hopping. This will definitely be a re-do on our next trip to Marathon.

Time to Move On 🥲🥲

Next up: Bok Tower Gardens

Happy trails,
Barb