A Magical Vacation- Key West

The first stop on our cruise was Key West, Florida. Matt had visited Key West several years ago, but I'd had never been. Because we were in America and because none of the shore excursions Carnival offered appealed to us, we didn't book any activities for the day in advance. We did have a list of things we wanted to do while we were docked at Key West.

1. Jet ski tour around the island
2. Eat key lime pie
3. Check out the store that sells Kai Kai sandals
4. Skype with Nathan

We were able to accomplish everything on our list and had a fantastic day in Key West!

When we docked at Key West, we noticed that the cruise ship we sailed on for our honeymoon was also docked. Our ship this time was so much bigger! I guess we've upgraded in the last 6 years :).

As soon as we walked off the ship we saw a group of jet skis and a sign offering tours. Perfect! We put our name on the list and just had to wait a few minutes before our tour started.

Matt drove the jet ski and I held on tight the whole time!

The tour took us all around the island. The guides were really great at helping us have fun, go fast, and make sharp turns. My husband was in heaven. The jet ski tour was his favorite part of the whole cruise and ties for his favorite all time activity we've done on our cruises.

We stopped at a sand bar on the back of the island for a little break. It was weird to be standing up in the middle of the ocean.

We stopped to look at the southern most point in the U.S.

The tour took almost two hours and everyone had a great time.

Since the jet ski's were right by the ship, we went ahead and headed back to eat lunch on the ship and change out of our swim suits before venturing back out for some shopping during the afternoon.

Key West was similar to how I pictured it in my head. Lots of cute, island houses crammed together. There were several fun shops that we visited as we walked around the main streets on the island.

When Matt visited Key West last time, he found some great sandals- supposedly the most comfortable sandals in the world. He wanted to get another pair, and the rest of us were all intrigued by his excitement over sandals.

The funny thing is that when we walked out of the store, my husband was the only person out of the four of us who didn't have a new pair. Turns out, sandals had gone up in price in the last twelve years and he didn't want to pay the price for a pair. When I offered to buy him a pair for his birthday, and he still turned me down, I realized that he really didn't want a pair. He rarely wears sandals, so I could see his point that they weren't worth the money for him, but I still felt bad that he didn't get any. I, on the other hand, wear sandals all summer long and since I'll be chasing my toddler all over the place this summer, I did get a pair, and they are super comfortable.

We strolled around a few other shops and picked up a few other souvenirs. We weren't planning to do much shopping at any of our other stops, so we made the most of our afternoon in Key West.

On our walk back to the ship, we stopped and had a slice of key lime pie.

Matt thought it was a little tart for him, but I thought it was yummy. I wouldn't say any of us are huge key lime pie fans, but when you are in Key West, you have to eat key lime pie! And if we ever make it back there, you can bet I'll be eating another slice.

The boat left at 6:00 on Tuesday, so we headed back about 4:30 and Skyped with our boy. It was nice to be in the U.S. for the day because we had cell phone service and could check texts and emails. I knew Nathan was in great hands with my parents, and though we missed him, I rarely worried about him, but it was still good for my momma heart to see him and talk to him and know that he was doing fine (We found out later that he started running fever on Tuesday night and was a pretty sick kid for a few days. Matt and I were in ignorant bliss though. It was probably better that way. His fever had broken and he was on the mend by Friday which was the next time we got a chance to Skype).

Afterward we showered and headed to dinner.

Have I mentioned that we love turn down service and towel animals?

We had a pretty low key night. We played cards and watched a really lame show. The theater was pretty much empty, so I don't know why we didn't get the memo not to show up either. It's a memory though. We turned in a little early too. We were tired from our busy day and had to rest up because the next day we were going to be in the Bahamas!