Adam and I just returned from 5 glorious nights in Islamorada celebrating his 40th {how is that possible?!} birthday! Islamorada is known as the sport fishing capital of the Keys, making it the perfect birthday destination for Adam! Bloodline, the Netflix series, was based in Islamorada. I haven't seen it, but now I want to watch. This was our first time in the Florida Keys, so it was fun experiencing that. The Florida Keys have 44 islands and Islamorada, our home for the trip, consists of 6 of them.
On our second day in the Keys we drove down to Indian Key {between Islamorada and Marathon} to Robbie’s Marina to hop on the Dirty Boat for the day. Despite the anything but calm seas, we spent 4 hours catching Black Fin Tuna and Mahi Mahi. Two of our friends spent some time with their heads overboard and another went swimming while trying to reel a monster fish in, so it's safe to say we won't forget this trip anytime soon! After our charter, we stayed at Robbie's Marina to feed the Tarpon and then have a late lunch/early dinner at the Hungry Tarpon before doing back to get cleaned up for drinks at the Postcard Inn.
By Friday we were ready to spend a day in the resort pool before walking up the road to Hog Heaven for dinner, drinks, live music, and a gorgeous sunset.
Saturday was a picture perfect Florida day! With nothing but sunshine and 80 degree temps, we decided to rent a center console boat for the day. We boated from Marathon to Picnic Key, a very very tiny unhabited island near Ramrod Key where Captain Jack lives. Captain Jack has a crazy story that you need to hear for yourself, but long story short he used to be very wealthy {planes, islands, month long getaways, etc.} and lost it all. He built a houseboat that he and his dog now live on in the ocean. We met a group of people that live near there and ended up hanging with them for long enough that Adam got their phone number so we can meet back up with them if we come back. ;) From there we cruised through the canal before heading back to drop the boat off. Once back in Islamorada we went to OceanView bar {a local's hangout} where we quite literally took.it.over! It was another day that will never be forgotten!
After Saturdays adventure, we slept in! We didn't come out of our villa until noon! Our friends were off exploring, so we spent the afternoon wandering through gift shops before stopping for a very late lunch at Wahoo. It was packed, so we ate at the bar for the sake of time. The food was fantastic -- dare I say the best of the trip? And the Wahoo Mule was excellent too! Afterwards we met up with our friends back at the resort {they spent the afternoon kayaking and paddle boarding out to a sandbar}. Several rounds of table tennis ensued before we headed to dinner at Lorelei's. The ambiance, waitress, live music, and sunset were a 10/10, but the food itself had a lot to be desired which was a bummer since it was our last meal in the Keys.
A few notes about the resort, it felt like a mix between American hotel and Mexican resort. The Fisher Inn was newly remodeled, super clean, & awesome staff! They have hotel style rooms and also 8 little cabanas {where we stayed}. I loved the cabanas. We had the place almost to ourselves for the first few nights, which was perfect for our rowdy group. The only downside was that they didn't a restaurant or bar of any type. It felt a little like a VRBO, which we didn't mind since we were with friends {it was actually probably a good thing!} but I wanted to let you know in case you were hoping for a little more options on site.
A few notes about the Florida Keys, in some ways it was exactly what I was picturing {a chill vibe, lots of little restaurants, bars, shops, tons of marinas & boat rental places, etc.} but it was more spaced out than I imagined. You could spend a week or more if you really wanted to explore all of the islands {we never made it to Key Largo except on the way to Miami {when it was still dark} to catch our flight home} I loved that we flew into Key West and out from Miami and would recommend flying into one and out of another. We rented a car which is nice if you're planning to do much island hopping or have a large group -- there were 8 of us {they don't have a ton of Ubers and it can get quite pricey} The Village of Islamorada has a free shuttle service that was amazing! It was fast, easy to use, and FREE! Perfect for evening bar hoping if you're into that sort of thing. The only other thing, and I know it was because we were mainly in Islamorada {not in Key West or Key Largo} but the beaches weren't like I imagined. I was thinking walk out sand beaches {and they do have some, just not everywhere} So maybe be warned if you 're planning to just play at the sand and in the ocean.
