Mallory Sunset Festival and other highlights

Lots of street performers after your tourist dollar....these guys were actually fairly good!


We took a walk to Sloppy Joe's before the sunset festival and had a beer!


This parrot was on Mallory Street and wanted attention...he found it with us.


Took a picture of both of us for use on a possible Christmas card.


It just doesn't get better than this...the end of the day in paradise...no words are needed!

KEY WEST!

After a long drive from from Key Largo, we along with our faithful LILred finally arrive around lunch time in Key West, Florida





Our first day has been pretty warm which isn't quite that normal for this early in the season.









Our first stop is the butterfly house so that Sharon can order her butterfly sculpture. We also take the tour.






Not only are there butterflies, but there are also birds.









Sharon tried and tried to get one of the butterflies to land on her, but it didn't work. However, they seemed to like me so much this one wanted to plant one on me!

After a long, hard day on the road

After a night camping, we pack and load the car up and are on the road again. We have the top down for awhile, but just awhile as the sun rays were just way too much even with sunscreen on.



About 4 P.M. we rolled into some terrible storms in some of Miami. I say some because downtown Miami was pounded as we rolled through. Once we left downtown, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Mike pulled out the computer and made reservations. We are presently at the Holiday Inn resort in Key Largo.



This little guy was outside our room. Must be one of the perks of getting an upgrade :p







Bananas right outside the room as well as plumeria....wow, it's almost paradise!













We end the evening at a place behind the hotel called *Coconuts* where Mike dined on almost *raw* tuna steak and I had the cooked coconut shrimp....plus a few drinks!

Depressed Mia and Tia

We stop at Daytona Speedway....Mia and Tia were hoping to catch up with Lightning McQueen, but he is apparently spending time out at his new headquarters and catching up with Sally.







Mia wasn't real happy about this...she decided she needed a orange float to drown her sorrows in...she really got into it too as you can see by the orange all over her!













Turned out to be a nice day after all...LILred wishing other Chesapeake Roadsters could be here as well!

Camping in Florida tonight!!

After a long day of driving from cool Florence, South Carolina, we made it to Georgia about lunch time
Everyone was pretty hungry so we decided to picnic at one of the fantastic rest areas along the Georgia stretch of I-95. Georgia should be commended for having some of the nicest rest areas. All of us got a much needed rest and we were able to eat some of the food that was earmarked for dinner the evening before.

Sharon had purchased these blue cheese and bacon burgers from Whole Foods about a month ago and had stored them in the freezer downstairs. She decided to take them and we had a really yummy lunch.

Finally, we see the Florida State border in site and the clouds mysteriously go away. We are finally able to enjoy the big, yellow orb in the sky with the top down.


Thanks to having the GPS program, we find a wonderful campground located in Daytona Beach and we set up camp.

We drive to Daytona Beach to stick our feet in the very warm Atlantic ocean and then it's off again for one more destination.

Through North Carolina into South Carolina

It begins to rain, so of course the top has to go up. Lots of truck traffic through North Carolina after Sharon takes over the controls from me.







Now Sharon may tell me to slow down every five minutes, but for some reason when she drives the same rules *do NOT* apply! She steadily moves right through NC seeing a few Smokey Bears here and there...most of them in black Dodge Chargers.





We make it to South of the Border where Mia and Tia are waiting for their photo op. South of the Border may cease to exist in a few years, going the way of the many things on Route 66. Sophisticated travelers are looking for Starbucks, not 2 bit trinkets, hats and so forth. We actually were sort of saddened because much of what is around South of the Border seems to be deserted. Unfortunately, it seems that it might be the end of an era.







Just a little about *Mike's sack* (yes, this will be funny to the Chesapeake Roadsters!)
Mike told me when we packed that I should figure on taking enough for 3 days. So I mulled and anguished over what I should pack. Finally, I came up with my 3 days worth of clothing. This is one time that Mike is the clothes horse! He only wanted me to pack that much because he has enough for 5 or 6 days! I was limited but he was not, SOOOOO most of the sack belongs to him!! This is one time I didn't pack everything I owned.



Mia and Tia down for the night at the Fairfield Marriott in Florence, South Carolina. After going to Weather.com, we decide that it isn't the problem of sleeping in the tent in the rain, but more the torrential downpours that are expected this evening. It's all good though.....everyone knows that Mike LOVES Marriott points. Until this time tomorrow when we try to post again!

Through Virginia

After an eternity on 295 even after waiting until the rush hour is over, we finally hit Virginia!







The GPS on the computer works fantastic!








Mike is having a great time! Top is down, we are moving and I haven't asked if we can stop to go to the bathroom yet! :P




We finally decide to look for gasoline and a rest area. We give up on that and decide that we will have lunch at a uninviting travel plaza. If we would have waited about 5 more minutes, we would have passed a rest area. I had put the computer away because of the fact it looked like it was going to rain.



LILred getting ready to go over the NC border!

On our way!

Here is the car packed and the spacesacks seem to work very nicely. We ended up leaving out our two camping chairs because we were concerned about the rains.








Mike has attached the wet sack to the car and we are almost ready to go!









We are ready to go!












So are Mia and Tia!












Going into Virginia!

That's going in there??!

When we started thinking about this, we were trying to figure out how to combine our love of camping with our love of our Miatae, AKA LILred. It wasn't an easy task! With the exception of the red fabric that is laying on the sofa, everything else is going on the trip. It may be hard to believe but everything pictured there fits in the trunk. We did make some changes to our regular camping gear, meaning we are just taking the absolute essentials. We bought a few smaller sized items to lighten what we were taking. All of this needs to fit in this area right here.

Now we already know that it will, but we did have an idea yesterday that may allow us to take a few more items with us. We aren't going to know how it works out until the day we pack the car which is two days away, but we purchased Spacesacks from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

The pros are that it made the bedding and the pillows very small. The cons right now are if they get nicked that will pretty much end the bag and of course another con is we really won't know how they fit until the day we pack up the car which is two days away. We are really hoping that they work. It will allow us to take a few more dry food items along with us.

So, now your probably asking about clothing and the fact that I mentioned food where all that is going to go. Got all that figured out as well. As for cold food, the Miata has a package tray. We have 2 six pack coolers that sit very nicely behind our Hard Dog Deuce roll bar. As for the clothing, well we figured that one out as well. Mike had a brilliant idea of using a wet bag...the only thing is that the ones we looked at would have been a pain to get anything out of, so he came up with this.


This is a wet bag that is more like a suitcase than a duffle. He liked it because it will allow us to be able to get to either sets of clothing with a little bit more ease. We are lucky enough to have the luggage rack on the back of our car so this will work perfectly. We naturally can't pack our whole wardrobe so we will only have changes of clothing for 3 days plus what we are wearing for a total of four which will require at least one stop for washing depending on how long we are gone, but it's all good. We're going!


So, watch as we begin the next few days to document our trip to Key West on our quest for fun!

Meet Mia and Tia

This is Mia and Tia, you know, from the movie *Cars*. Being the Miataphiles that we are, we think that they should have been featured a little more prominately in the movie because after all, they are Miatae. They will be going with us and our new Delorme Earthmate GPS software bought specifically for our trip. It's not like we can't find our way there because certainly just about anyone can drive straight down Interstate 95, but we wanted to be able to find items of interest to us, plus the plan is for us to get off the beaten path here and there and say look for the largest ball of twine or the nearest Dairy Queen say that Mike need his fix of a Blizzard! :P
See where we take them to!

Our vacation is less than a week away....yay!! In the next few days leading up to our vacation, we will be showing you how we are going to pack our 1991 Mazda Miata and take it on a journey from the suburbs of Maryland to sunny Key West, Florida. We haven't been there since we took a cruise in 1994 so it's going to be fun.....stay tuned!