In front of the Clay Hotel on Española Way, Miami Beach.

Ocean drive by day is a study in pastels.

Ocean drive by night is loud and bright.

We visited three national parks on this trip, bringing our total to 31.

The “river of grass” at Everglades National Park. Taken from Pa-hay-okee overlook.

Count the gators along the anhinga trail.

An anhinga drying his wings.

Checking out preserved sea creatures on the Jetty Walk tour at Biscayne National Park.

Seven Mile Bridge is the longest of the 42 bridges that make up the Overseas Highway from Key Largo to Key West.

Bahia Honda State Park beach.

The old bridge at Bahia Honda provides a great viewpoint for the nearby islands and bridges.

The National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key is the only place where this species lives. It’s hard to tell the scale, but this guy is only about 18 inches tall at the shoulder.

Contender for best meal of the trip: Azur in Key West. This is the seafood risotto, we also had some fantastic grilled octopus.

Great cocktails from 2 Cents Restaurant. Our bartender also provided a “Key West Koozie” for the road (Not technically legal).

The 73 foot tall Key West Lighthouse kept ships safe from 1849-1969, now you can climb it and there’s a museum attached.

Ernest Hemingway’s home from 1931-1939, complete with six-toed cats.

You run into some real characters on Duvall Street in Key West.

Ranger Bruce gave our small group a detailed tour of the history of Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas.

The seawall around the fort protects it from waves and creates a defensive moat.

Nick performs a stunning kick atop the ramparts of Fort Jefferson.

Departing Key West. We love small airports where you walk right across the tarmac to the plane. Now on to the Cayman Islands.

Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman is lined with resorts from end to end.

We booked a half-day tour with Cayman Routes Island Tours. The first stop was the oldest existing building on Grand Cayman, Pedro St. James.

More botanic garden beauty.

This is also one of the few habitats for the endemic Blue Iguana.

The pristine north coast of Grand Cayman provides a contrast to the developed western end of the island.

Delicious lunch at Vivine’s Kitchen was included in the tour. We selected the Cayman style grouper.

Shirley, owner/guide at Cayman Routes, was born and raised here and is an expert on all things Caymanian.

Sunset sail on board the Spirit of Calypso from Red Sail Sports.

A popular weekend activity is a boat party. We were on a birthday boat chartered from Double Trouble Charters. First stop was Stingray City.

Stingrays flock to this area and swim around people in waist-deep water. You can hold one if you want to …

Or you can just touch one from a reasonable distance. It’s like rubbing wet velvet.

Nothing makes you feel like a spring breaker like jumping off the top of a boat into bathwater-warm water.

High kicks all around for our amazing friend, hostess and current Cayman resident Sarah!