Remember that warm spell we had at the end of February? Just a couple of weeks ago, it was, right at the time of my carefully planned trip to escape the cold by going to Florida.

Yep, my husband and I left 70-degree days and my blooming daffodils to go to Miami and Key West. Lining up a rental car in the frigid days of January, I’d walked around the house singing Jimmy Buffett’s “I gotta go where it’s warm.”

Well, it was warm all right, almost too warm once we got to Key West with upper 80’s temps. But we saw the sights, soaked up some sun, and ate some great food (last week’s blog).  Here’s just a smattering of What I Did on My Winter Vacation.

Miami

The shallow Everglades

Neither my husband nor I had ever been to the Everglades, so we booked an excursion from Miami to what I thought of as a big swamp but the tour guide labeled “a slow-moving river.” Very pretty and yes, we saw alligators.  From afar.

After years of being run-down and a little dangerous, South Miami Beach is a safe, fun place these days. We ate dinner at Tapas & Tintos on Espanola Way, a pedestrian only, café-lined boulevard with a festive atmosphere.  I had plenty of tapas in Madrid last summer.  This time, it was paella for me.

Ready to order paella

Key Largo

Key Largo is unique in that it’s rowdy but historic. You can bar-hop from the famous Hog’s Breath Saloon to Hemingway’s former hangout, Sloppy Joe’s.  Or you can be like a couple of old folks I know and visit Truman’s Little White House and the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum.  There’s also the Butterfly Conservatory for those seeking tranquility.

Is that a butterfly on my hat?

In driving our rental car from Key West back to Miami to catch our flight home, we ate lunch in Key Largo (Cue the Beach Boys: “Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama, Key Largo, Montego, baby, why don’t we go….)

Order at the window

Go we did, not to Kokomo—is this even a real place?—but to the balmy beaches of Miami and Key West, even though it was pretty balmy at home as well.