In Key West we visited the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, with fascinating information about the waters around the keys:
Author: David
Key West, Florida
We did a quick visit to Key West, Florida.
Lots of golf carts on the roads:
And tour trams:
And bikes:
Also lots of free-range chickens (mostly roosters):
We visited the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, which will be featured in subsequent blog posts. But we also stopped by the beach in the state park for lunch, which I’ll include here.
This beach is one of the southernmost points in the continental US. Quite a nice and popular beach, too:
Direction sign on the beach:
We grabbed some lunch at the cafe on the beach:
Another rooster:
We had considered visiting the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum and other touristy places, but had enough of walking around, so drove by them instead.
Houses with nice Caribbean paint jobs:
The aforementioned Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, with a bit of a line outside:
Why did the chickens cross the road? No, really, why?
The famous Southernmost point buoy, which as mentioned isn’t actually southernmost, but is a popular spot for selfies, with a long line of people waiting their turn:
Really not our kind of town; way too crowded.
Sugarloaf Key / Key West KOA Resort
We stayed at Sugarloaf Key / Key West KOA Resort, in Sugarloaf Key, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A very nice resort, that actually lives up to the resort label. We wished we could have stayed longer.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-02-02
- Check out: 2024-02-04
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Mostly clear
- High temps 70°F, lows around 65°F
- Little wind, gusts to 24 MPH
Noise:
- Some highway noise
- No train noise
- Live music from pool area on the first night
Site:
- #102, back in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- A little unlevel, high on left; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel driveway about 50 feet long by about 10 feet wide
- Shrubs between sites
- Picnic table and fire pit on gravel area
- Clean site
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 35 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (1 10-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 52 Mbps down, 67 Mbps up, 37-437 ms ping
- AT&T: 37-50 Mbps down, 0.2 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- Verizon: 25 Mbps down, 16 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site
- Pool
- Pub and cafe
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Most resort-like KOA ever
This was a last-minute change as we had reservations at another place in the Keys, but needed to avoid a major storm and came down a couple of days earlier than planned. We only stayed two nights, but I wish we could’ve stayed for our entire trip in the Keys. We’ve stayed at lots of KOAs and lots of other so-called “resorts”, but this one felt the most like a true resort that we’ve ever stayed at. The pool and bar area were like something at a beachside resort in Cancun, with lush landscaping and attentive bartenders. It does get a bit loud in the evenings when they have live music, so if that’s not your scene, just be aware that you will hear it from your site.
We had a back-in along the perimeter, which we enjoyed. There is very nice landscaping between the sites, so it was relatively private. The site was just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, with our tow vehicle parked perpendicular at the front of the site. Since everyone does this, the road was a bit narrow when backing in and when we left, so make sure you have a reliable spotter.
The cost is a bit higher than we are used to, but it is what it is. It was cheaper than a less-fancy resort that was further away from Key West, so bear that in mind. We would definitely stay here again. We camped at Sugarloaf Key / Key West KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Office:
This KOA is different in that it has a couple of hotel buildings for non-RVers:
Other sites:
Dog park:
They have nice paths in the middle of rows, so people aren’t tempted to cut through unoccupied (or occupied!) sites:
Sothernmost KOA:
Marina:
Rentals:
Boat ramp:
Hammock:
Pools:
Always nice when there’s food onsite. They have a poolside pub:
Menus:
We tried some beverages:
Sandwiches and fries:
Second round:
The next day, more beverages:
And pizzas:
Cafe and store:
A path to a “beach”:
Bridge:
Mangroves:
“Beach”:
A nice resort. We’d be happy to stay here again.
Video: Homestead to Sugarloaf Key, Florida motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 122 miles from Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida to Sugarloaf Key, Florida, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
Travel from Homestead to Sugarloaf Key, Florida
We drove our coach 122 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida to Sugarloaf Key, Florida.
This was a late change; we had planned to stay a couple of days more, but decided to leave early to avoid some bad weather.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading down the Overseas Highway in the Keys:
An interactive map:
Leaving our site:
We stopped at the dump station, which was rather popular at that time:
A bird in Everglades:
Leaving next to the entrance station:
Road works:
Entering route 1:
Our coach in traffic cams:
Overseas Highway, with an adjacent fishing bridge:
Fuel stop:
Paladin sat on the dash at the fuel stop, but jumped down once underway again:
Turtle hospital:
Passing Encore Sunshine Key, where we stayed a couple of days later:
Our destination:
Guided to our site (even though it was literally right around that corner):
Engine compartment insulation
The insulation above the engine in our motorhome came loose. Apparently this is a fairly common issue, but not ideal:
I used some aluminum tape to temporarily repair it:
But while in Red Bay we got one of the after-hours vendors, Mark Tedford (662-706-0692), to properly fix it for us.
There is an access panel to the engine compartment in our rear bathroom (yes, the engine is at the back, commonly called a “diesel pusher”):
He removed that to enhance its insulation:
The first time I’ve seen inside that compartment on our coach, looking down on our Cummins ISL 450 diesel engine:
The default engine hatch insulation:
His enhanced insulation:
His improved insulation from the back:
Much nicer. The bathroom floor used to get quite warm after a drive, but it is now much cooler. And now we shouldn’t need to worry about it falling apart.
Robert is Here fruit stand
We stopped by Robert is Here, a longstanding fruit stand in Homestead, Florida:
We tried several interesting fruits we hadn’t encountered before:
An interesting way to package pineapples:
Chickens:
Trying some of the fruit:
Some strange tastes, but we liked most of them.
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
We briefly visited John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida.
An interactive map:
Entrance:
Visitor center aquarium:
Gift store:
Cannon Beach:
Far Beach:
Big Cypress National Preserve
While exploring Everglades National Park, we drove through a portion of Big Cypress National Preserve, north of Everglades, checked out its two visitor centers, had a picnic lunch, and a stroll along some boardwalks.
Jenn collected her passport stamps at both visitor centers:
Exhibits at the Oasis Visitor Center:
A short boardwalk in front of the visitor center:
There were several alligators hanging out below the boardwalk; clearly on the park staff:
A bunch of birds, too:
Continuing on, we stopped for a picnic lunch at Kirby Storter Roadside Park:
There was also a boardwalk there through the swamp, a little less than a mile roundtrip:
Finally, Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center:
Also with a short boardwalk:
A bit different kind of swamp from what we saw in Everglades.
Biscayne National Park
Biscayne National Park is one of the rare national parks that is mostly water, on the coast south of Miami, Florida.
We visited for a sail, paddle, and snorkel trip.
Our boat:
Heading out:
Birds:
Map; we sailed out to Coon Point on Elliot Key:
Snorkeling; I used my 360 camera, but had some technical difficulties, so didn’t get many pictures:
Other boats:
Raising our sail:
Some paddling into the mangroves:
Sitting up front on the way back:
Lighthouse:
A fun excursion.