Vacation Day 2: Marathon

Early in the morning, the guys got up at 5 am to see sunrise. I was lazy I preferred to sleep instead. Jon took a lot of sunrise photos. He said the sun rised so fast, it was like a balloon flew up to the sky.



After that everyone went for swimming ..less me! Besides, we were leaving for Marathon in the next couple of hours, I hate to pack "wet cloths". I managed to get some shots of the beachfront of the hotel.



Upon working up an appetite, we went for breakfast buffet at the hotel. Not much selection and food wasn't great. After breakfast we checkout and got ready for next destination, Marathon.


Below is map of Florida Keys taken from Google Map. Florida Keys is a chain of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. Most of the islands are linked by a scenic road called the Overseas Highway (completed in 1938), which has 42 bridges. Florida Keys are divided into five regions: Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine Key, and Key West .


Our destination, Marathon, is in the heart of Florida Keys. Marathon offers many relaxing vacation resorts, diverse water activities and great restaurants that serve fresh seafood. We stayed at Seashell Beach Resort. The view was great, though the room was a bit old.


View from our room.


Our room, second floor, taken from the jetty.


We spent the whole afternoon kayaking. The water was calm and shallow, so it was good for newbie like me. Paddling was tiring eventhough I only contributed 30% of energy lol, thanx hubby!

When we were done with paddling, I jumped out of the kayak and into the sea to head towards shore... since the water was only knee deep. However upon taking 5 steps towards the shore, I felt some real slimy and sandy sea vegetation. I asked Jon to throw me slippers as I didn't dare to walk on slimy sand. I took a step and my foot sank into muddy sand, I was shocked, quickly withdrew my foot but my slipper stuck inside. Lost that right Billabong slipper in the process. Dope! There was no way I could walk to the seaside, Jon had to paddle the kayak to fetch me. =o)

Virteeka and Jon tried their luck hunting for my slipper. Sigh... gone!


We went back to our room to shower. After Jon had showered, it was my turn then, he went to the jetty to take photos. When I came out from the shower, I was surprised to see him in swim trunk. Why would he go swimming just after his shower? Long story short, while he was taking some pictures, his beloved Oakley shades fell into the sea haha. He had to jump into the sea to find his sunglasses. He was successful this time.

Dinner time ~ We went to Key Fisheries Restaurant. The place is located next to marina, it was so cold and windy.

Fried Oyster platter $15.95. I was a bit disappointed because I expected the oysters came in shell.


Garlic Golden Crab $15.95. We didn't expect the portion was huge since it was $15.95. The size of it was twice the size of the usual mud crab we had back in Singapore. The shell was thick and hard, but we were given plastic crab cracker. Very frustrating. It took us both an hour and 15 minutes to finish the crab. If I were to eat it alone, I would probably need 2.5 hours. Took so much effort to crack the shell and just ate a bit and a bit.


Finishing the crab was a big accomplishment! Never knew that cracking crabs could be so tiring.


These were what our friends ordered: Conch Fritters $4.95 and Key Lime Mahi $15.95, Mahi sauteed with limes, scallion, shallots, tomatoes and white wine. Jon was jealous at Abhishek since he didn't have to struggle yet could put a big chunk of "meat" into his mouth and was capable of enjoying a mouthful of delious seafood.


Related post: Day 1-Miami