Island Fever

The common misconception about living in a tropical place is that life is a constant vacation. It's not. We are by no means insinuating that we don't have an amazing life - we do and are extremely thankful for it - but we are definitely not on vacation. Now that Mark has officially started his job and Lisa is gearing up for the Holiday season work is becoming pretty all encompassing. It doesn't help that Emily is gone one or two evenings during the week so it is very easy to just keep going... and going. Even on the weekends the lap-top is not far from reach.

Last week Lisa had a sudden bout of island fever. An unexplainable and overwhelming need to get "off the rock". Spirit airlines to the rescue!!! A quick half hour flight and Mark and Lisa were standing at the Avis counter arguing with the clerk on why we should have to pay the taxes on rewards vouchers :-) We spent an evening in Miami and then trekked on down to Key West. The wind streaming in through the car windows and the CD player blasting - oh what joy to be able to drive more than 35 miles per hour and more than a 20 mile distance.

After an initial bad experience with lack of promised wireless access (a must for Lisa) and a permanent pile of the last guest's smelly dinner dishes piled outside our room - we were kindly upgraded from our teeny patio single (paid with points no less) to an ocean-front suite overlooking Sunset Island. Score!! We ended up staying a 2nd night - de-stressing and unwinding. We sipped a bottle of wine on our patio and Lisa ate a pound of "peel and eat" shrimp from Conch Republic as we watched the famous Key West sunset. Gorgeous.



We did manage to get in a bit of shopping (we arrived armed with "requests" from our Nassau friends) and found Emily a jar of her beloved Nutella. Unfortunately we were trying not to check luggage ($25 a bag!) and the airport security guy removed it from Lisa's bag after the x-ray... straight in to his pile of requisitioned "goodies". She was not happy (Emily that is - not Lisa).

Now the island fever is cured and we are happy to be home. Stay tuned for news and hopefully video of Emily's Survival Unit at school and the exciting school pool raft races.