Fiesta Key, Florida - April 18th to 22nd, 2023

The Florida Keys are lovely, but not cheap. We splurged on an RV Resort on Fiesta Key. We managed to forget how much we were paying to be there and had a lovely, relaxing experience.

Tuesday, we drove from the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park over to Fiesta Key RV Resort at Mile Marker 70 along the Overseas Highway of the Florida Keys.

As had become our routine, we shopped for groceries on our travel day. Ann remembered seeing a farm stand on the way into the Everglades, so we stopped to buy some fresh, local fruits and vegetables. The place is called Robert Is Here Fruit Stand and Farm. The place was hopping. It was a tourist trap, but they had a wonderful selection of fruits and vegetables.

Ann picked up a variety of fruit, most she doesn’t remember ever eating before. They included not only the familiar mangos, papaya, and grapes, but also Guanabana Sour Sop, Red Cherimoya (Red Alama), Mamey Sapote, and Sapodilla (Nispero, Nisberry, or Chikoo). Some of them would take a few days to ripen, so we should be able to try a new one each day. The other items we were able to buy there were lemons, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, garlic, and eggs. By the time we reached the Publix grocery store, there wasn’t much left on our grocery list.

In addition to the fruit and vegetable stand, Robert Is Here has little lunch counter with sandwiches, smoothies, and milkshakes. It was lunch time, so we purchased a couple of Cuban sandwiches along with milkshakes. The milkshakes were made from some of the fresh fruit from the stand. Ours contained Sapodilla, strawberries, and bananas. Delicious!

Out back there are farm animals and a small aviary. Fun for the whole family. There were chickens walking loose around the picnic tables. The roosters were almost constantly crowing.

While Ann was standing outside the aviary taking pictures of it, a bird outside the aviary in the tree overhead decided to give Ann a present and pooped on her shoulder. A quick trip back to Red Tail (our Winnebago EKKO) to change and wash her shirt out in the sink and everything was all good. It’s nice having our house with us.

We also needed to fill up on gas. On the way to the grocery store, we passed a couple of gas stations where all the pumps were closed. Then we saw one with a long line that wrapped around the parking lot. Wait, what’s going on? A quick Google search revealed that there was a gas shortage in the Miami area. The previous Wednesday, Fort Lauderdale was hit with 25 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. Major flooding shut down Port Everglades for several days, which is where the daily gas shipments for the whole Miami area arrive. Even though the port had opened back up, the gas supply had not yet caught back up to the demand.

While we were at the grocery store, we searched the GasBuddy app for local gas stations that were reporting they had fuel. We found a Walmart had gas, just five minutes from where we were. Along the way, we stopped at another gas station that looked like they might have fuel. Nope, they only had diesel, we needed regular gas. At Walmart, there were two very long lines winding through the parking lot, one line for each side of the gas station. Security was standing guard, but everyone seemed to be well-behaved and polite. The line moved rather quickly. We were out of there in less than half an hour. Whew!

We arrived at Fiesta Key with plenty of time to walk around the resort to check it out before dinner. This was the most expensive campground we’ve ever stayed in, around $190 per night. We were hoping to stay in a couple of the state parks that are on the keys, but Ann goofed and didn’t set her calendar reminders. Of course, those parks fill up fast, so there was no guarantee that we would have been able to grab a spot even if we tried right when the reservations opened up.

The resort sits on its own little key, with wonderful views out over the bay side of the keys. The place is truly a resort, with full hookups, cabins for rent, a marina, boat launch, kayak launch, bathhouses, laundry, marina store, bar & restaurant, swimming area, swimming pool, hot tubs, and a sandy lounge area. The RV’s are packed in tight, in a graveled area, but you also have a small concrete pad with a picnic table and room to set up a screen shelter (which we left at home). The bathhouses are in need of a renovation, but they are clean.

After dinner, we walked over to the bar & restaurant, bought drinks, and relaxed on a couple of lounge chairs in the sandy beach area to watch the sun set. The raised swimming pool and a fence blocked part of the view of the sunset from the lounge chairs. The better views of the sunset are over next to the marina.

The temperatures were cool enough along with a nice breeze and no bugs so we turned off the air conditioner and opened up the windows. We slept much better that night with the fresh air and without the loud sound of the air conditioner. Ahhh.

Wednesday we got our bikes out. The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail is a multi-use trail that runs from Key Largo to Key West. However, only 90 miles of the planned 106 miles are complete. We explored how far we could go on the trail from Fiesta Key.

First we headed north. Just to the north is the Channel 5 Bridge. The trail goes on the old bridge, which is used mainly as a fishing bridge. The old bridge ends at the boat channel, so it does not reach the far side of the channel. The Overseas Highway has a lot of traffic, so there is no safe way to cross the highway bridge. Even on the fishing bridge, we had to go slow and watch out for people casting their lines. After reaching the end of the fishing bridge, we turned around and headed south.

The Heritage Trail runs right alongside the highway, so it is not the quietest of rides. Trees block the views of the ocean most of the time, but there are nice views every now and then. Just a few miles south of Fiesta Key is the town of Layton, on Long Key. There isn’t much to the town, just a handful of businesses, resorts, and a marina. Just past the town is Long Key State Park. The day use fee for the park is $2.50 per pedestrian or bicyclist. We decided to come back the following day to explore the park.

We continued on the Heritage Trail down to the Long Key Bridge. The Overseas Heritage Trail does connect to the other side on top of the historic Long Key Viaduct Bridge, which was originally built for the Overseas Railroad in 1912. The bridge is 2.5 miles long. We decided to ride over the bridge and find a place to eat lunch on the other side.

There are bump outs along the Long Key Viaduct where pedestrians and fishermen can get out of the way of the bike traffic. We could go faster on the Long Key bridge than we could on the Channel 5 bridge; however, we were still slow and careful around the people fishing. Getting caught by a fish hook didn’t sound like fun. We watched one person haul in a small shark on their line.

At the other end of the bridge, the Heritage Trail ran right alongside the highway on the shoulder, with no separation from the traffic like before. Ann didn’t want to ride that close to the heavy traffic, so we turned around and rode back over the bridge. Instead, we found a place to eat in Layton.

The Florida Boy Bar & Grill was about the only place we could find in Layton. It looked like the restaurant was part of the Lime Tree Bay Resort. The bar & grill was right alongside the highway, with no views of the water, but its outdoor seating, protected under a roof, was still pleasant. Ann opted for the island chicken (blackened with Swiss cheese and a slice of pineapple) while Keith ordered the fried shrimp. The food was pretty decent. From there, we rode back to the campground.

Later in the afternoon, Ann took a quick dip in the swimming pool while Keith took a shower. After dinner, we cut open the Mamey Sapote, since it seemed like it had ripened. The large pit inside was smooth, hard, and shiny, like a sea shell. Ann would also agree that the flavor was similar to pumpkin pie. Very interesting.

That evening, we again relaxed down by the beach for a drink and another beautiful sunset. The restaurant had live music, a lovely singer and guitar player, which added to the already wonderful atmosphere.

Thursday we rode our bikes over to Long Key State Park. There used to be a campground at the park, but it was damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and has not been repaired yet. There is a nature trail, Golden Orb Nature Trail, that seems to be popular with birders. Part of the trail is a boardwalk. We walked it a couple of hours past high tide.

After getting about three quarters of the way around the loop, the trail was under water. The water was clear and only about ankle deep. Despite having trail runners and socks on, Ann decided to continue through the water. Keith doesn’t like to get his feet wet, so he turned around and met Ann back at the trailhead. In addition to some birds and lizards, we spotted some crab along the path. At the trailhead is a foot wash, so Ann was able to rinse the saltwater off her shoes, socks and feet. We don’t know how often the trail is under water and if it changes with the tide. Perhaps it is dry during low tide, but we don’t know that for sure.

From there, we rode to the other end of the park. There is a lovely beach area which looked like a great place to swim, relax, or launch a paddle board. We found a bench in the shade of a cabana to sit and enjoy our snacks. While sitting there, we watched some boats out on the water. They were using their poles to navigate around. Previously, at the Everglades, while hanging out at Flamingo Marina, Keith notice that some of the boats on trailers that pulled up to get gas at the marina had long poles attached to the sides of the boats. He was curious what they were for, so he asked one of the boat owners. Florida Bay is so shallow in places that there is not enough room to have the motor lowered in the water. So they pull up the motor, stand on the platform, and use the long poles to maneuver, similar to the gondola boats in the canals of Venice, Italy. It was nice to be able to see the poles in action.

Before we left the park, we checked out the Long Key Side Track. Hurricane Irma uncovered a small section of railroad ties from the railroad that ran the length of the keys in the early 1900’s. The park created a nice little display of the track along with some other railway artifacts found in the area.

On the way back to Fiesta Key, we stopped at the Florida Boy Bar & Grill again. This time we enjoyed a couple slices of key lime pie.

After relaxing a little while back at the campground, Ann got the paddle board down and went for a short paddle. The kayak launch is nice and sandy, in a somewhat protected area. The winds were about ten mph, which isn’t too bad, but the wind and water pushed the board around quite a bit. Ann started off heading around the point, away from the traffic noise of the highway. But, since this was only her fourth time on the board, she started to get a little uncomfortable about how hard it might be to get back against the wind and current, so she turned around.

The water was calmer back towards the highway, so she paddled along the shoreline, accepting the noise in exchange for the easier paddling. The water was pretty clear, so she could see the bottom. However, the choppiness of the water made it a little harder to see what was in the water. She saw a sting ray or manta ray emerge from a cloud of sand and swim away. There were also several groups of fish that swam under her. As the wind seemed to be picking up, she headed back to shore after only about 40 minutes on the water. However, it was a wonderful experience. She is starting to gain more confidence on the board and relaxing more.

For dinner, we ate at the resort restaurant, Oceans 305. Keith ordered the 8 oz filet mignon with mashed potatoes and a salad. Ann felt more daring, having the grilled churasco steak with a chimichurri sauce along with fried plantains and broccoli. Both our meals were tasty. Of course, sitting at the shaded outdoor tables with a wonderful view of Florida Bay didn’t hurt the experience any.

A DJ was playing music and preparing for karaoke night. They were definitely appealing to the retired age group. The music selection was from our college years. We didn’t mind. However, we left before people started singing.

After dinner, we cut up the Sapodilla and the Red Cherimoya. The Sapodilla had one hard seed in the center and tasted like pear mixed with brown sugar. The Red Cherimoya had a lovely creamy texture filled with black seeds. It tasted like raspberry yogurt, but it was a pain to remove all the seeds. Ann would put the whole spoonful into her mouth and spit out the seeds like she was eating watermelon.

At breakfast Friday morning, Ann cut up the Guanabana (Sour Sop). It has a creamy interior with black seeds. The fruit stand claimed the Guanabana tasted like cotton candy. Ann thought it tasted more like banana soaked in pineapple. The seeds were also easier to remove than the Red Cherimoya from the night before.

Friday morning we did laundry. Fiesta Key has a pretty large guest laundry for a campground, eight washers and eight dryers. Instead of quarters, they take credit cards. We appreciated not having to deal with all those quarters, until we couldn’t get the card reader to work on one of the dryers. Even though we like the convenience of using credit cards for laundry, that also means there is no recourse if you don’t have a working credit card. At least with quarters, if you are out of quarters, you can go and try to find change.

After lunch, Ann went for another paddle on her board. It was not as windy, so it was a little more enjoyable. She headed out just past sunset point. However, a few boats went by. At first Ann thought they were too far away to bother her, but just as she forgot about them, the wake from the boats hit. The waves were not high, but enough to startle her, because she didn’t realize why she was having so much trouble balancing at first. They were also hitting her broadside, which made it worse. After she realized what it was and turned to hit the swells straight on, she had a much easier time. Even so, she decided to head back towards the highway to calmer waters.

Ann was out on the water about an hour. She could see more clearly into the calmer waters than the day before. There were a variety of fish, both large and small. She also saw two different rays. She’s still not sure what type of rays such as sting rays or manta rays. Perhaps she saw one of each. The one was smaller and swam along top of the water for a little bit. The other one was larger, with a really long tail. It quickly swam and hid among the roots of the mangroves of a small tree island just off shore.

After dinner, we cut open our one remaining piece of fruit, a Red Lady Papaya. Our dessert was pieces of papaya with vanilla ice cream. It was so tasty and refreshing. Because there was less of a breeze on Friday, it felt hotter outside. We even turned the air conditioning back on for the first time since the first day we were at Fiesta Key.

In the evening, we sipped a drink while sitting on lounge chairs watching the sun set. Another singer and guitar player was playing at the Oceans 305 restaurant. A perfect way to end our time at Fiesta Key.

If you don’t mind the price tag, Fiesta Key is a lovely place to stay. There are less expensive places to stay in the keys, if you can snag a reservation at one before they fill up or find a cancellation. However, sometimes it is nice just to splurge a little. Our time at Fiesta Key was very memorable.

Check out our related video: Fiesta Key, Florida

(Ann)