Saying Goodbye to Key Largo

 It's always a little sad to wrap up our winter stay and head north again but this year is particularly difficult. It is the last time we will be snowbirding in Key Largo after twelve years of enjoying our winter stays. Let me explain.

The weather is only half the reason for coming to Florida in the winter. The other half is being closer to our Florida son and his family for a few weeks of the year. It was very convenient to stay in Key Largo as it was only about 35 minutes from where they lived in Cutler Bay. This year they have moved from their home on the east coast of Florida to one on the Gulf Coast of Florida--a good four hour drive from Key Largo. Needless to say it is too far to see them often.

Because of their move, we spent a good deal of time online looking for a place to rent near Venice which is much closer to where they are now. It's a nice place but there will not be a view like we have enjoyed here in Key Largo and we can only hope that the owners of the villa will be as gracious as the owners in KL who have allowed us to rent their condo for six winter seasons. 

And then there are the friends we have made here, some new and some we have kept over the years. Friends who played cards with us, drank in the beautiful sunsets each evening, shared community programs and concerts with us and of course played Pickleball with us. We were with the Pickleball group when it first started and have watched it grow to where they are in need of building permanent courts. We may have to come back and visit to see those.

Our morning view in Key Largo

Our last time to attend our "home church away from home" was yesterday. Thankfully we can still connect through the live stream they have each Sunday.

We will miss the sunsets especially not only for their beauty but the gathering together to celebrate the end of each day and look forward to the next day to come. I will miss the mornings full of pink and soft purple skies (Bob rarely made it out of bed for those), the call of the osprey as he hunts breakfast and the "boys in the hood", the osprey flock. Also missed will be the local manatees, the dolphins and the glowworms.

While it is sad, it is also exciting as we look forward to a whole new area of Florida to explore, being near friends from the north and of course our grandkids. Nature will provide entertainment there as well with sandhill cranes and the like. It will just be different and we will find much to make our next winter season wonderful.