Last Stop before Heading to Europe –Part 2
Homestead, Florida is the last layover before we board a plane to Portugal.
We stayed at a very nice hotel, The Floridian, in Homestead for 5 days. This gave us time to ride around and see the area again.
Everyone knows how we love to drive around, see new things and take pictures and there was plenty to see here. We didn’t take as many pictures as we thought. Guess we were having too much fun actually seeing the area, rather than taking the picture.
Last time we were in this part of Florida was over 2 years ago.
The area has changed during that time. Lots of business and apartments complexes have developed. It is finally recovering from Andrew’s devastation years ago.
One ride was down towards the Keys. We saw areas that were still messed up from the hurricane last year. The worst area seem to be around Tavernier. The well-known Postcard Inn Hotel was destroyed and still not reopened. From the looks of it, this place won’t be opening soon.
There were areas along the water side that were destroyed and still not cleared away. Locals told us that this area was blocked so badly, it took months to clear access on the highway to actually reach Key West.
Although we stopped at the 7-mile bridge and didn’t make it all the way to Key West, it was a good ride.
One exciting thing we did was unexpected.
We were just driving along sightseeing and passed the Homestead Nascar racetrack. As we pulled up to the front gate, a Security Guard approached us. At first we thought he was going to ask us to leave. But to our surprise, he invited us in to take pictures of the track.
What an awesome surprise to be able to walk up to the track area. We walked around the sitting area and took lots of pictures. The place was much bigger than I imagined. We were probably 300 feet from the actually track and that was exciting. I can see now why people would enjoy going to the races.
Before leaving the track area, we went over to the gift shop and looked around. Both the shop clerk and the security guard were very informative and friendly. I think they were probably bored and were happy to see someone.
They were others there, but they worked upstairs in the office.
It pays to get out of the norm and take a chance. If we hadn’t drove up to the gate, we would have missed a great time.
It was another unexpected surprise.
We took another side road and found ourselves at a State Park located on Biscayne Bay. It was a very enjoyable stroll along the walking path. The heat was unbearable at times, but we continued to seek out the new sights. I’m not if you can camp in this park, but I think I’m going to find out for future reference. It’s a beautiful area.
The Homestead Military base is in the area and they fly daily especially since the nuclear power plant in so close. We got to see lots of military planes flying in formation. We stopped the car and got out to take pictures of these planes zooming overhead. The flyovers were another treat.
While in Homestead, we celebrated our 31st Wedding Anniversary. It was the first time in years that we went out to celebrate. Most of the time we are busy going other exciting things and just add this event in the mix. Nope, this time we actually marked it as an “Anniversary Dinner”.
After 5 days in Homestead, the day has finally arrived.
September 27, 2018 at 4:30pm, we are boarding the Portugal airline flight to Lisbon.
please visit our Granddaughter’s Go Fund Me page. Thanks
https://www.gofundme.com/61nk0eo? pc=fb_co_shareflow_a&rcid=84a22bcf68134a018784fff91017f852
60plusandfearless
Dianne
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