The first half of November we spent on the Northern edge of the Everglades in central southern Florida at Labelle. From there traveled about 90 minutes to the East to the “Gold Coast” of Florida where at Ft. Lauderdale we use two more weeks of our Thousand Trails Trails Collection membership at the Sunshine Holiday Encore Resort.
From here we ventured out to enjoy a beautiful view of the Atlantic on a city beach and we headed south out to Key West for a day. Being the second half of November, we celebrated Thanksgiving out in Boca Raton and of course enjoyed some more fresh seafood from the area. We really believe the “Gold Coast” is aptly named for its expensive way of life.
Key West Florida
Key West is the southernmost of the chains of keys, about a four-hour drive from the Sunshine Holiday resort. We were surprised that the cost of gasoline was about the same on the islands as it was on the mainland, with the exception of once you reach Key West itself. The drive on our day was pretty straight forward at about the four hours each way, but we have heard of it taking nearly twice as long on a busy day.
We planned our day well, Barb had found the cruise ship schedule on the City of Key West’s website. We had originally planned for a day that would have had two cruise ships in port, but Jason was able to re-arrange his work schedule so we could go on a day that had none. This meant we had the Trolley Tour to ourselves with the driver and it was just a few moments to take a picture at the Southernmost point monument. The “southernmost” everything is in the Keys of Florida and is a key marketing component to the area. On that Trolley Tour, we learned about the local area, including that during the Civil War the Keys were affiliated with the Union North, the Conch Republic while a media stunt was a real effort to make a stand and that they claim to be the “start” of Highway 1.
Restaurants
At Key West, we enjoyed some of the local seafood at Mangoes Restaurant. The restaurant is located just across the street from Trolley Stop #13.
For Thanksgiving, we had planned to try the historic Thanksgiving meal at Cracker Barrel restaurant, but when we got there mid-afternoon there were cars parked all over the neighborhood. It was a complete zoo of people. We ended up instead of the Farm House which was pleasant on the patio in Boca Raton.
Key Lime Pie!
On the way back to Ft. Lauderdale we found the “Blonde Giraffe Key Lime Pie Factory” which was absolutely amazing. So good, we had to make a second trip back to Key Largo to pick up some more pies to go!
Sunshine Holiday MHCC RV and Camping Resort
Arrival Date: 11/17/2019, Departure Date: 12/01/2019
- Google 3.5 Stars
- Yelp 1.5 stars
- Campendium (unrated)
Sunshine Holiday MHCC RV and Camping Resort is a very urban park. The RV section is the NE corner of the much larger park. If you are not comfortable with the urban feel of a campground, then this one would not be for you. Our campsite was extremely tight and only was reasonable because of the rigs are offset from each other every other spot.
- There is a gate that you will need to get a card to and a code for the pedestrian gate.
- Check-in was not straight forward, fortunately an off duty employee saw us struggling at the gate trying to figure it out.
- The sites are insanely close, typically southern metro Florida and urban RVing. Generally, the park is in good order.
- Cable television is not included but is available from Comcast. Water, electric and sewer included.
- The concrete pad at our site was at the back for a travel trailer, not much help for our motorhome.
AS20057 AT&T Mobility LLC
| Down | 36.69 |
|---|---|
| Up | 22.48 |
| Ping | 99.80 |
| Jitter | 5.28 |
| Antenna | No |
| Boosted | Yes |
| Test # | 391 |
| Timestamp | 2019-11-23 04:36:16 |
AS22394 Cellco Partnership DBA Verizon Wireless
| Down | 35.71 |
|---|---|
| Up | 0.98 |
| Ping | 66.90 |
| Jitter | 13.53 |
| Antenna | No |
| Boosted | No |
| Test # | 382 |
| Timestamp | 2019-11-17 13:03:07 |
