Travel - The Florida Keys July 2017

This past July we spent a week in Cudjoe Key, which is just North of Key West. It was an epic vacation. I wrote about my preparation for the trip here: Travel - Florida Keys. I also posted the photo above, just after we got back from our trip. This photo was taken after a big rainstorm hit. The rain stopped just as the sun was about to set and everything was this beautiful and golden color. (I did not use a filter in this picture that I took on my iphone6.)

I woke up yesterday morning to the news that Hurricane Irma hit our beautiful piece of paradise and there was a lot of destruction. Luckily our friends and most of the people on the island were able to get out before it came. I wanted to put together some of our pictures from the trip as a small tribute to such a beautiful place.

More pictures from after the storm. It's amazing that one minute it can be rainy and windy and bleak and the next there is golden sunshine, reflections in the water, and rainbows.

We stayed at Venture Out Resort in Cudjoe Key. It is a gated resort community located on canals. All of the houses are small condominiums, cottages, or pads for RVs. You can see the houses in the background.

My favorite Florida IPA made by Cigar City Brewing Company in Tampa, Florida

We rented this awesome golf cart to get around the community

These are pictures of our crew snorkeling at the coral reefs. The dark spots under the blue are the reefs, which I'm told will never be the same after the hurricane.

Does this water even look real?

More exploring, but not out in the middle of the ocean here

Hoping that the Florida Keys will quickly recover from this powerful force of nature. Our thoughts are with the people that live there and are working to rebuild their own piece of paradise.