I took my 12-year-old daughter on a trip we will never forget: a mother daughter getaway to the Florida Keys. I had been wanting to do a one-on-one trip with each of my kids for quite some time, but it never seemed to work out because of all of our family trips. Finally the stars aligned and we took an incredible vacation to kick off summer, just the two of us. Our trip was all about spending quality time together doing things my daughter loves, and it did not disappoint! From Islamorada to Key West, we had an incredible time enjoying all that the Florida Keys offer together. Here’s how we spent a fun-filled five days in the Florida Keys.
Day 1: Getting to the Florida Keys
We flew Southwest Airlines direct from Baltimore to Miami, an easy 2 1/2 hour flight. We normally would use Southwest points for our flights, but we had LUV vouchers from a previous flight being delayed several hours, so we used those instead. We rented a car at the airport and headed to the Keys after grabbing breakfast with a friend who lives nearby. We hit the road fueled up and ready for adventure.
Our first stop on the 3 1/2 hour drive to Key West was for lunch and tarpon feeding at Robbie’s Marina. We sat oceanside at The Hungry Tarpon Restaurant and Bar and enjoyed fresh mahi mahi fingers, conch chowder, and blackened mahi mahi salad. We couldn’t leave without sharing a slice of Key lime pie, which was a delicious ending to our meal. I also highly recommend the blueberry mojito!
After eating we headed to the dock to feed the giant tarpon fish. This was a lot of fun, and is a must-do for families. Kids of all ages will get a kick out of feeding the enormous fish that jump out of the water to grab the fish out of your hand. Even if you don’t stop here for a meal, at the least stop in to feed the tarpon.
Where to stay in Key West: Ocean’s Edge Hotel
After our lively lunch, we continued on to Key West and checked in to our hotel. We stayed our first 2 nights at Ocean’s Edge Hotel and Marina, which is Key West’s largest luxury resort with 175 suites and rooms. There’s an onsite restaurant, bar, Starbucks, fitness building, and dog park. It is located about 20 minutes away from the historic district of Key West on a beautiful marina. The resort offers complimentary shuttle service to town from 9am to 11pm, which helped us save on parking when heading into town.
We stayed in a luxurious room with 2 Queen beds and a white wooden porch overlooking the pools and marina. By the time we settled in to our room, all the main attractions in Key West had already closed (most close by 5pm), so we decided to relax at the resort for the rest of the afternoon.
Ocean’s Edge has six pools on the water’s edge outfitted with cozy swinging chairs and lounge chairs and a giant chess board. There are also walkways along the marina to check out the boats, complimentary watersports including kayaks and stand-up paddleboards, and complimentary bike rentals. We played chess while listening to live music and then cooled off in the pool until it was time to get ready for dinner. I truly relished having this 1:1 time with my pre-teen daughter, who thankfully still enjoys spending time with me. We giggled in the pool as she tried to teach me how to properly use words like “skibidi”, “sigma” and other strange words and expressions kids use these days.
Dinner at Matt’s Stock Island Kitchen
To finish off a fabulous first day in the Keys, we had dinner at Matt’s Stock Island Kitchen which serves “American coastal comfort food” with innovative twists. This restaurant is located at the Perry Hotel Key West just a few mintues from our resort with al fresco dining (and indoors dining if you prefer air conditioning) overlooking a marina. We dined as the sun was setting. It was a gorgeous ambience as the fluffy white clouds turned shades of pink and orange.
We shared the seafood tower which had fresh oysters, conch and shrimp ceviche, and juicy shrimp cocktail. Ellie loves soup so she ordered a bowl of creamy crab soup which was absolutely delicious. At the suggestion of our waiter I sipped on a strawberry basil lemonade and a pineapple mojito, both of which were fantastic. We ended with key lime bread pudding, which set us off on a bread pudding kick for the rest of the trip. Our dinner here was outstanding with the beautiful setting, attentive service, flavorful fresh seafood, and tasty cocktails.
Watch this reel for a video recap of our first day in the Florida Keys!
Day 2 in Key West: Dolphin & Snorkel Tour
We had an early start for our second day in the Florida Keys for a morning snorkeling and dolphin watch tour with Honest Eco Tours. What’s special about this company is that they offer eco-friendly and sustainable nature tours on Key West’s first electric-powered charter boat the SQUID. During our four-hour tour we spotted several dolphins and some even swam right by and under our boat. They were so close that we could hear their clicks which was very cool. We learned about dolphins and other wildlife we spotted during our tour, including many different birds.
We also snorkeled and saw sting rays, starfish, sand dollars, tarpons, an enormous Goliath Grouper, and many other kinds of fish. Our tour included water, fresh fruit, and veggies with hummus. The crew were very friendly and knowledgeable. This was a highlight of our trip and a must-do for families, especially for anyone whe loves dolphins.
Afternoon exploring Old Town Key West
After some tasty sushi from Sushi Song we headed back to the resort to get cleaned up. Then we took the resort’s shuttle back into town to explore Old Town Key West. I visited Key West about 15 years ago with Bertaut and my mom, so I’d already visited the Ernest Hemingway Home and Truman Little White House. Ellianna was not interested in visiting either, so I let her decide which activities to do for the remainder of the day. I wanted to do the Conch Train tour, which gives historical information about the city, but she was not interested so we skipped it. However, this is one of the more popular activities to explore the city, and is popular with families.
We started with the Key West Shipwreck Museum which was very interesting. We learned about the history of the “wreckers” who salvaged ships that wrecked on the coral reefs, making Key West one of the richest cities in the United States in the 1800’s. It was fascinating seeing some of the treasures salvaged from ships that crashed hundreds of years ago. There’s also an observation tower you can climb to which gives a panoramic view of Key West and the ocean that surrounds the island.
Next we visited the Key West Aquarium which is just a few steps away from the Shipwreck Museum in Mallory Square. Ellie enjoyed the touch tank which had hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, sea stars, and conchs. There are also rehabilitated sea turtles, eels, groupers, sharks, and many kinds of fish. It’s another kid-friendly destination in Old Key West.
We explored more of Mallory Square and did some souvenir shopping before heading to the Sunset Celebration. Since it had been storming off and on that day, there were no street performances. Normally starting around 6-7pm (depending on what time sunset is) there are live street performers at Mallory Square right by the water. Since our stomachs were growling at this point, we headed to dinner.
We dined at Half Shell Raw Bar, a casual seafood restaurant in the historic seaport. This restaurant serves fresh seafood on picnic-style tables with hundreds of license plates from around the world decorating the walls. We shared a basket of conch fritters, fried shrimp, and calamari for starters. I opted for a salad topped with Key West pink shrimp while Ellie went with a poke bowl. The cocktails and mocktails were not to be missed. Ellie sipped on a ginger lemonade while I enjoyed a fruity rum cocktail. We had a hard time choosing among the 3 dessert options, as they all sounded amazing. How do you decide between Key lime pie, bread pudding, and ultimate chocolate cake? Our waitress ended up bringing us all 3 so we went home with leftovers. Dessert for breakfast the next morning was decadent!
Our grand finale of the evening was the Ghosts and Gravestones Tour, which was voted Top Ten Best Ghost Tour by USA Today Readers’ Choice. This was so much fun! We rode around on the Trolley of the Doomed and heard ghost stories and other macabre stories about places in town. It also included a brief stop at the Shipwreck Museum. This tour says it may not be suitable for kids under 13 years of age, so keep that in mind for a family trip with young kids. Ellie thoroughly enjoyed it and didn’t think it was too scary.
Day 3: Key West to Marathon
We spent our last morning in Key West at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. We were initially scheduled for a clear kayak tour through the mangroves with Get Up and Go Kayak, but unfortunately a tropical storm caused our tour to be cancelled. The butterfly conservatory was a great backup plan since it is allowed us to stay dry while it rained outside. Ellie loves butterflies and was delighted to see hundreds flutter around her and even land on her. There are also flamingos inside and several beautiful butterfly benches to sit and relax in the serene environment. After doing more souvenir shopping in the gift shop and around town, we grabbed lunch and headed to Marathon to check into our next resort.
Where to Stay in Marathon: Grassy Flats Resort
We drove about an hour and a half north to Marathon and arrived at Grassy Flats Resort & Beach Club, where we stayed for the last 2 nights of our trip. Grassy Flats is an oceanfront all-suite eco-friendly resort that’s perfect for families. We stayed in a spacious 2-bedroom suite with a full kitchen, 1 1/2 baths, and 2 private verandas overlooking the ocean. The family section of the resort gives the “Olde Florida” historic vibe, and there’s also a newer section of the resort that is adults-only. The resort has 2 pools- a family pool and an adults-only pool and hot tub. Complimentary watersports include kayaks and paddleboards.
Dining options include two onsite restaurants, a rooftop cocktail bar, and a poolside tiki bar. Guests receive a complimentary welcome drink from the tiki bar (until 6pm, or at the restaurant if arriving after 6pm). The bartender served a vodka + guava juice cocktail to me and Ellie had a Sprite.
We had dinner at The Rhum House on the oceanfront veranda. We enjoyed a flavorful meal of carrot ginger soup, crab cakes, blackened grouper with charred brussel sprouts, scallops over risotto, cheesecake and bread pudding. Needless to say we had leftovers which we conveniently heated up in our kitchen the next day.
Day 4: Exploring Marathon
We started our exploration of Marathon with a tour of the Turtle Hospital. This 1950’s motel turned Turtle Hospital rehabilitates injured sea turtles and returns them to the wild when possible. It is believed to be the world’s only state-licensed veterinary hospital dedicated solely to the treatment of sea turtles.
During our visit we witnessed surgery on a baby sea turtle with eye tumors through a glass window. We saw another turtle getting a “spa treatment” of being scrubbed clean of algae since it doesn’t have cleaner fish to do the job. We were able to toss food pellets into the habitat of the turtles who are there for life since their injuries prevent them from being able to survive in the wild. We learned a great deal about sea turtles and how we can do our part to protect them and their environment.
Next on our itinerary was wakeboarding at the Lagoon on Grassy Key. Ellie decided not to wakeboard and wanted to visit the aqua park instead. I gave wakeboarding a try and was able to get up on my first attempt. It was a great workout and I was wiped out afterwards.
Then we both headed to the aqua park which is like a floating ninja warrior course. It has about a dozen different inflatables to climb, run across, bounce on, and jump off. This was a blast! I laughed (at myself mostly as I slipped over and over and fell into the lagoon) so much during that hour. If you visit the Keys with kids, this is a must-do! Check out our reel below to see some footage of our experience at the Lagoon at Grassy Key as well as the other fun activities we did.
We were booked for a sunset cruise with Islander Girl Tours but sadly the tropical storm caused the cruise to be cancelled for safety reasons. So instead we headed to Sunset Grille to try to catch the sunset from land at the foot of the Seven Mile Bridge and have dinner. We were able to have dinner and get in the oceanfront pool at Sunset Grille before the weather took a turn for the worse later that evening.
Day 5: Aquarium Encounters & Seven Mile Bridge
Our last day in the Florida Keys started with the coral reef snorkel at Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters. Here we snorkeled with a guide in an aquarium with Cownose rays, several species of fish native to the Florida Keys, and lobsters. We fed Cownose rays small pieces of fish and fed sharks through a small hole in a glass wall between the aquariums. If you want to snorkel but are scared to be in the ocean, this is a great alternative to get the snorkeling experience in a controlled environment.
After the guided snorkel experience we spent several hours walking around the rest of the park which has numerous exhibits and touch tanks. Ellie’s favorites were the baby alligators, where she was able to toss food pellets into their enclosure, and petting the Cownose rays which swam up to her like little puppies hoping for some love. You can take a free guided tour led by a marine biologist sharing information about the different animals in the park. This is another top activity for families in the Florida Keys.
For our last meal in the Keys, Ellie requested sushi again. We headed to Castaway Waterfront Restaurant & Sushi Bar, which was recommended by locals. It had a great old-school vibe at the marina. The sushi and mahi tacos were delicious. Then we headed over to the historic Seven Mile Bridge to walk the pedestrian pathway and digest our lunch before driving back to the airport in Miami.
Last Thoughts on our Mother Daughter Florida Keys Getaway
Our mother daugther getaway to the Florida Keys was such an incredible trip! As the first of what I plan to make an annual tradition, it will always hold a special place in our hearts. Being able to have five full days of one-on-one time with my daughter at this stage of her life was such a joy. We could have meaningful conversations without my son (or husband) vying for my attention. We bonded over our love for Key lime pie, bread pudding, and fresh seafood. We learned about sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, alligators and so much more on our many adventures. Ellie loved being able to choose our activities, and she made excellent choices that we both enjoyed.
The Florida Keys are perfect for a family vacation, whether it’s with the whole family or a one-on-one trip. Our son saw all the fun his sister had and now he wants to go to the Florida Keys. Maybe that can be a father son trip. Or perhaps we’ll plan a family trip and visit different islands, as each Key has its own vibe and different things to do. If you’ve been to the Keys, what’s your favorite thing to do there?
**This post was part of a hosted visit and paid partnership with The Florida Keys. As always, all opinions remain our own.
