4th of July Getaway

I was in Florida for the 4th of July weekend, visiting Miami & Key West. 4th of July is America's Independence Day, it falls on a Sunday this year so we had a long weekend. Miami is having warm weather year round but surprisingly this time, I find it cooler than New York. Thanks to the heat wave in NY, it recorded a sizzling 105F (40C) whereas Miami, a comfy 85F (30C). So it was a nice getaway.

A warm place as it is, there are resemblance between Miami and KK, weatherwise, buildings, trees and flowers... And, the sea water temperature! It was a big discovery to me. Because no matter how hot is New York's weather in summer, the water of the Atlantic Ocean is still ranging from 55F to 75F, you will shiver when you first get into the water. But in Miami beach, the water is WARM, like KK. But their sand is course, not as fine as Tanjung Aru's.

Key West, the southernmost city of U.S. continent, is 3 hours drive from Miami. It is one of the Florida keys, a chain-like cluster of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States, are linked by an overseas highway, U.S. 1. Love the scenic view driving from island to island, because you are surrounded by sea on both sides. Other islands like Key Largo, Islamorada, the Marathon are also main tourist sites for fishing, diving and snorkeling. Many of the residents of Key West were immigrants from the Bahamas, known as Conchs (pronounced as 'conks'). Because of its vicinity to Cuba, the island has inherited influence from the neighboring country. Cuban food, art galleries can be seen everywhere. When you are here, you must try the Key Lime Pie and the Cuban coffee. The pie was a bit too sweet but the coffee is, oh, couldn't be better. Very strong.