It’s been more than two weeks since the last blog post. The fact is, I spent much of that time traveling and wasn’t really around a computer much. :)

Right after WinHEC ended, I made a trip up to San Fransisco and the Bay Area with my family. My grandmother is visiting from India and staying with us for a couple of months, so we wanted to visit some relatives there and show her around the place.

When we got back, my brother flew in from NYC and all of us flew back across the continent to Miami to spend five days in the Florida Keys. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Key Largo.

Our plan for the first day was to visit the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park for the glass-bottom boat tour and some snorkeling. My parents and I visited the island of Mauritius several years ago and had the opportunity to see some fantastic ocean life there, so I was quite eager to do something similar again. Unfortunately, all programs were canceled that day due to bad weather, so we decided to drive down to Key West and explore the area along the way instead. As we were driving, I noticed a sign pointing to the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center, so we stopped to check that out. There was quite a variety of birds there, including a talking parrot, and I even got a chance to feed a huge flock of hungry pelicans. :) We spent the rest of the evening just relaxing on one of the beaches in Key West before returning to our hotel in Largo.

The weather still hadn’t cleared up on the second day, so we drove up to Miami to visit the Parrot Jungle Island, which actually houses more than just parrots. Of course, we did see (and feed) lots of different types of parrots as you would expect, but there were monkeys, orangutans, turtles, tortoises, snakes, alligators (even an albino), crocodiles, tigers, a liger, and…well, you get the idea. :) It was actually quite interesting.

On Day 3, the weather was a little better, so the glass-bottom boat tours at Pennekamp were running, but we were warned that the sea was going to be pretty choppy. The trip started off quite well, but as we made our way into the rough open ocean, most people on the boat (including almost all of us) got sea-sick and spent the remainder of the time on the top deck with what the crew jokingly called “party bags.” That should also explain the lack of pictures from day 3. ;) We were all okay by the time we got back to shore, but snorkeling trips were canceled again for obvious reasons. Pity.

On the fourth day, we visited a couple of state parks and beaches, swam in the ocean, and just basically relaxed. Yes, all snorkeling trips were canceled again, thanks to the weather. Oh, and we had the best dinner of the week that night - if you’re ever in the Keys, make sure you visit the Fish House in Key Largo; their seafood is really good, especially the huge king crabs. :)

We didn’t have much time on the fifth day. Everyone was a little tired after all the driving and swimming and walking around, so we woke up late and made our way back to Miami to catch the flight back to LA in the evening.

All in all, a fun and relaxing holiday, and a good change from the usual stuff. Pictures are up in the gallery.