Please watch the YouTube video for more pics:

Day 4 started with a leisurely breakfast at Gus’ Grille. I had the horror of realising that I’d ordered smoked salmon (cunningly disguised by the word lox) with my bagel. I ate a bit before I gave the rest to JC, and yes, I should have googled it.

We set off for our next destination mid-morning with the problem of an oil warning light coming on in the car that we had rented. We couldn’t get through to the rental company, something to do with non-geographic numbers being called from a UK mobile, which was very frustrating. So we took a gamble and set off as we had a relatively short distance to get to the next resort at Islamorada.

The oil warning was telling us to put more oil in so we asked at the resort reception if we could ring the roadside assistance arm of the rental company. After trying to understand what he was saying, he asked us to drive back to Miami as that was the closest office. Er yes 100 miles away….NOT!! After telling him this, he then gave us another number to call. This was even more frustrating as we couldn’t get through. We’d wasted enough time so finally went and found a garage that sold the right oil (not the stuff for motorboats which was the only oil sold at the first one) and the beastly X7 was happy again. We shall make a point of telling the rental company this when we return it…

We checked into the Islander Resort two and a half hours early, thanks to the efficiency of the housekeeping staff. The room we had been allocated was facing the ocean, lined with beautiful palm trees and white sand. It was, to me, a little piece of heaven on earth.

https://www.islanderfloridakeys.com

We had lunch at Tides Beachside Bar and Grill, which is part of the Islander Resort. The food was nice and went down nicely with a Key Lime Colada cocktail. This was before soaking up a bit of sun on the beach. A friendly hotel worker in charge of the towels took our room number. This was to ensure towels were returned otherwise there was a $50 fee. It was cooler there because of the wind, so we moved to the pool are. We had a lovely rum punch before deciding to move on to a local brewery that was only a short walk away from the resort.

Islamorada Brewery and Distillery was opened in 2014 by friends who had a passion for home brewing. The company brews it’s own beer on site and also has a distillery for making its own gin and other spirits. It had a laid back Floridian atmosphere inside, with high top barstools and tables, stickers adorning the walls, and a shop selling brewerania. The beer garden is an extension of the bar with its own food truck that sells wraps and burgers. We opened a tab and stayed for a couple of beers. I had a citrusy Islamorada Ale, followed by Local Color, a key lime hibiscus blonde ale.

https://islamoradabreweryanddistillery.com

https://www.islamoradabeerco.com/ourbeer/

We headed back to the resort as we had a Valentine’s Day booking at the on-site restaurant. It was a set menu, which we didn’t really want, but it was easier to go there than having to find somewhere else. Elements had received mixed reviews on Tripadvisor and we could understand why. For the price, we could have had a really lovely meal at our local Westwood Restaurant in Beverley. Sadly, Elements was mediocre on this occasion, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

https://www.elementsfloridakeys.com

Although the restaurant was a bit disappointing, it didn’t spoil the day. The resort is really something special and more than made up for it.