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From Canada to Key West

By Lexi Schildknecht

This summer, I decided to take my mother down to Key West for a little vacation to a spot that we hold close to our parrot-head hearts… Key West. Though our drive to our beautiful destination was full of storms and rain, our spirits stayed high by listening to some Jimmy Buffett and staying in the Margaritaville mindset. We arrived at Margaritaville Key West Resort & Marina and were amazed by the perfect décor reflecting the tropical and relaxing vibe that is Margaritaville. We then enjoyed the spectacular Key West sunset, which the resort had the perfect view of. We walked to dinner and enjoyed the famous saloon, Captain Tony’s, and then were happy to find out, after our fun night out, that the beds at the resort are heavenly and gave us the revitalization that was long over due.

The next day was spent by the water, reintroducing my Canadian skin to the hot sun (they did not get along), but we had a blast making friends with other guests and playing with all the beach balls in the pool. We stayed there all day enjoying some refreshing drinks, listening to a ton of Jimmy Buffett, and even ordering a grilled cheese for lunch, which hit the spot perfectly.

Next, we made our way to concierge to plan an excursion while we were in the Keys and we ended up taking a jet ski tour of Key West! It was an absolute blast cruising the Gulf and Atlantic and we were even the southern most jet skis in the continental U.S. at one point! Now something that was really amazing to find out was that Margaritaville has a sister resort over on Sunset Key that allowed us to purchase day passes to take a short boat ride over to the beautiful island. There, we called two beach chairs and an umbrella home for the day. We were thankful for the excellent bar service but were apologetic for how busy we kept them! We took a few dips in the roped off beachfront and even managed to “befriend” a nurse shark that had us walking on water to escape. That night we did manage to make it over to the Margaritaville Restaurant on Duval Street to have an amazing dinner followed by a catamaran sunset cruise.

The next day we had a delicious breakfast at the resort with a great view and then decided to visit our friends one last time at the concierge desk, to do yet another jet ski tour (yes, we have an addiction). This tour was even better than our first one as it included free time to play and made a stop at a sand bar to jump in and enjoy the crystal blue water. By the end of the tour I was even offered a job as a jet ski tour guide, which I’m still considering…

We finished the day by the pool trying to put off packing as long as possible, but we knew eventually we would have to leave our new beloved home and family. We left Margaritaville knowing we would come back within the year, not just for the beautiful island, but for the incredible resort and everyone working there that made it a truly astounding getaway.

P.S. When in Key West, order anything and everything that is key lime! You won’t regret it!

Thank you Margaritaville Key West Resort & Marina. We’ll see you again.

Lexi Schildknecht is a Margaritaville college ambassador at King’s University College at Western University in Canada. Learn more about Margaritaville University here.