I must start by saying that we were never huge Florida fans. We travel a lot, and this trip was more of a "nowhere else to go" choice because of Covid. We've been to several locations on the Gulf coast before, and Fort Lauderdale and St. Augustine, but never to the Keys. Boy, were we pleasantly surprised.
First, the house. I think the photos don’t do it justice. Yes, the house looks exactly as pictured, but there is something else: nicer colors in the surrounding tropical light, large open spaces, lots of small and charming details here and there. I am a clean freak, and I was completely satisfied with the cleanliness. The kitchen has all the pots and pans, and dishes for a month long cooking (we almost did not go out… again… Covid). Local grocery store is 10 minutes of driving away.
The yard. We were apprehensive about being on a canal since we don’t own a boat, and we ended up loving it. The yard itself is beautiful and cozy, nicely landscaped. Our grandma has mobility issues, and she spent most of the days either on the second floor deck, or on the canal deck. We fished a lot in the canal, and when we rode bicycles to the nearest fishing bridge we discovered that fishermen there caught more or less the same fish (and in the same amount) as we did in our backyard. We saw manatees, we almost caught a small nursery shark twice, we watched baby barracudas fighting for tackle, and we watched huge schools of fish swimming past our fishing rods, making fun of us. The weather was here and there during November, and we experienced two storms. It was very windy for several days in a row, but it was really nice in our backyard. We spent romantic evenings sitting on the canal shore, watching the stars, protected from the wind. It was convenient to Stand Up Paddle board out of the canal (we brought our own boards), and we did some kayaking (the house has two kayaks).
The area. It is exactly 5 minute walk from the house to the neighborhood beach. The shore area is small (the rest of the beach is private), but once you wade beyond the next house’s pier, there is plenty of space, and you can swim really far. As we’ve discovered, there are very few sandy beaches in the keys, and this one is one of those. The shallow section is large enough for little kids to play, and the water gets very warm when it’s not windy. We laughed when we rented a boat one day, and one of the suggested places to go on a boat was our beach. There is 5 minute walk to the ocean side.