An old-school road trip seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate a 34th wedding anniversary, so I started stringing some stays together. We had not been to South Florida in decades and had not visited Key West in seven years. So it was to be a Ft. Lauderdale, South Beach and Key West adventure with plenty of stops along the way. But I had wanted to be away for a week (7 days/6 nights) and it ended up a day short due to a cancellation at one property whose facelift wasn’t quite ready to be revealed – especially to press. Then a few days before departing we received an “out of the blue” message that The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne was eager to show off its recent renovation.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, an old friend was the general manager and we were in for the honeymoon treatment. Upon arriving, hours before official check-in, we were graciously greeted and shown to our roo
m. After a few hours lounging poolside with ocean views, we dressed for the evening and met Mark Ferland (former GM at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando) and his lovely wife for cocktails and catching up. He had arranged for a dinner at Lightkeepers, the new restaurant, and we were seated at an outdoor table filled with rose petals forming a heart. After that the chef brought us more dishes than we could ever eat. The next morning we enjoyed a luxurious couples’ massage followed by the bountiful Sunday brunch. Everything was sheer perfection and a wonderful end to a relaxing getaway. You can read about the rest of the stops and stays in the July/August Orange Appeal.
-Christi