Family Fishing at Cheeca Lodge in the Florida Keys

Even the greatest fishermen have to rest some time.

I married a fisherman. We'd only been dating a few months when he introduced me to the joys of opening spring fishing, romantically threading my slimy worms on my hook all morning. Now he has three happy helpers, eager to reach into dirt containers to pass him grubby worms, and his joy at getting a fish on the line hasn't decreased a bit.

A proud Daddy moment. Baby girl with a rod.

This summer, we spent an amazing weekend fishing in the Florida Keys at a luxury hotel called the Cheeca Lodge. As Spring break begins in a few weeks, I thought I'd use my Wordful Wednesday this week to share some memories, in case any of you are still looking for inspiration and ideas. We didn't stay at Cheeca Lodge as part of a press trip or a blogger event, just a long weekend we took to recover from the stress moving and gear up for the beginning of school. I kept meaning to write about it, but as soon as we returned to civilization, life got in the way.

The long Cheeca Lodge Pier is great for fishing.

A Fisherman's Paradise
Cheeca Lodge is a fisherman's paradise. There are rods everywhere to throw a cast in at the end of the 500 foot pier that juts out from the back terrace, and charter boats and party boats constantly going out to take advantage of the water. My husband and kids spent most of the weekend staring at the bottom of the shallow water, catching and releasing small sharks and colorful fish. When we caught a few red snappers during a snorkeling trip, the hotel chef was eager to fillet them and prepare them as a tempura appetizer. We had great meals at both the swanky hotel sushi restaurant and the outdoor contemporary American restaurant.

Isn't it amazing how good a fake beach can look? Illusion.

Disappointing Beach
Based on the hotel website, and the reservation agent, we expected the hotel to have a beautiful beach, but it was man-made and full of rocks. The pool and the dazzling turquoise water stretching out to the horizon made up for the lack of sand castles. Even if there had been a great beach, it still would have been pretty hard to tear my crew away from their fishing rods. I would have been left all alone with a good book with my toes in the sand. Such hardship!

Getting a little fish education from the charter captain. Better him than me!

Easy Access from Miami Airport
Cheeca Lodge is located in Islamadora, a Northern Florida Key and a 90 minute drive from Miami Airport. To give you a frame of reference, Key West is another two hours South of Islamadora. We took advantage of a some pretty amazing discount offer online when we booked our room. Make sure to shop around before booking.

Happy Wordful, Five Minutes Wordless, and Way-back wednesday.