Baker’s Cay Escape

Matt and I celebrated 9 years of marriage this year and my parents were kind enough to watch the girls so we could take a break from the daily grind that is parenting:) We were so exhausted this spring that all we wanted to do was lay on the beach and rest. We also didn’t want to venture too far (plus, we couldn’t leave the country without the girls because testing requirements to re-enter the US were still in place and it was too risky during the spring surge). We settled on Baker’s Cay Resort because it’s a little off the beaten path (we didn’t have the energy for Miami) and the nice swimming lagoon is a rarity in the keys.

We flew into Miami and after a nice lunch on the water in Brickell, we made the drive (2 hours with traffic) to Key Largo. The grounds at Baker’s Cay have a jungle vibe with lots of mangroves. Everything is newly renovated – the lobby has a coastal modern vibe and it almost feels like a boutique hotel even though it’s a decent size (used to be a motel so they did a nice job giving the old building new life).

There’s a main beach area with bar and activities and then there’s a long path to a more quiet section of beach with trees and nooks with chairs.

The room wasn’t anything special but we had a nice view over the beach.

After a quick walk around the grounds, we grabbed drinks at the hotel bar and then headed to dinner at Skippers Dockside. We enjoyed margs, live music, shrimp ceviche, and I think I ordered the fresh catch. Then we headed to Keys Chocolates so I could get the GF key lime on a stick:)

We slept in until 8:30 or so and it was glorious. We did a little weight lifting + breakfast, and then literally spent all day alternating between floating in the lagoon, reading, listening to music, or talking on beach chairs. We preferred the beach because the pool is actually at the back of the hotel, so it’s a little out of the way + there’s no view.

There were two restaurants at the resort, and the food was really good, so we were happy to stay there for both lunches. I loved eating allll the seafood.

Our second dinner was at Sol By The Sea. We had drinks (which actually weren’t very good) in the waterfront bar and watched a gorgeous sunset.

Dinner on the patio was right on the water and I was happy they had GF buns for the tuna burger:)

On our second day we took out the resort bikes for a ride along the bike path beside the main road. It’s not super pleasant with the cars zooming by, but it was fun to do something different + we were just so grateful for the trip that were didn’t care about any of the little things.

There was a big turf area at the hotel that would be great for kids with games and such.

Day two was also spent in the water and on the mangrove beach. We had a late lunch of shrimp salad, lobster nachos, and modelo:)

We dined at the more formal restaurant at the hotel, Calusa, for our last night. The restaurant is up on the 3rd floor and has a cool view above the trees out to the ocean.

We had wonderful drinks and service and loved taking our time at a nice, long meal. We had the brussels, whipped ricotta, guava mahi, and a coconut snapper.

Overall, we thought the food at the resort was excellent, which worked out well since we didn’t feel like getting in the car much to dine elsewhere. We also had a lovely brunch there the last day before making the drive back to Miami. Some day we’ll get back to sight-seeing but this trip was the perfect recharge for two tired parents celebrating 9 years together!