Florida Part 1

 Presidents’ Day was fun because we had a brunch and the Wiests came over. Curtis had his friends over and after brunch Josh took them to do an escape room while I taught the Wiest girls their piano lessons. They had fun and made it out so that was good. Max ended up hanging out for awhile because of some miscommunication so he and Curtis built a fire in the new fire pit and they had a great time. My in laws got to our house about 5 and we had pizza for dinner and chatted. 

 

Tuesday I spent all day getting the house and my in laws ready for us to go and showing them around so they would know where to go. It was so busy! I also had a bunch of piano lessons and Curtis got his braces off. I also went to book club which was fun and a good discussion but I didn't stay too late since I still had to pack. Then on Wednesday morning Josh and I packed up and left about 11am for our trip and it was so amazing! We had an easy flight and got to Miami around 5:30. We got our car and went to go get dinner and walk around South Beach a bit. Our hotel was a nice Marriott right on Biscayne Bay and we were on the 28th floor so we had a pretty nice view. 

Thursday we did a city/boat tour of Miami that was super fun. We love exploring new cities and it was great to have someone drive us around in a little van who knew where to go. The boat ride around the bay was beautiful and we saw lots of mansions and huge yachts. The amount of money some people have is just astonishing. Then we went to South Beach, Coconut Grove, Little Havanna and Wynwood, all very unique and fun neighborhoods. Little Havana was where we had lunch and I had empanadas and a pina colada that was amazingly delicious and made me so happy. We also had churros later. The atmosphere there was fun and relaxed compared to all the fancy and rich neighborhoods. I liked Coconut Grove too and all the random peacocks and Wynwood was artsy but wasn't my vibe. We didn't get back until dinner time but we weren't super hungry so we went swimming in the pool and ate popcorn in our room while watching a movie. We were right by the Heat arena and we saw all these people in fancy dresses going in. Turns out it was a Spanish music award show and we actually saw it on tv later so that was kind of fun. It was so relaxing to be on an adult schedule and not have to worry about our kids or their needs or their sleep or their eating schedule. It was wonderful to leave behind our work, piano lessons, church responsibilities and driving the kids all over and just be us and together. It was perfect weather every day and I loved the sunshine and blue sky. 

 

   

 

 

 

Friday we drove to Key Largo and went snorkeling in the coral reef. I went snorkeling in Hawaii when I was 17 and wasn't a fan but it really seemed like the thing to do in the Keys so I decided to be brave and try it again. We went out on a boat about five miles from the shore to where the coral reef is and then we just jumped off and swam around the boat for 40 minutes at one site and then we went to a second site. Josh and I held hands the whole time in the water because I found it very disorienting to look down but not be able to tell where you are going as you go forward. I just held tight to Josh and trusted that we were still in the area the captain told us to stay in and luckily all we saw were fish. Apparently 10 days earlier they had seen a 10-foot hammerhead and after he told me that I almost didn't get in the water. The captain promised me there had never been a shark attack in the Keys but even just seeing it would have stopped my heart. The second sight has a famous statue that we saw and then I decided I was done and got back on the boat while Josh went around for 20 more minutes. He saw some barracuda and some really colorful fish but that was about it. It was an adventure and we gave it a try but we both kind of decided it wasn't our thing. We stayed in Key Largo at a cute little quirky resort with a gecko who came in and out of a crack by the door but he behaved himself at night and we all got along. The sunset was really pretty and we ate at a super fun restaurant on the water that night with live music and tiki torches. I tried snapper and it was delicious unlike the conch fritters that were just okay. 

 

   

Saturday morning we checked in with the kids and everyone was doing well. We tried to go to a beach because I had a list of the nine best beaches in the Keys and we decided to just beach hop all day. However there was a huge flea market so the first beach was closed. We went to the second one and it was quiet and had good sand but lots of sea grass everywhere and no waves. The bottom also wasn't sandy but rocky/shelly. The water is also super shallow so overall it was hard to swim in. We relaxed for a bit and decided to move on to the next one on the list. The second one was the nicest beach in all of the Keys (I'm going to write a separate beach travel log later to practice my travel writing) with a sandy beach and good water so we hung out there for awhile and walked all around it when we were done swimming. We checked into our resort and it was great. The view and the adults only pool were so wonderful. We would wake up in the morning and just open the curtain and lay there looking at this for awhile. It was so amazing. 

Saturday night we had our special dinner so we had to drive to the pick up point and catch our boat to get to Little Palm Island. This place is so exclusive and fancy and I felt totally out of my league there but it was an experience we'll never forget. The back story is that when I was on study abroad in London Jan-April of 2000, I was flipping through my friend's bridal magazine and the article was the 10 best honeymoon locations. Little Palm Island was one of them since the entire island is the resort (its small) and you have your own private beach and it is all very fancy. I ripped out the page and sent it to Josh as a suggestion for our honeymoon. It is beyond any price I would willingly pay but it has kind of become our place over the last 20 years. We would dream of getting to LPI and often talk of escaping there and how amazing and magical it would be to have our own private beach and be in such a romantic place. So when I realized we would be right near it, I did some research and learned they take a few limited dinner reservations for non-resort guests and I booked us one. We took this super nice boat out to the island with two other couples and got to sit on the beach for a four-course meal. I ended up eating a lot of seafood (some on accident) and the whole thing took over 4 hours but it was a dream come true to be on Little Palm Island. The stars were so beautiful and bright especially on the boat ride back; it was truly an incredible experience. 

   

 

Sunday we went to church and it was a small branch with 20 people or so in attendance, most of which seemed to be visitors like us. There were four of us in Relief Society and a visitor taught so it was all very unique but we got to take the sacrament and worship with fellow saints so it was good. Then we went back to the resort and used the free kayaks/paddle boards to go out on the water. It was so beautiful. The water is perfectly clear and I loved being in a kayak. We went over to some mangrove forests nearby and saw sting rays and a little hammerhead shark thing, and so many beautiful birds. It was quiet and beautiful and I prayed out there and just felt so overwhelmed with how good my life is and how blessed I was to be having that moment. We came back to shore and swam in the pool and relaxed and then headed out to visit a state park that was pretty and get some dinner. We ate outside every night and most of those nights we watched the sunset, which was always beautiful. The state park was nice and had an old bridge that we went up that provided some awesome views. From up there we watched a shark for awhile, which from that high above the street, didn't bother me too much. I was very grateful I was not in the water and that that was my only shark sighting.