It has been roughly a month and a week or so since I was on vacation in Florida with the family.
And somehow I’m finallllly getting around to sharing the highlights from our trip on this blog of mine.
I took about 10 million photos, so the thought of how long it would take going through all of them (as fun as it was) was what took me so long to get around to it!
Thanks to a relaxing Saturday evening, and I glass of wine (or two), I’ve narrowed down my favorite parts of the trip to share with you all.
In the form of 1-3 or 4 blog posts, naturally.
So if you fancy heading to Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach, Seagrove or Seaside (all of which are within 20 minutes of each other) in the near future, I have some great recommendations for ya!
Let’s start with Rosemary Beach, shall we?
Deep in the heart of the famous 30A highway (you’ve seen the bumper stickers, right?) lies Rosemary Beach.
This quaint little beach town is reminiscent of a small European village, with it’s gorgeous architecture, rows of balconies, and white washed buildings.
I may or may not have pretended that such was true a time or two during our visit.
A row of shops, restaurants, tasteful bars and a fabulous hotel line your way to the town’s grassy courtyard.
Walk past the courtyard to the boardwalk, and you’re treated to the spectacular view below of the Gulf of Mexico.
We stayed within walking distance to all of the action, but far enough away that our beach was a little less crowded, which was just what we wanted.
Throughout our trip, our routine was pretty much the same:
1. Wake Up. (Duh!)
2. Drink lots of coffee on the balcony.
3. Head to Cowgirl Kitchen right in the middle of Rosemary Beach for breakfast tacos (we are addicted you guys)
4. Around 10:30-ish, we’d make our way to the beach, books in hand.
Sidenote: I literally just finished this book TODAY. And I had no idea that the characters were all actually real people the entire time. AND the main character is a distant descendent of Kate Middleton herself. What are the odds!?!?
Back to our vacation schedule: 😉
5. 1:30pm: Pina Colada Time. (When you’re on vacation, it’s 5:00 somewhere!)
I think my mom and I had the most fun with this. There were some afternoons when the guys hung out and the two of us sat in our beach chairs, sipping on our tropical cocktails and chatting the afternoon away.
{I bought these inflatable flamingo drink holders for my friend’s bachelorette party. Had no idea they would be so useful holding our cups in the sand too!}
6. We’d then usually run upstairs and grab something quick and easy for lunch, then run back down to enjoy this view as much as we possible could …..
Cheesing with the husband!
I pretty much lived in this one piece bathing suit the whole week. I loved the retro 1960s look of this one (and the price point was fab-u-lous!) Plus, swimming in the ocean is much less scary when in a one piece, without that fear of losing … something.
7. We spent each evening watching the sunset, whether it was on the beach or on the balcony, I refused to miss it!
How often do you get to just sit back and watch the sun actually set in the “real world?”
8. Dinner time. (Something I looked forward to allllll day long.)
Throughout our week at Rosemary Beach, we cooked at the condo with my family or we all went out to dinner together in town.
One particular night, early in our trip, Patrick and I went out on a romantic date just the two of us!
We had a lot of friends (and yelp) recommend Edward’s in Rosemary Beach to us.
So we gave it a go!
The combination of a European inspired courtyard, live music, a bottle of wine and candles on the table did not disappoint!
The two of us started with an ahi tuna tartare appetizer and then were torn between getting fish or steak.
Who gets steak at the beach? …. I guess we do!
But it was because we couldn’t decide between the two, so we just split both!
That’s one of my favorite things about going out to eat with Patrick, we usually end up ordering two dishes and just sharing it all. I love that he lets me eat off his plate! 🙂
After the dinner we decided to be a little bit adventurous.
Maybe it was the bottle of wine we just drank, but we decided to walk home on the moonlit beach.
Just out of a Nicholas Sparks novel, right?
Well apparently the beach gate locks itself at night. So there was a bit of climbing fences in a maxi dress that happened in order to get to said beach…
But it was worth it to walk along the moonlit beach, escaping from reality with my husband!
And, yes this picture is probably the worst quality photo I mayyy have ever put on my blog, but I had to share it regardless.
For those of you headed on a trip soon, take my advice on bask in the little things! Whether it be the sunrise, sunset, or a moonlight night. Take advantage of the stress free time by enjoying the everyday things that you don’t normally have time for. All of these smaller simpler moments ended up being my favorites from the week!
And before I go, a quick roundup of our Rosemary Favorites:
1. Edward’s
3. Ama Vida: cute coffee shop with pastries!
4. The Hidden Lantern : A precious book store that will have just what you’re looking for, even if you didn’t know you were looking for it. Case in point, the book I mentioned above.
5. Moonpize: cutest little shoe store ever! I bought these snakeskin booties there, (which I’ve found myself wearing allll the time lately.)
Stay tuned for more on our trip, as well as a few style posts from some of my favorite beachy looks!
As always, thanks for stopping by the blog!
—
alice
