First Trip of the Year

Another super chilly weekend in sunny Florida. When the temps drop the manatees move from the river into the springs for warmer water, and if you're anything like me it's exciting to go see them hanging out all cute and sweet. 

Unfortunately, the manatees were such a hot commodity that after sitting in stop and go traffic for 40 minutes just to get to the park entrance, the park ranger said it would be another hour to actually get all the way in and park. So, we decided to check out a local brewery and pizzeria nearby for lunch as we were already getting hangry. 

Dolman Sleeve Sweater | Faux Leather Leggings | Boots | Necklace

I tried the White Water Cream Ale and the RumChaCha which was infused with rum and delish! For lunch, we ordered the buffalo chicken pizza and pepperoni pizza for Lil' Miss. After we were done, we headed back over to the park and it was still an hour wait to get in so we surrendered and decided to head home. Below, is a pic from several years ago that I'm hoping we'll re-create in a few weeks when we try again at a less busy time. 

Lil' Miss and I also enjoyed a breakfast date at First Watch where she ate ALL of her food and "helped" me with mine as well. A little over an hour after we got home she asked for a snack. Can I have her metabolism? 

In other news....

It's no secret around these parts that I love to travel (you can check out my travel recaps here on my Travel tab which features travels to Cape Cod, St. Maarten, Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, Dubai, Rio de Janeiro, Panama City, Venice, Las Vegas, Florida Keys, Marco Island, Milan, Singapore, Western Caribbean Disney Cruise, San Diego, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Bermuda Cruise, Dominican Republic, NYC, Chicago, Eastern Caribbean Cruise, Barcelona, Marseille, Palma de Mallorca, Lisbon, Bahamas Cruise, Jamaica, Central America Cruise and our honeymoon to Fiji). 

So, just 2 weeks into the new year and it's no surprise that we have our 1st trip booked for 2023. Drum roll please..... we are taking Lil' Miss on a Southern Caribbean cruise with 3 new to us stops. 

As much as I love fully exploring new places, I also love love love cruising. It's a floating resort with SO much to do on board including amazing food and service. You only unpack once, and wake up at a new island most days. So, we are excited to be cruising again after not having been on one since before the pandemic. I've traveled extensively since the virus that shall not be named with my old job and as a family, and we can't wait to cruise again. We did a lot of research before heading to the Bahamas in 2021 and to St. Maarten last June, and it was worth every second. 

With all the issues lately with airlines, we wanted a stress-free vacation where we could drive to the cruise port and set sail. We also usually try to only carry-on (the lost luggage lately is insane!) when flying so since we are driving we can pack our larger suitcases as well as bring the allowed bottle of wine or bubbles per person on board. Yes please! 

We were researching a Princess cruise (a new to us cruise line as we have sailed with Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Disney and Carnival in the past), but ended up changing our minds after weeks of research to Carnival. Back in 2015, we vowed to never sail with them again after they skipped our stop in Grand Turk which was the whole reason we booked the cruise. Well, we're giving them another chance and of course picked an itinerary with Grand Turk for a "take two". 

We decided the itinerary was way more important than the cruise line or the ship itself, and are getting excited about all the features on board that we wouldn't have had on Princess. Plus, they have a lot more features and activities geared towards kiddos such as water slides, a splash pad and a better kids club which Lil' Miss is SUPER excited about. She's always here for the food and the water slides. Ha! 

Where are you headed in 2023?

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