Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Florida Vacation/Babymoon/Anniversary Trip

I had been looking forward to our Florida vacation since the day we booked our plane tickets.  I'm glad it worked out so well and that we were able to stay at my grandma's condo for free!  Now that we are saving up for the baby I wasn't sure if we would be able to go on a lavish vacation but our week together was just what we needed.  We arrived on Saturday afternoon to a hot, sunny 91 degree day.  We got our rental car and headed for the condo.  My grandma's sister, who lives in the next town over, met us there to show us around the place and to take us out to lunch.  We spent the rest of the afternoon settling in, going to the grocery store and swimming in the condo pool.

Sunday we got up early and headed to the beach in Englewood for some shark tooth hunting and fun in the sun.  I've been going to the beach in Englewood with my grandparents for years and it's one of my favorite spots.  We figured getting up early and going to the beach would be best so we could beat the afternoon heat and occasional storms that seemed to happen almost every day.  It had been almost 10 years since I had seen the ocean last and around 15 years for Andrew so that first step into the water and the first smell of the sea salt was amazing and unforgettable.

We spent most of the rest of the week exploring several beaches on the gulf coast (Manasota Key, Blind Pass, Lover's Key, Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island), driving to the Everglades in the pouring rain on Tuesday, visiting the winter estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, shopping at Fisherman's Village and the antique shops in Punta Gorda, swimming in the condo pool, visiting the Peace River Bird Rescue Center, eating at so many amazing restaurants, watching the sunset almost every night at Ponce De Leon Park and soaking in every moment of our time together.  I went to bed every night praying that the week would go slow and that we would never forget this time together.

I could not have asked for a more amazing week together or more memories to keep for the rest of our lives.  I was sad to come home, but I was happy to sleep in my own bed, see the cat and dog and come home to the amazing fall weather. 

Edison Statue at the Edison/Ford Winter Estates and the amazing Banyan tree.

Baby bumping with the Edison Statue.

Semi-rainy afternoon at Lovers Key near Fort Myers

Beautiful flowering trees at the Edison Estate

Rubber Tree

A rainy sunset at Ponce De Leon Park

A much prettier sunset on our last night in Florida

Andrew with his fiddler crab he caught on the beach.


I'm going to miss those sunsets until next time. 

2 comments:

Laura said...

awww looks like such an amaaazing Babymoon! those sunset pictures are amazing. I'm so glad you had such a great time, i think these last "babymoon" vacations are really such a fantastic idea for expecting couples!

Christina said...

Looks like you had a great time! Any vacation that involves time on the beach sounds lovely. :)

Taking a vacation before baby is fantastic. We went to Disney when I was pregnant with out first, and I'm so glad we took the time for one more vacation before the kids.